LIT TERMS #5

parallelism: adds a balance and rhythm to sentences giving ideas a smoother flow and thus can be persuasive because of the repetition it employs

parody:a humorous imitation of a serious piece
of writing

pathos: invoking a feeling of pity or compassion


pedantry: slavish attention to rules


personification: the attribution of human nature or character to animals or inanimate objects

plot: story line, the plan scheme

poignant: strong in mental appeal

point of view: the way the author speaks


postmodernism:a time when developments in the arts and literature took place in the 1970's in reaction to modernism


prose: the ordinary from of spoken or written language without metrical structure in poetry of verse

protagonist: the leading character, hero, or heroine


pun: humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning


purpose: the reason for which something happens


realism: interest of concern for the actual or real


refrain: to abstain from impulse to or do something 

requiem: Roman Catholic Church, the mass celebrated for the repose of the sous of the dead

resolution: a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting by formal organization 

restatement: to state again, make a point 

rhetoric: in writing or speech, the undue use of exaggeration of display 

rhetorical question: a question that could be answered in more ways than one, true or not


rising action: a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest 

romanticism: usually initial or capital letter, the romantic style or movement in literature and art resulting from classicalism


satire: the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like in exposing or denouncing 

scansion: the metrical analysis of verse 

setting: the time and place and location of which a story takes place