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allusion
reference by one text to another. Not a quotation, but an echo or indirect reference that readers are expected to recognize. Allusions are supposed to be meaningful, giving you insight into the text’s theme. “Big Water” alludes to the Iroquois creation myth.
close reading
The formal analysis of a literary text, without reference to background information about its author or the period in which it was written, to demonstrate how literary form supports meaning. Close reading focuses on how literature works, or how the specific way in which a text or part of a text is written, out of all possible ways, contributes to its meaning.
epiphany
A moment of sudden revelation or insight, often concerning the true relationship between the individual experiencing the epiphany and a general state of affairs. Th
explication
The process, usually involving a combination of summary, paraphrase, and thematic reading, of explaining what a text literally says and evaluating its social significance. Different from close reading, which focuses more on how a text’s form relates to its meaning.
focalization:
A term borrowed from photography, in which it refers to the elements within the picture frame that are in focus. In prose fiction, it refers to the details that the narrator selects and presents to the reader, the elements (from a potentially vast field of possibilities) that the narrator permits the reader to see.
foreshadowing:
An event, hint, or sometimes direct statement that points to events that lie in the future.
image/imagery
An image is a use of language to appeal to the senses, and imagery is the use of images. Images can be classified by the sense to which they appeal: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, kinetic, etc. Note that imagery is not the same thing as diction, which refers to the words an author chooses to use. Also, contrary to what many online definitions claim, imagery is not figurative: it is literal.
irony
refers to some sort of gap, whether between words and intentions, levels of knowledge, or intentions and outcomes.
dramatic irony
The gap between what the characters in a narrative knows, and what the reader/audience knows. Widely used in drama, but can occur in any form of narrative.
situation irony
The gap between the intention behind an action and its outcome. If I drive to Montréal because I’m afraid of flying and get into an accident on the 401, that’s situationally ironic. Not to be confused with misfortune, like rain on your wedding day, a free ride when you’ve already paid, or any of the things listed in Alanis Morissette’s song “Ironic.” (The fact that a song called “Ironic” misunderstands irony is, on the other hand, ironic.)
Verbal irony
Refers to a gap between the literal meaning of an utterance and the intention we can perceive behind it. Special cases include hyperbole, or deliberate exaggeration, and litotes, or deliberate understatement.
Juxtaposition
Literally, placing things side-by-side, usually to reveal some contrast or unexpected similarity between them.
Metaphore
A type of comparison that doesn’t rely on the linguistic techniques that characterize a simile. Whereas similes emphasize likeness, metaphors emphasize identity, so they make a stronger assertion. However, whereas similes are literal, metaphors are figurative: in order to recognize the statement they make as metaphorical, you must be aware that it is not literally true. If I say, “A tree is a plant,” that is not a metaphor: it is literally true. If I say, “I am a tree,” that is a metaphor, because, well, I’m not one.
metonyny
Referring to something not by its name, but by some property with which it is associated. E.g., referring to the American film industry as Hollywood, or saying “We’re going to put boots on the ground” meaning that we’re going to send in the army. Related, but not identical, to synecdoche.
Narative/ naration
A narrative is a story, consisting of events told (narrated) by voice in the text known as the narrator. Narration is the act of telling a story. Prose fiction usually combines narrative, the part of the story told by the narrator, with dialogue, which is reported conversation. A narrative comprises plot, or the events that are narrated, and also style and tone, or the manner in which the events are told.
Narrator
in works of prose fiction, the voice in the text that tells the story. There are several types of narrator:
first-/second-/third-person narrator
The point of view from which a narrative is told. First-person narrators refer to themselves as “I,” and are often characters in the story who participate actively in events. Third-person narrators are typically not involved in the action, but instead refer to all characters using third-person pronouns (he, she, it, they). Second-person narrators are very rare.
naïve or innocent narrators:
Narrators whose access to information is limited, either by opportunity or ability to understand. They are not deceptive, telling the truth as they see it, but it’s clear that their perspective is not sufficient; readers must learn to supplement what these narrators say with their own, superior understanding. Child narrators are often naïve; alternatively, a narrator can be naïve by sticking mainly to the point of view of a character whose knowledge is limited, as the early Harry Potter books do.
objective narrators:
Showing instead of telling, these narrators confine themselves to events and conversation. They do not take you inside characters’ heads. Objective narrators allow readers to know only what characters in the text are able to know.
omniscient narrators
: These narrators know everything there is to know about a narrative, and can even take you inside characters’ minds. They can be editorial, passing judgement on or sharing opinions about the events they narrate, or impartial, simply presenting the narrative without comment.
participant/non-participant narrator
: A participant narrator is involved in the events of the plot; Mama in “Everyday Use” is a participant narrator. A non-participant narrator is not involved in the action, but presents it as it were from the outside.
unreliable narrators
: Narrators who, whether through ignorance, delusion, or derangement, or sinister intent, provide false or misleading information. Readers must learn to mistrust what these narrators say.
pathetic fallacy
A form of personification that projects emotions inside a human subject onto the world outside that subject’s consciousness (e.g., “a sullen landscape”—landscapes neither are nor are not sullen, but if I’m feeling sullen I might project that feeling onto the landscape around me). This terms sounds pejorative, but needn’t be: “pathetic” = pertaining to pathos, emotion; “fallacy” = something that isn’t true. In other words, it’s a misrecognitionas being out there of something that’s really in here. It need not be a mistake: it can be a form of artistry, creating a powerfully vivid setting that’s imbued with human emotions in a way that it couldn’t be in real life.
Paraphrase
Repeating the things said by a literary text using language other than the text’s. Often a useful step in working toward a close reading.
personification:
also known as prosopopoeia, this term refers to the endowing of non-human objects, including inanimate objects, with human attributes. It has two subcategories: anthropomorphism (attributing human behaviour, as opposed to attributes, to non-human living things, such as animals or gods—to treat them as if they were human) and zoomorphism (ascribing animal attributes to objects that are neither human nor animal). Personification and anthropomorphism are often used interchangeably, but to those who distinguish between them “rain danced on the rooftop” is anthropomorphism because it refers to behaviour, whereas “the rain was malevolent” is personification because it refers to an attribute (malevolence). Disney movies anthropomorphize everything.
rhetorical question
: a phrase posed as a question, but which is not a sincere question, either because the answer is implicit, or because it cannot be answered, or because no answer is expected or required.
simile:
A comparison using the words “like,” “as,” “than,” or verbs denoting resemblance. Similes emphasize likeness, so they make a weaker assertion than metaphors. However, it is a mistake to conclude that they are therefore inferior to metaphors: they are literal whereas metaphors are figurative, so they perform a different cognitive function.
style
Characteristics of the language used in a literary texts, such as simple or technical vocabulary, complex or short sentences, formal or colloquial language, descriptive or sparse narration, a neutral or mocking tone, recurring grammatical features or literary devices, or any number of other characteristics. The style of “Story of a Hour” is more formal and detached than the style of “Big Water.”
summary/synopsis:.
A brief encapsulation of the main information conveyed by a text, or part of a text
symbol:
An object, character, or action that both is what it appears to be, and also stands for a meaning beyond itself. We have to grasp that additional meaning, without forgetting what the object etc. appears to be. The fruit in “Goblin Market” is fruit, but it is also symbolic.
synecdoche:
The substitution of a part for the whole (e.g., “All hands on deck!” “We’re going to put boots on the ground.”) or of the whole for a part (e.g., “The police arrested a suspect”—all the police? More likely it was a couple of officers, acting with the authority of the whole force).
theme/thematic:
A theme is an idea about the world, conveyed in a literary text, that has significance for large groups of people. The term is borrowed from music, in which a theme is a sequence of notes and rhythms—generally a melody—that gives structure to a whole composition. In literature, a theme is an idea that gives shape to an entire work, but unlike with music it is seldom stated explicitly: you have to interpret the theme, which is why thesis statements in essay about literary usually focus on the theme. Thematic reading aims to discover the theme of a literary work. Note that thematic reading is part of what literary critics do, but it’s far from all. Themes are often banal: crime doesn’t pay, you can’t beat destiny, etc. It’t how a text leads you to an awareness of its theme that differentiates texts from one another, and makes them interesting to think and talk about.
tone:
The tone of voice in which you can imagine a text being uttered. The tone of “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is sometimes mocking, but at other times very serious.