Lit Terms 83-108

Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.

Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox

Pacing: rate of movement; tempo

Parable: a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth

Paradox: a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas.

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

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

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

Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake

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

Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose

Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment

Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing

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

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

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

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

Purpose:  the intended result wished by an author

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

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

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

Resolution:  a point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement

Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis

Rhetoric:  use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade

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