Lit terms list 5

1. Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form

2. Parody: an imitation of mimicking of a composition or the style of a well-known artist

3. Pathos: the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness

4. Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake

5. Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects objects or abstract ideas

6. Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose 

7. Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment

8. Point of view: the attitude or sentiment oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing

9. Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontrafitional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness, and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary 

10. Prose: the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern

11. Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes the antagonist

12. Pun: play on words, the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications

13. Purpose: the intended result wished by an author

14. Realism: writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightforward manner to reflect life as it actually is

15. Refrain: a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus

16. Requiem: any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead

17. Resolution: point in literary work where the chief dramatic complication is resolved (denoument) 

18. Restatement: idea treated for emphasis

19. Rhetoric: use language in order to persuade

20. Rhetorical question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion 

21. Rising action: plot build up, caused by conflict; advancement towards climax

22. Romanticism: movement in western culture beginning in the 18th century and peaking in the 19th century as revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact

23. Satire: ridicules the weakness/wrong doings of individuals, groups, or humanity in general

24. Scansion: analysis of verse in terms of meter 

25. Setting: time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur