Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Lit Terms #6

simile - noun a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')
soliloquy - noun a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections; speech you make to yourself
spiritual - adj. lacking material body or form or substance; concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul; resembling or characteristic of a phantom; concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church; noun a kind of religious song originated by Blacks in the southern United States
speaker - noun someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech or someone especially garrulous); the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly; electro-acoustic transducer that converts electrical signals into sounds loud enough to be heard at a distance
stereotype - noun a conventional or formulaic conception or image; verb treat or classify according to a mental stereotype
stream of consciousness - 
structure - noun a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts; the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts; a particular complex anatomical part; the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations; the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships; verbgive a structure to
style - noun a slender bristlelike or tubular process; a particular kind (as to appearance);editorial directions to be followed in spelling and punctuation and capitalization and typographical display; (botany) the narrow elongated part of the pistil between the ovary and the stigma; a pointed tool for writing or drawing or engraving;distinctive and stylish elegance; how something is done or how it happens; the popular taste at a given time; a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; verb make consistent with certain rules of style; designate by an identifying term; make consistent with a certain fashion or style
subordination - noun the quality of obedient submissiveness; the grammatical relation of a modifying word or phrase to its head; the state of being subordinate to something; the act of mastering or subordinating someone; the semantic relation of being subordinate or belonging to a lower rank or class
surrealism - noun a 20th century movement of artists and writers (developing out of dadaism) who used fantastic images and incongruous juxtapositions in order to represent unconscious thoughts and dreams
suspension of disbelief - noun w
symbol - noun something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible; an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance
synesthesia - noun a sensation that normally occurs in one sense modality occurs when another modality is stimulated
synecdoche - noun substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa
syntax - noun the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences; studies of the rules for forming admissible sentences; a systematic orderly arrangement
theme - noun a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; (music) melodic subject of a musical composition;(linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed; an essay (especially one written as an assignment); the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; verb provide with a particular theme or motive
thesis - noun an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument; a treatise advancing a new point of view resulting from research; usually a requirement for an advanced academic degree
tone - noun (linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages; the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author; a steady sound without overtones; a musical interval of two semitones; the quality of a person's voice; a quality of a given color that differs slightly from a primary color; (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound); a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound; the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people; the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli; verb give a healthy elasticity to; change to a color image;change the color or tone of; vary the pitch of one's speech; utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically
tongue - noun the flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot; a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity; a manner of speaking; the tongue of certain animals used as meat; any long thin projection that is transient; metal striker that hangs inside a bell and makes a sound by hitting the side; a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer language; a narrow strip of land that juts out into the sea; verb lick or explore with the tongue;articulate by tonguing, as when playing wind instruments
in - adj. currently fashionable; directed or bound inward; holding office; adv. to or toward the inside of; noun a state in midwestern United States; a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot; a rare soft silvery metallic element; occurs in small quantities in sphalerite
cheek - noun either side of the face below the eyes; impudent aggressiveness; either of the two large fleshy masses of muscular tissue that form the human rump; an impudent statement;verb speak impudently to
tragedy - noun drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity; an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
understatement - noun a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said
vernacular - adj. being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language; noun the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language); a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)
voice - noun a means or agency by which something is expressed or communicated; the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech; the ability to speak; the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract; something suggestive of speech in being a medium of expression; a sound suggestive of a vocal utterance; (metonymy) a singer; (linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes; the melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music; expressing in coherent verbal form; an advocate who represents someone else's policy or purpose; verb give voice to; utter with vibrating vocal chords
zeitgeist - noun the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation

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