Literary Terms, Genres and Movements
Literary Terms, Genres and Movements
Terminology gives 2 questions and is the part of the literature block where an Honours graduate should be strongest. The paper asks for a term given its definition, or a movement given its features, so learning each term with one example is what makes it stick.
Terms of Structure and Narrative
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Plot | The arrangement of events in a narrative |
| Theme | The central idea a work explores |
| Protagonist / Antagonist | The central character / the opposing force |
| Soliloquy | A character speaking his thoughts alone on stage |
| Aside | A remark to the audience that other characters do not hear |
| Catharsis | The purging of pity and fear through tragedy |
| Hamartia | The tragic flaw that brings a hero down |
| Denouement | The final unravelling of the plot |
| Foreshadowing | A hint of what is to come |
Soliloquy and aside are the pair most often confused. In a soliloquy the character is alone and speaks his mind; in an aside other characters are present but do not hear. To be or not to be is a soliloquy.
✗ An aside is a long speech delivered alone on stage | ✓ That is a soliloquy; an aside is a short remark others do not hear
Catharsis and hamartia both come from Aristotle's Poetics, and a question may ask for the source rather than the meaning.
Genres
- Epic — a long narrative poem on a heroic subject, as in Paradise Lost.
- Elegy — a lament for the dead, as in Gray's Elegy.
- Ode — a formal address to a person, thing or idea, as in Keats's odes.
- Ballad — a narrative poem in simple stanzas, often anonymous and oral in origin.
- Lyric — a short poem expressing personal feeling.
- Satire — a work exposing folly or vice through ridicule.
- Allegory — a narrative in which characters and events carry a second, symbolic meaning.
Elegy and ode are regularly confused: an elegy mourns, an ode celebrates or addresses. Both are formal and both are poems, which is why the definitions have to be exact rather than approximate.
Movements
| Movement | Central feature | Associated with |
|---|---|---|
| Renaissance | Revival of classical learning | Spenser, Marlowe |
| Metaphysical poetry | Wit, conceits, argument in verse | Donne, Marvell |
| Neoclassicism | Reason, order, satire | Pope, Dryden, Johnson |
| Romanticism | Nature, imagination, emotion | Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley |
| Realism | Ordinary life without idealising | Dickens, Hardy |
| Modernism | Experiment, fragmentation | Eliot, Joyce, Woolf |
| Postcolonialism | Writing back after empire | Achebe, Rushdie, Roy |
The metaphysical conceit deserves its own note: it is an extended and surprising comparison between two very unlike things, as when Donne compares two lovers to the legs of a compass. The term appears in questions about Donne almost every time.
Prose Forms
Three prose forms are asked by definition rather than by example.
- Essay — a short prose composition on a single subject; Bacon and Lamb are the standard names.
- Short story — a brief narrative with a single effect, unity of impression being its defining quality.
Francis Bacon is called the father of the English essay, and his essays are known for their compressed, aphoristic style — Of Studies being the most quoted. The epithet is asked alongside Chaucer's and Dryden's, which is why all three should be learnt together.
Soliloquy = अकेले मंच पर; Aside = दूसरों को सुनाई बिना।
TRE pointer: The soliloquy and aside pair and the elegy and ode pair are the two definition traps set most often. Catharsis, hamartia and the metaphysical conceit are the terms that mark an Honours-level candidate. Learn each movement with two names attached, because the paper often gives the writers and asks for the movement rather than the reverse. With −1/3 negative marking, exact definitions matter more than approximate ones.
60-Second Recap
- Soliloquy is spoken alone; an aside is unheard by other characters on stage.
- Catharsis and hamartia both come from Aristotle's Poetics.
- An elegy mourns the dead; an ode addresses or celebrates.
- Epic is long and heroic; allegory carries a second symbolic meaning.
- A metaphysical conceit is an extended comparison of two very unlike things.
- Bacon is the father of the English essay; his style is aphoristic.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a soliloquy and an aside?
In a soliloquy the character is alone on stage and speaks his thoughts aloud, as in Hamlet's to be or not to be. An aside is a brief remark made while others are present, which the audience hears but the other characters do not.
What is a metaphysical conceit?
An extended and deliberately surprising comparison between two things that seem entirely unlike, worked out at length. Donne's comparison of two lovers to the two legs of a drawing compass is the standard example, and the term is asked whenever Donne appears.
What is the difference between an elegy and an ode?
An elegy is a lament for someone who has died, such as Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. An ode is a formal address to a person, thing or abstract idea, usually celebratory, as in Keats's Ode to a Nightingale.
Where do the terms catharsis and hamartia come from?
From Aristotle's Poetics. Catharsis is the purging of pity and fear that tragedy produces in the audience, and hamartia is the flaw or error in judgement that brings the tragic hero down. Questions sometimes ask for the source rather than the meaning.