Lit Terms List #3

exposition: the portion of a story that introduces important background information to the audience


expressionism: literary movement presenting stylized reality: a literary movement of the early 20th century, especially in the theater, that represented external reality in a highly stylized and subjective manner, attempting to convey a psychological or spiritual reality rather than a record of actual events.

fable: a short story with a moral, especially one in which the characters are animals

fallacy: a mistake made in a line of reasoning that invalidates it, misconception

falling action: in a work of fiction or in a drama, the events that follow the climax and lead to the denouement

farce: absurd situation, a ridiculous situation in which everything goes wrong or becomes a sham

figurative language: speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning

flashback: a scene or event from the past that appears in a narrative out of chronological order, to fill in information or explain something in the present

foil: a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character

folk tale: tale or legend originating and traditional among a people or folk, especially one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people.

foreshadowing: to indicate or suggest something, usually something unpleasant, that is going to happen

free verse: verse without a fixed metrical pattern, usually having unrhymed lines of varying length

genre: category of artistic works

gothic tale: is a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror and Romanticism.

hyperbole: exaggeration

imagery: vivid descriptive language that appeals to one or more of the senses

implication: indirect suggestion, something that is implied or involved as a natural consequence of something else

incongruity: something out of place, something that does not seem to fit in with or be appropriate to its context

inference: a conclusion drawn from evidence or reasoning

irony:  something humorous based on contradiction


(Definitions from Bing.com/dictionary)