1. Al l iteration The repetition of a n initial cons onant s ound.

Ana phora The repetition of the same word or phra se a t the beginning of s uccessive clauses or verses. (Contra st wi th epiphora a nd epistrophe.) 2. Anti thesis The juxta position of contrasting i deas i n balanced phrases. 3. Apos trophe Brea king off discourse to a ddress s ome absent person or thing, s ome abstract quality, a n i na nimate object, or a nonexistent cha ra cter. 4. As s onance Identity or s imilarity i n s ound between i nternal vowels i n nei ghboring words. 5. Chi a smus A verba l pattern i n which the s econd half of an expression is ba l anced a gainst the first but with the pa rts reversed. 6. Euphemism The s ubstitution of a n inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit. 7. Hyperbole An extra va gant statement; the use of exa ggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or hei ghtened effect. 8. Irony The us e of words to convey the opposite of their l iteral meaning. A s ta tement or s ituation where the mea ning i s contradicted by the a ppearance or presentation of the i dea. 9. Li totes A fi gure of speech consisting of an understatement i n which an a ffi rmative is expressed by nega ting i ts opposite. 10. Meta phor An i mplied comparison between two unl ike things that a ctually ha ve s omething important in common. 11. Metonymy A fi gure of speech in which one word or phra se is substituted for a nother with which it i s closely a s sociated; a lso, the rhetorical

s tra tegy of describing s omething i ndirectly by referring to things a round i t. 12. Onoma topoeia The us e of words that i mitate the s ounds associated with the objects or a ctions they refer to. 13. Oxymoron A fi gure of speech in which i ncongruous or contradictory terms a ppear s ide by s ide. 14. Pa ra dox A s ta tement that appears to contra dict itself. 15. Pers onification A fi gure of speech in which a n i na nimate object or a bstraction is endowed with human qualities or a bi lities. 16. Pun A pl ay on words, sometimes on di fferent senses of the same word a nd s ometimes on the similar s ense or sound of different words. 17. Si mile A s ta ted comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally di ssimilar things that have certain qua lities i n common. 18. Synecdoche A fi gure of speech in which a part i s used to represent the whole (for exa mple, ABCs foralphabet) or the whol e for a part ("England won the Worl d Cup in 1966"). 19. Understatement A fi gure of speech in which a wri ter or a s peaker deliberately ma kes a situation seem less i mportant or s erious than i t is. 20. Wel l, s on, I'll tell you: Li fe for me ain't been no crys tal s ta ir. It's had ta cks i n it, And s plinters, And boa rds torn up, And pl aces with no carpet on the fl oor-Ba re. (La ngston Hughes, "Mother to Son") (a ) s ynecdoche (b) meta phor (c) i rony (d) pun Why s hould white people be runni ng all the stores i n our

community? Why s hould white people be running the banks of our community? Why s hould the economy of our community be i n the ha nds of the white ma n? Why? (Ma l colm X) (a ) a ntithesis (b) l i totes (c) a na phora (d) understatement 21. s ubstituting the word euthanasia for mercy killing" or "ki l ling the terminally i ll" (a ) hyperbole (b) euphemism (c) a s sonance (d) oxymoron 22. I ha d s o much homework l ast ni ght that I needed a pickup truck to ca rry a l l my books home! (a ) s ynechdoche (b) onomatopoeia (c) pun (d) hyperbole 23. Let's just say that Ms . Hilton i s not the bri ghtest bulb on the Chri s tmas tree. (a ) pa radox (b) l i totes (c) a postrophe (d) chi asmus 24. The chug-a, chug-a, chug-a of the tra i n echoed down the hill, whi le a cloud of smoke rose up to the bl ue western sky. (a ) s imile (b) metonymy (c) a na phora (d) onomatopoeia 25. But the pri soner would not a ns wer, he only lay wi th wi de, dark, bright, eyes, like a bound animal. (D. H. La wrence, England, My Engl and) (a ) oxymoron (b) euphemism (c) a na phora (d) personification 26. You ha ve a l ot of work to do, s o I'll lend you a hand. (a ) a ssonance (b) a postrophe (c) i rony (d) s ynechdoche 27. Pi tchi ng pennies with the Pi tts burgh Pi rates in a pitter-

pa tter of rain outside the Pitti Pa l ace. (Ja mes Thurber, La nterns a nd La nces, 1961) (a ) chi asmus (b) a l literation (c) pun (d) oxymoron 28. O Wes tern wind, when wilt thou bl ow Tha t the small ra in down ca n rain? Chri s t, that my l ove were in my a rms , And I i n my bed a gain! (Anonymous, "O Western Wind") (a ) l itotes (b) pa radox (c) a postrophe (d) a naphora 29. The heart of a fool is i n his mouth, but the mouth of a wise ma n i s in his heart. (Benjamin Franklin) (a ) hyperbole (b) chi asmus (c) l i totes (d) a naphora 30. We ta l ked with each other a bout each other Though neither of us s poke (Emi l y Dickinson) (a ) metonymy (b) pa radox (c) s ynecdoche (d) personification 31. The ea rth laughs beneath my hea vy feet At the bl asphemy i n my old ja ngly wa l k (Bi lly Corga n, "Thirty-three") (a ) euphemism (b) s i mile (c) a nti thesis (d) personification 32. I di g my toes into the sand. The ocean l ooks like A thousand diamonds s trewn Acros s a blue blanket. (Incubus, "Wish You Were Here") (a ) chi asmus (b) s i mile (c) onomatopoeia (d) s ynecdoche 33. In the s weat of thy face s halt thou eat bread. (Genesis 3:19) (a ) s imile (b) i rony

(c) metonymy (d) a ssonance 34. Why do we wa it until a pig is dea d to cure it? (a ) pun (b) personification (c) a na phora (d) s ynechdoche 35. "It wa s the best of ti mes, it wa s the worst of ti mes, i t was the a ge of wisdom, i t was the a ge of fool ishness, it was the epoch of bel ief, i t was the epoch of i ncredulity, i t was the s eason of Li ght, i t was the season of Da rkness, i t was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we ha d everything before us, we ha d nothing before us, we were all goi ng direct to Heaven, we were a l l going direct the other way." (Cha rl es Dickens, A Ta le of Two Ci ti es) (a ) a ntithesis (b) l i totes (c) s i mile (d) understatement 36. My wi s hes ra ced through the hous e high hay And nothing I cared, at my s ky bl ue tra des, . . . (Dyl a n Thomas, "Fern Hill") (a ) s imile (b) i rony (c) metonymy (d) a ssonance 37. And he was ri ch, yes, ri cher tha n a king, And a dmirably s chooled in every gra ce: In fi ne--we thought that he was everythi ng To ma ke us wish that we were in hi s place. So on we worked and waited for the l i ght, And went without the meat a nd curs ed the bread, And Ri chard Cory, one calm s ummer night, Went home and put a bullet in his hea d. (E. A. Robi nson, "Richard Cory") (a ) chi asmus (b) l i totes (c) a nti thesis (d) i rony

38. Pros pective buyers are advised not to rel y heavily on the front bra kes, which a re not connected. (a dvertisement for a replica 1925 Rol ls-Royce WWI Armored Ca r) (a ) a ntithesis (b) s i mile (c) a na phora (d) understatement 39. (b) meta phor 40. (c) a na phora 41. (b) euphemism 42. (d) hyperbole 43. (b) l i totes 44. (d) onomatopoeia 45. (a ) oxymoron 46. (d) s ynechdoche 47. (b) a l literation 48. (c) a postrophe 49. (b) chi asmus 50. (b) pa radox 51. (d) personification 52. (b) s i mile 53. (c) metonymy 54. (a ) pun 55. (a ) a ntithesis 56. (d) a ssonance 57. (d) i rony 58. (d) understatement Poetry i s the expression of a thought, an idea, a concept or a s tory i n a structured form which ha s a flow a nd a music created by the s ounds and syllables in i t. Al l types of poems are often wri tten in several s tyles. These s tyl es are defined by the number of l i nes i n each stanza, the s yl lables used i n each line or the s tructures of rhyme used a nd s o on. Here is a list of the main types of poetry commonly used by poets a l l over the world. Ba l lad: This i s an old s tyle of wri ti ng poetry, which was used to tel l stories. A ballad usually has s ta nzas made up of either s even or ei ght or ten lines, a nd ends with a s hort four or fi ve line s tanza. Ea ch s tanza ends with the s ame l i ne, which is called 'a refrain'. Coupl et: Perhaps the most

popular type of poetry us ed, the coupl et has s tanzas made up of two l i nes which rhyme with each other. Qua tra in: This kind of poem has four l i nes in a stanza, of which the s econd and fourth l ines rhyme wi th each other and have a similar s yl lable s tructure. Ci nquain: This i s another unique type of poetry s tyle. As the name s uggests, it is made up of five l i nes. The first l ine is just one word, whi ch is often the ti tle of the poem. The second line has two words which describe the first l i ne. The third line has three words , a nd is mostly the action pa rt of the poem. The fourth l ine i s four words describing the feelings. And the fifth line, again, ha s just one word which is the title of the poem. Ia mbic Pentameter: This is a very compl icated styl e of writing poetry, but was often used by cl a ssical poets. This style uses the s yl lable s tresses to create the mus ical sound. There is one s hort s ounding syllable followed by one l ong sounding s yllable, at the end of ea ch of the five stanzas in a row. Sonnet: This type of poem conta ins fourteen lines and fol l ows conventional s tructures of rhyme. Ha i ku: This is a gain a very s tructured method of writing poetry. Thi s has i ts origins in Ja pa n. This method does not use rhyme. There are three l ines of fi ve, s even and five syllables each. The poem must essentially talk a bout some aspect of Nature. Free Verse: This is a method of wri ti ng poetry, which does not es sentially follow a ny s tructure or s tyl e. There is no fi xed meter a nd no s tructure regarding rhyme and l i nes i n each stanza. This kind of poetry i s quite popular with

modern poets. Epi c: Thi s poem i s usually a long a nd descriptive one which tells a s tory. Epi cs usually a re l onger than mos t poems a nd may even ta ke up a book. Exa mple: Homer's 'Il iad'. Li merick: This i s a very wi tty a nd often vulgar kind of a poem, which i s quite short. This poem has five l i nes i n a stanza. The first, second a nd fifth l ine have the same metri cal s tructure and they rhyme wi th each other. They contain s even to ten s yllables each. The s econd and fourth l ines have the s a me metrical structure a nd rhyme wi th each other. These conta in five to s even s yllables. Thes e are by no means, all types of poetry forms used. But these a re the basics. Most poets use thes e forms a nd s tructures while wri ti ng their poems. The form a nd s tructure of the poem, i deally s hould not limit the thought or the i dea conveyed by the poet. However, these styles of writing hel p make the poem more musical i n i ts flow. Rea d more a t Buzzl e: http://www.buzzle.com/ar ti cl es/types-of-poetry-all-thedi fferent-types-of-poems.html In l i nguistics, ellipsis (from the Greek: , l leipsis, "omi ssion") or elliptical cons truction refers to the omi ssion from a cl auseof one or more words that would otherwise be required by the remaining el ements. There a re numerous di s tinct types of ellipsis a cknowledged i n theoretical s ynta x. This article provides an overvi ew of them. Theoretical a ccounts of ellipsis can vary

grea tly depending i n part upon whether a constituency-based or a dependency-based theory of s ynta ctic s tructure is pursued. Va ri eties of ellipsis have l ong formed a central explicandum for l i nguistic theory, s ince el liptical phenomena s eem to be a bl e to shed light on basic questions of form-meaning corres pondence: i n particular, the us ual mechanisms of grasping a mea ning from a form seem to be bypa ssed or s upplanted i n the i nterpretation of elliptical s tructures, ones i n which there is mea ning without form. In generative linguistics, the term el lipsis has been applied to a ra nge of phenomena i n which a perceived interpretation is fuller tha n that which would be expected based solely on the pres ence of linguistic forms. One tra i t that ma ny types a nd i ns tances of ellipsis have in common is that the a ppearance of el lipsis is optional. The occurrence of VP-el lipsis, for instance, is often opti onal, e.g. He will help, and she wi l l (help), too. Whether or not the verb help is elided in this s entence is up to the speaker and to communicative aspects of the s i tuational context i n which the s entence is uttered. This

opti onality i s a cl ear indication of el lipsis. At other times, however, el lipsis seems to be obligatory, for i ns tance with ca ses of compa rative deletion, e.g. *More gi rl s were there today than girls were there yesterday. The s econd occurrence of girls must be omi tted in this s entence (More gi rl s were there today than were there yesterday). The obligatory occurrence of ellipsis complicates the a nalysis, since one ca n argue tha t obligatory ca ses a re not really i ns tances of ellipsis at all, but ra ther a null pro-form is involved. Thes e aspects of the theory s hould be kept i n mind when cons idering the va rious types and i ns tances of ellipsis enumerated bel ow. There a re numerous widely a cknowledged types of ellipsis. Ni ne of them a re mentioned and bri efly illustrated below: 1) ga pping, 2) s tripping, 3) VPel lipsis, 4) pseudogapping, 5) a ns wer fra gments, 6) s luicing, 7) N-el lipsis, 8) comparative deletion, a nd 9) null complement a naphora. One s hould note that there is no una nimity a mong experts that a ll ni ne of the mechanisms should i ndeed qualify as ellipsis. Most experts would a gree, however, tha t most of the nine a re in fact

el lipsis. The discussion below ta kes their status as ellipsis largely for gra nted. The exa mple s entences below empl oy the convention whereby the el ided material is indicated wi th s ubscripts a nd smaller font s i ze. [edi t]Gapping Ga pping occurs i n coordinate s tructures. Redundant material tha t i s present i n the i mmediately preceding clause can be "gapped". Thi s gapped material usually conta ins a finite verb. Canonical ca s es have a true "gap" i nsofar a remnant appears to the l eft a nd to the ri ght of the elided material. John ca n play the guitar, and Ma ry can play the vi olin. - Ga pping Fred took a picture of you, a nd Sus an took a picture of me. - Gapping Whi le ca nonical ca ses have medial ga ps a s in these two sentences, the ga p need not be medial, a nd it ca n even be discontinuous, e.g. She persuaded him to do the homework, and he persuaded her to do
the homework .

cl a uses. Gapping has been thoroughly s tudied, and it is therefore reasonably well understood, although the theoretical a nalys es ca n va ry s i gnificantly. [edi t]Stripping Stri pping is also known as bare a rgument ellipsis. Ma ny l inguists ta ke s tripping to be a particular ma nifestation of gapping whereby jus t one remnant a ppears in the ga pped cl ause instead of the two (or more) that occur i n instances of ga pping. The fact that s tripping i s l imited to occurring in coordi nate structures is the main rea s on why s tripping is i ntegrated i nto the a nalysis of gapping: John ca n play the guitar, and Ma ry can play the guitar , too. - Stri pping Sa m has a ttempted problem 1 twi ce, a nd he has attempted problem 2 a l so. - Stripping Thes e examples illustrate that s tri pping is flexible i nsofar a s the remna nt i n the stripped clause i s not l i mited in function; it ca n, for i ns tance, be a s ubject as i n the fi rs t s entence or a n object as in the s econd sentence. A pa rti cularly frequent type of s tri pping is not-stripping, e.g. Sa m di d it, not Fred did it. - notStri pping

- Ga pping

Should I ca ll you, or should you call me? - Ga pping Whi le these two sentences again ea ch have two remnants, the ga pped material is no l onger conti nuous. There a re i n a s ense two ga ps i n each of the gapped

Sa l ly is working on Monday, she is

working not on

The ma n who wanted to order the

salmon

wa nt to s ay that to me, or would I want to say that to you? Ps eudogapping They coul d read this book more ea sily than they could read tha t book. - Ps eudogapping Another noteworthy tra it of ps eudogapping (and one that s upports the vi ew that i t is a type of VP-el lipsis) is that it a bsent from l a nguages related to English.

Tuesday. - not-

di d order the s almon. - VP-

Stri pping Not-s tripping's s tatus as a form of el lipsis can be debated, since the non-elliptical versions of these s entences are unacceptable. The key tra i t of ellipsis, namely, is that the both versions a re supposed to be a cceptable (the elliptical a nd non-elliptical version). [edi t]Verb phrase ellipsis Verb phrase ellipsis (also VPel lipsis or VPE) is a particularly frequent form of ellipsis i n English, a bs ent from closely related l a nguages but also used i n Portuguese. VP-ellipsis elides a non-finite VP. The ellipsis must be i ntroduced by an auxiliary verb or by the pa rticleto. John ca n play the guitar; Ma ry ca n play the guitar, too. - VP-ellipsis He ha s done it before, which mea ns he will do it a gain. - VPel lipsis An a s pect of VP-ellipsis that i s unl ike gapping and stripping is tha t i t ca n occur both forwards a nd backwards. That is, the ellipsis ca n both precede a nd follow its a ntecedent, e.g. The ma n who wanted to order the s a lmon did order the salmon. - VPel lipsis

el lipsis Of the va ri ous ellipsis mecha nisms, VP-ellipsis has proba bly been studied the most a nd i t is therefore relatively well understood. Ma ny l i nguists ta ke pseudogapping to be a pa rti cular manifestation of VPel lipsis (not of ga pping). Like VPel lipsis, pseudogapping is i ntroduced by an auxiliary verb. Ps eudogapping differs from VPel lipsis, however, i nsofar a s the el ided VP i s not entirely gone, but ra ther one (or more) remnants of the VP a ppear. This a spect of ps eudogapping gives it the outwa rd a ppearance of gapping. Ps eudogapping occurs frequently i n comparative and contrastive contexts : They ha ve been eating the a pples more tha n they have been eating the ora nges. - Ps eudogapping I wi l l feed the chickens today i f you wi l l feed the chickens tomorrow. Ps eudogapping Ps eudogapping is more restricted i n di stribution than VP-ellipsis. For i ns tance it ca n hardly occur ba ckwards, i .e. the ellipsis ca n ha rdly precede i ts a ntecedent. Further examples: Would you

Ans wer ellipsis associated with question-answer pairs i nvolves el lipsis. The question focuses a n unknown piece of i nformation, often using an interrogative word (e.g. who, what, when, etc.). The corresponding a nswer provi des the missing i nformation a nd i n s o doing, the redundant i nformation that appeared i n the question is elided, e.g. Q: Who ha s been hiding the truth? A: Bi l ly has been hiding the truth. - Answer fra gment Q: Wha t ha ve you been tryi ng to a ccomplish? A: I have been trying to
accomplish

Thi s darn crossword. -

Ans wer fragment The fra gment answers in these two s entences are verb arguments (s ubject and object NPs ). The fra gment ca n also correspond to a n a djunct, e.g.

Q: When does the ci rcus s tart? A: The circus starts Tomorrow. - Answer fra gment Q: Why ha s the campaign been s o cra zy? A: The campaign has been so
crazy

A: He ha s been working on the probl em. B: When has he been working on

the problem?

The fa ct that hers (as opposed to her) must a ppear i n the s econd s entence could be interpreted to mea n that the modifier that i ntroduces the ellipsis i s actually not a n a djective or determiner, but ra ther it is a pronoun. Based on thi s observa tion, one could a rgue that N-ellipsis is in fa ct not a ctua lly a type of ellipsis, but ra ther the modifier serves a s a pronoun of a s ort, which means nothi ng has been elided.
[1]

- Sl uicing

Sl uicing has been studied intensely i n the past decade and can be vi ewed as a relatively well understood ellipsis mechanism, a l though the theoretical a nalysis of certa in aspects of sluicing rema ins controversial. Noun ellipsis (also N-ellipsis, NPel lipsis, NPE ) occurs when the noun a nd perhaps accompanyi ng modi fiers a re omitted from a noun phra se. N-ellipsis occurs wi th a l i mited s et of modifiers i n English (ca rdi nal and ordinal numbers and pos sessive determiners), whereas i t i s much freer i n other languages. The following examples illustrate N-el lipsis with cardinal a nd ordinal numbers: Fred di d three tasks because Sus an had done two tasks. - Nel lipsis The fi rst tra in and the s econd train have arri ved. - Nel lipsis And the following two sentences i l lustrate N-ellipsis with possessive determiners: I hea rd Ma ry's dog, and you heard Bi l l's dog. - N-ellipsis If Dori s tries my chili, I will try hers chili. - N-ellipsis

Due to the personalities. -

Ans wer fragment Ans wer ellipsis occurs i n most if not a l l languages. It is a very frequent type of ellipsis that is omni present i n everyday communication between s peakers. Sl uicing usually elides everything from a di rect or i ndirect question except the question word. It is a frequent type of ellipsis that a ppears to occur in most if not a ll l a nguages. It can operate both forwa rds and backwards like VPel lipsis, but unlike gapping, s tri pping, answer fra gments, and ps eudogapping, e.g. John ca n play s omething, but I dont know what he can play . Sl uicing When he will call I don't know, but John wi ll definitely call. - Sluicing The s luicing illustrated with these two s entences has occurred i n i ndirect questions. Sl uicing i n di rect questions i s illustrated with the fol lowing two examples: A: Something unusual happened. B: Wha t happened? - Sl ui cing

Compa rative deletion occurs in compa rative clauses i ntroduced by tha n i n English. The expression i n the comparative clause is elided tha t corresponds to the expression focused by a compa rative morph such a s more or -er in the antecedent cl a use, e.g. More people a rrived than we expected people would arri ve. Compa rative deletion She ordered more beer than we coul d drink beer. - Comparative del etion Dori s l ooks more s atisfied than Doreen l ooks satisfied. - Compa rative del etion Wi l liam has friends i n more countri es than you have friends i n countries. - Compa ra tive deletion Compa rative deletion is different from ma ny of the other optional

el lipsis mechanisms i nsofar a s it is obl igatory. The non-elliptical vers i ons of these sentences are una cceptable. a complete compl ement, whereby the elided compl ement is a finite clause, i nfinitive phrase, or prepositional phra se. The verbal predicates that ca n l icense null complement a na phora form a limited set (e.g. know, approve, refuse,decide ). Interestingly, the elided compl ement cannot be a noun phra se. Q: Do you know what happened? A:No, I don't know what happened? Nul l complement a naphora Q: Do you a pprove of the plan? A: No, I don't a pprove of the plan. - Nul l compl ement anaphora They tol d Bill to help, but he refus ed to help. - Null complement a na phora They offered two ways to s pend the da y, but I couldn't deci de between them. - Nul l compl ement anaphora Of the va ri ous ellipsis mecha nisms, null complement a na phora is the least studied. In thi s regard, its status as ellipsis is a poi nt of debate, s ince its behavior i s not consistent with the behavior of ma ny of the other ellipsis mecha nisms.

Wha t i s END-STOPPED? END-STOPPED means the line ends i n punctuation, s o that there i s a distinct pause a t the end of the l i ne. EXAMPLE The s ea is ca lm tonight. Wha t i s ENJAMBMENT? ENJAMBED LINE mean the line conti nues through into the next l i ne of poetry. It is a lso called a run -on line. No punctuation will a ppear a t the end of a n ENJAMBED LINE. You are mea nt to read straight through the l i ne when it contains no punctuation a t the end. EXAMPLE She i s as i n a field a silken tent At mi dday when a s unny summer breeze Ha s dried the dew and all its ropes rel ent, Wha t i s a CAESURA? A CAESURA i a a pause in the mi ddle of a line of poetry, i ndicated by a punctuation mark in order to s ymbolize a pause. EXAMPLE St. Agnes Eve Ah, bitter chill it wa s ! The owl , for a ll his feathers, was acol d. Al l egory A s ymbolic narra tive in which the s urfa ce details imply a secondary mea ning. Al legory often ta kes the form of a s tory i n which the cha ra cters represent moral qua lities. The most famous exa mple in English i s John Bunya n's Pilgrim's Progress, in whi ch the name of the central cha ra cter, Pi lgrim, epitomizes the book's allegorical nature. Ka y Boyl e's s tory "As tronomer's Wife"

a nd Christina Rossetti's poem "UpHi l l" both contain allegorical el ements. Al l iteration The repetition of consonant s ounds, especially a t the beginning of words . Example: "Fetched fres h, as I suppose, off s ome s weet wood." Hopkins, "In the Va l ley of the El wy." Ana pest Two una ccented syllables followed by a n a ccented one, as i n compre-HEND or in-ter-VENE. An a na pestic meter rises to the a ccented beat as i n Byron's lines from "The Destruction of Sennacherib": "And the sheen of thei r s pears was l ike stars on the s ea, / When the blue wave rolls ni ghtly on deep Galilee." Anta gonist A cha ra cter or force a gainst which a nother character struggles. Creon i s Antigone's antagonist i n Sophocles' playAntigone; Teiresias i s the a ntagonist of Oedipus i n Sophocles' Oedipus the Ki ng. As s onance The repetition of similar vowel s ounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or pros e, as in "I rose a nd tol d him of my woe." Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd As tronomer" contains a ssonantal "I's " in the following lines: "How s oon unaccountable I became ti red a nd sick, / Till ri sing a nd gl i ding out I wander'd off by mys elf." Auba de A l ove l yric i n which the speaker compl ains about the arri val of the da wn, when he must part from his l over. John Donne's "The Sun Ri s ing" exemplifies this poetic genre. Ba l lad A na rra tive poem written i n fourl i ne stanzas, characterized by swift a cti on a nd narrated in a direct s tyl e. The Anonymous medieval ba l lad, "Barbara Allan," exemplifies the genre. Bl a nk verse A l i ne of poetry or pros e in unrhymed i ambic pentameter. Sha kespeare's s onnets, Mi lton's

epi c poem Pa radise Lost, a nd Robert Frost's meditative poems s uch a s "Birches" i nclude many l i nes of blank verse. Here are the opening blank verse lines of "Bi rches": When I see birches bend to left a nd ri ght / Across the l i nes of s traighter darker trees, / I l i ke to think some boy's been s wi nging them. Ca es ura A s trong pause within a line of vers e. The following stanza from Ha rdy's "The Ma n He Ki lled" conta ins ca esuras i n the middle two l i nes: He thought he'd 'list, perhaps, Off-ha nd-like--just a s I-Wa s out of work-had sold his tra ps -No other reason why. Cha ra cter An i ma ginary person that i nhabits a l i terary work. Literary cha racters ma y be ma jor or mi nor, s tatic (unchanging) or dynamic (capable of cha nge). In Sha kespeare's Othello, Des demona is a major character, but one who is static, like the mi nor character Bianca. Othello is a ma jor character who is dynamic, exhi biting a n ability to change. Cha ra cterization The means by which wri ters pres ent a nd reveal character. Al though techniques of cha ra cterization are complex, wri ters typi cally reveal characters through their speech, dress, ma nner, a nd a ctions. Readers come to understand the character Mi s s Emily i n Faulkner's story "A Ros e for Emily" through what she s a ys , how she lives, and what she does. Cl i max The turning point of the action in the pl ot of a play or s tory. The cl i max represents the point of grea test tension i n the work. The cl i max of John Updike's "A&P," for exa mple, occurs when Sammy qui ts his job as a ca shier. Cl os ed form A type of form or s tructure i n poetry cha racterized by regularity a nd consistency i n such elements

a s rhyme, line l ength, and metrical pa ttern. Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" provi des one of many e xamples. A s i ngle s tanzaillustrates some of the features of cl osed form: Whos e woods these are I think I know. Hi s house is i n the vi llage though. He wi ll not s ee me stopping here To wa tch his woods fill up with s now. Compl ication An i ntensification of the conflict in a s tory or pl ay. Complication bui lds up, a ccumulates, a nd develops the primary or central confl ict in a literary work. Frank O'Connor's story "Guests of the Na ti on" provides a striking exa mple, as does Ralph Ellison's "Ba ttl e Royal." Confl ict A s truggle between opposing forces in a s tory or play, usually res olved by the end of the work. The conflict may occur within a cha ra cter as well as between cha ra cters. La dy Gregory's one-act pl a y The Rising of the Moon exemplifies both types of confl ict as the Policeman wrestles wi th his conscience i n a n inner confl ict and confronts an a nta gonist in the person of the ba l lad singer. Connotation The a ssociations called up by a word tha t goes beyond its di cti onary meaning. Poets, es pecially, tend to use words ri ch i n connotation. Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle i nto That Good Ni ght" i ncludes i ntensely connotative l anguage, as i n these l i nes: "Good men, the l ast wave by, cryi ng how bri ght / Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, / Ra ge, ra ge against the dyi ng of the light." Conventi on A cus tomary feature of a literary work, s uch as the use of a chorus i n Greek tra gedy, the i ncl usion of an explicit moral in a fa ble, or the use of a particular rhyme s cheme in a vi llanelle. Li tera ry conventions are defining

fea tures of particular literary genres, such as novel, short story, ba l lad, sonnet, and play. Coupl et A pa ir of rhymed lines that may or ma y not constitute a s eparate stanza in a poem. Sha kespeare's s onnets end in rhymed couplets, as i n "For thy s weet l ove remembered s uch wea lth brings / That then I scorn to cha nge my s tate with kings." Da ctyl A s tressed s yllable followed by two uns tressed ones, as in FLUTter-i ng or BLUE-ber-ry. The fol l owing playful lines illustrate double dactyls, two dactyls per l i ne: Hi ggledy, piggledy, Emi l y Dickinson Gi bbering, jabbering. Denotation The di ctionary meaning of a word. Wri ters typi cally play off a word's denotative meaning against its connotations, or s uggested a nd i mplied a ssociational i mplications. In the following lines from Peter Mei nke's "Advice to My Son" the references to flowers and fruit, brea d and wine denote specific thi ngs, but also s uggest something beyond the literal, dictionary mea nings of the words: To be s pecific, between the peony a nd rose Pl a nt squash and spinach, turnips a nd tomatoes; Bea uty is nectar a nd nectar, i n a des ert, saves-... a nd a lways serve bread with your wi ne. But, s on, a l ways serve wine. Denouement The res olution of the plot of a l i terary work. The denouement of Ha mlet ta kes place a fter the ca tastrophe, with the stage l i ttered with corpses. During the denouement Fortinbras makes a n entra nce and a s peech, a nd Hora ti o speaks his sweet lines i n pra i se of Hamlet. Di a logue The conversation of characters i n

a l i terary work. In fiction, dialogue i s typi cally enclosed within quota tion marks. In plays, cha ra cters' speech is preceded by thei r names. Di cti on The s election of words i n a literary work. A work's diction forms one of i ts centrally i mportant literary el ements, as wri ters use words to convey a cti on, reveal character, i mply a ttitudes, i dentify themes, a nd s uggest va lues. We ca n speak of the di ction particular to a cha ra cter, as i n Iago's a nd Des demona's very different ways of s peaking in Othello. We can a l so refer to a poet's diction as represented over the body of his or her work, a s i n Donne's or Hughes's diction. El egy A l yri c poem that laments the dea d. Robert Hayden's "Those Wi nter Sundays" is elegiac in tone. A more explicitly i dentified elegy is W.H. Auden's "In Memory of Wi l liam Butler Yeats" a nd his "Funeral Blues." El i sion The omission of an unstressed vowel or s yllable to preserve the meter of a line of poetry. Al exa nder uses elision i n "Sound a nd Sense": "Flies o'er th' unbending corn...." Enja mbment A run-on line of poetry i n which l ogical a nd grammatical sense ca rri es over from one line into the next. An enjambed l ine differs from a n end-stopped l ine in which the gra mmatical and logical sense i s completed within the line. In the opening lines of Robert Browni ng's "My La st Duchess," for exa mple, the first line is ends topped and the second enja mbed: Tha t's my l ast Duchess painted on the wa ll, Looki ng as i f s he were a live. I ca ll Tha t pi ece a wonder, now.... Epi c A l ong narra tive poem that records the adventures of a hero. Epi cs typically chronicle the origins of a ci vi lization and embody i ts

centra l va lues. Examples from wes tern literature i nclude Homer's Iliad a nd Odyssey, Vi rgi l's Aeneid, a nd Mi l ton's Paradise Lost. Epi gra m A bri ef witty poem, often satirical. Al exa nder Pope's "Epigram Engra ved on the Collar of a Dog" exemplifies the genre: I a m hi s Highness' dog at Kew; Pra y tel l me, sir, whose dog are you? Expos ition The fi rst s tage of a fictional or dra ma tic plot, in which necessary ba ckground information i s provi ded. Ibsen's A Doll's House, for i ns tance, begins with a convers ation between the two centra l characters, a dialogue that fi l ls the audience in on events that occurred before the action of the pl a y begins, but which are i mportant i n the development of i ts plot. Fa l ling a ction In the plot of a story or pl ay, the a cti on following the climax of the work tha t moves i t towards i ts denouement or resolution. The fa l ling action of Othello begins a fter Othello realizes that Iago is res ponsible for plotting a gainst hi m by s purring him on to murder hi s wife, Desdemona. Fa l ling meter Poeti c meters such as trochaic and da ctyl ic that move or fall from a s tressed to an unstressed s yllable. The nonsense l ine, "Higgledy, pi ggledy," i s dactylic, with the a ccent on the first syllable and the two s yl lables following falling off from tha t a ccent i n each word. Trocha ic meter is represented by thi s line: "Hip-hop, be-bop, treetop--freedom." Fi cti on An i ma gined story, whether i n pros e, poetry, or dra ma. Ibsen's Nora i s fictional, a "make-believe" cha ra cter i n a play, a s are Hamlet a nd Othello. Characters like Robert Browning's Duke and Duchess from his poem "My La s t Duchess" a re fictional as well, though they may be based on

a ctua l historical individuals. And, of cours e, characters in stories a nd novels are fictional, though they, too, ma y be based, i n s ome wa y, on real people. The i mportant thing to remember i s tha t wri ters embellish a nd embroider a nd alter a ctual l ife when they use real life as the basis for thei r work. They fi ctionalize fa cts , a nd deviate from real-life s i tuations as they "make things up." Fi gurative l anguage A form of l anguage use in which wri ters a nd s peakers convey s omething other than the l iteral mea ning of their words. Examples i ncl ude hyperbole or exa ggeration, litotes or understatement, s imile and meta phor, which employ compa rison, a nd s ynecdoche and metonymy, i n which a part of a thi ng stands for the whole. Fl a shback An i nterruption of a work's chronology to describe or present a n i ncident that occurred prior to the ma in ti me fra me of a work's a cti on. Wri ters use flashbacks to compl icate the sense of chronology i n the plot of their works a nd to convey the richness of the experience of human ti me. Fa ulkner's story "A Ros e for Emily" i ncl udes flashbacks. Foi l A cha ra cter who contrasts and pa ra llels the main character i n a pl a y or s tory. La ertes, i n Hamlet, is a foi l for the main character; i n Othello, Emilia a nd Bianca are foi ls for Desdemona. Foot A metri cal unit composed of s tressed and unstressed syllables. For exa mple, a n iamb or i ambic foot i s represented by ', that i s, a n unaccented syllable followed by a n a ccented one. Frost's line "Whos e woods these a re I think I know" contains four i ambs, a nd is thus a n iambic foot. Fores hadowing Hi nts of what i s to come i n the a cti on of a play or a story. Ibs en's A Doll's House i ncludes

fores hadowing as does Synge's Riders to the Sea. So, too, do Poe's "Ca sk of Amontillado" a nd Chopin's "Story of a n Hour." Free vers e Poetry wi thout a regular pattern of meter or rhyme. The verse is "free" i n not being bound by ea rlier poetic conventions requi ring poems to a dhere to a n expl icit and identifiable meter and rhyme s cheme in a form such as the s onnet or ballad. Modern a nd contemporary poets of the twenti eth and twenty-first centuri es often employ free verse. Wi l liams's "This Is Just to Say" i s one of many examples. Hyperbole A fi gure of speech involving exa ggeration. John Donne uses hyperbole in his poem: "Song: Go a nd Ca tch a Falling Star." Ia mb An uns tressed s yllable followed by a s tressed one, as i n to-DAY. See Foot. Ima ge A concrete representation of a s ense impression, a feeling, or a n i dea. Imagery refers to the pattern of rel ated details in a work. In s ome works one image predominates either by recurring throughout the work or by a ppearing at a cri tical point i n the pl ot. Often writers use multiple i ma ges throughout a work to s uggest states of feeling a nd to convey i mplications of thought a nd a ction. Some modern poets, s uch a s Ezra Pound and William Ca rl os Williams, write poems that l a ck discursive explanation enti rely a nd i nclude only i mages. Among the most famous examples i s Pound's poem "In a Station of the Metro": The a pparition of these faces in the crowd; Peta ls on a wet, black bough. Ima gery The pa ttern of related compa rative aspects of language, pa rti cularly of images, i n a l iterary work. Ima gery of l ight and da rkness perva de James Joyce's s tori es "Araby," "The Boarding

Hous e," and "The Dead." So, too, does religious i magery. Irony A contra st or discrepancy between wha t i s said a nd what i s meant or between what happens and what i s expected to happen in life a nd i n l iterature. In verbal irony, cha ra cters say the opposite of wha t they mean. In irony of ci rcums tance or situation, the opposite of what is expected occurs . In dramatic irony, a cha ra cter s peaks in ignorance of a s i tuation or event known to the a udience or to the other cha ra cters. Flannery O'Connor's s hort s tories employ all these forms of i rony, a s does Poe's "Cask of Amontillado." Li teral l anguage A form of l anguage in which wri ters a nd s peakers mean exactly wha t their words denote. See Figurative l a nguage,Denotation, a nd Connotation. Lyri c poem A type of poem characterized by brevi ty, compression, a nd the expression of feeling. Most of the poems in this book a re lyri cs. The a nonymous "Western Wi nd" epi tomizes the genre: Wes tern wind, when will thou bl ow, The s mall ra in down ca n ra in? Chri s t, i f my l ove were in my a rms And I i n my bed a gain! Meta phor A compa rison between essentially unl ike things without a n explicitly compa rative word s uch a s l ike or as. An example is "My l ove i s a red, red rose," From Burns's "A Red, Red Rose." La ngston Hughes's "Dream Deferred" i s built entirely of meta phors. Metaphor is one of the mos t important of l iterary us es of l anguage. Shakespeare empl oys a wide ra nge of meta phor i n his sonnets and his pl a ys, often in such density a nd profusion that readers a re kept bus y a nalyzing and interpreting a nd unraveling them. Compa re Simile.

Meter The measured pattern of rhythmic a ccents in poems. See Foot a nd Iamb. Metonymy A fi gure of speech in which a cl os ely related term is s ubstituted for a n object or i dea. An example: "We ha ve always remained loyal to the crown." See Synecdoche. Na rra tive poem A poem that tells a story. See Ballad. Na rra tor The voi ce a nd i mplied speaker of a fi cti onal work, to be distinguished from the a ctual livi ng author. For exa mple, the narrator of Joyce's "Ara by" i s not James Joyce hi mself, but a literary fictional cha ra cter created expressly to tell the s tory. Fa ulkner's "A Rose for Emi l y" contains a communal na rra tor, identified only a s "we." See Point of view. Octa ve An ei ght-line unit, which may cons titute a stanza; or a section of a poem, as in the octave of a s onnet. Ode A l ong, stately poem in stanzas of va ri ed l ength, meter, a nd form. Us ually a serious poem on an exa l ted subject, such as Horace's "Eheu fugaces," but s ometimes a more l ighthearted work, such as Neruda's "Ode to My Socks ." Onoma topoeia The us e of words to i mitate the s ounds they describe. Words such a s buzz a nd cra ck are onomatopoetic. The following line from Pope's "Sound and Sense" onomatopoetically i mitates i n s ound what i t describes: When Aja x strives s ome rock's va s t weight to throw, The l ine too labors, and the words move s low. Mos t often, however, onomatopoeia refers to words a nd groups of words, such as Tennys on's description of the "murmur of i nnumerable bees," whi ch attempts to ca pture the s ound of a s warm of bees buzzing.

Open form A type of s tructure or form i n poetry cha racterized by freedom from regularity a nd consistency i n s uch elements a s rhyme, line l ength, metrical pattern, a nd overa ll poetic s tructure. E.E. Cummi ngs's "[Buffalo Bill's]" is one exa mple. See also Free verse. Pa rody A humorous, mocking imitation of a l i terary work, sometimes s a rcastic, but often playful a nd even respectful i n i ts playful i mi tation. Exa mples i nclude Bob McKenty's parody of Frost's "Dust of Snow" a nd Kenneth Koch's pa rody of Williams's "This is Just to Sa y." Pers onification The endowment of inanimate objects or a bstract concepts with a ni mate or l iving qualities. An exa mple: "The yellow leaves fl a unted their color gaily i n the breeze." Wordsworth's "I wa ndered l onely a s a cl oud" i ncl udes personification. Pl ot The unified structure of i ncidents i n a l iterary work. See Conflict, Cl imax, Denouement, a ndFlashback. Poi nt of vi ew The a ngle of vi sion from which a s tory i s narrated. See Narra tor. A work's point of vi ew ca n be: fi rst pers on, in which the narrator is a cha ra cter or a n observer, res pectively; objective, i n which the na rrator knows or a ppears to know no more than the reader; omni scient, in which the narrator knows everything a bout the cha ra cters; a nd l imited omni scient, which allows the na rra tor to know s ome things a bout the characters but not everythi ng. Prota gonist The ma in character of a l iterary work--Hamlet a nd Othello i n the pl a ys named after them, Gregor Sa msa i n Ka fka'sMetamorphosis, Pa ul in Lawrence's "Rocking-Horse Wi nner."

Pyrrhi c A metri cal foot with two uns tressed s yllables ("of the"). Qua tra in A four-line stanza in a poem, the fi rs t four l ines and the second four l i nes i n a Petrachan sonnet. A Sha kespearean sonnet contains three quatrains followed by a coupl et. Recognition The point at which a character understands his or her situation as i t rea lly i s. Sophocles' Oedipus comes to this point near the end of Oedi pus the Ki ng; Othello comes to a similar understanding of hi s s ituation i n Act V of Othello. Res olution The s orting out or unraveling of a pl ot a t the end of a play, novel, or s tory. See Pl ot. Revers al The point at which the action of the pl ot turns in a n unexpected di rection for the protagonist. Oedi pus's and Othello's recognitions a re also reversals. They l earn what they did not expect to l earn. See Recognition a nd a lso Irony. Rhyme The ma tching of final vowel or cons onant s ounds i n two or more words . The following stanza of "Ri chard Cory" employs a lternate rhyme, wi th the third line rhyming wi th the first and the fourth with the s econd: Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement l ooked a t him; He wa s a gentleman from s ole to crown Cl ea n favored and imperially s lim. Rhythm The recurrence of accent or stress i n l ines of verse. In the following l i nes from "Same i n Blues" by La ngston Hughes, the a ccented words a nd s yllables are underlined: I s a id to my ba by, Ba by ta ke it s low.... Lul u s aid to Leonard I wa nt a diamond ri ng

Ri s ing action A s et of conflicts a nd crises that cons titute the part of a play's or s tory's plot l eading up to the cl i max. See Cl imax,Denouement, and Pl ot. Ri s ing meter Poeti c meters such a s i ambic a nd a napestic that move or a s cend from an unstressed to a s tressed syllable. SeeAnapest, Iamb, and Falling meter. Sa ti re A l i terary work that cri ticizes huma n misconduct a nd ridicules vi ces , stupidities, a nd follies. Swi ft's Gulliver's Travels is a fa mous example. Chekhov's Marriage Proposal a nd O'Connor's "Everything That Rises Mus t Converge," have s trong s a tirical elements. Ses tet A s i x-line unit of verse constituting a s ta nza or section of a poem; the l a st six l ines of a n Italian s onnet. Exa mples: Petrarch's "If i t is not l ove, then what is i t that I feel," a nd Frost's "Design." Ses tina A poem of thirty-nine lines a nd wri tten in iambic pentameter. Its s i x-line s tanza repeat in an i ntri cate and prescribed order the fi nal word i n each of the first six l i nes. After the sixth stanza, there i s a three-line envoi, which uses the s ix repeating words, two per l i ne. Setti ng The ti me a nd place of a literary work tha t establish i ts context. The s tories of Sandra Cisneros are s et i n the American southwest i n the mi d to late 20th century, thos e of James Joyce in Dublin, Irel and i n the early 20th century. Si mile A fi gure of speech involving a compa rison between unlike things us i ng like, a s, or as though. An exa mple: "My l ove is l ike a red, red ros e." Sonnet A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter. The Shakespearean or Engl ish sonnet is a rranged as

three quatrains a nd a fi nal couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. The Petrarchan or Italian s onnet divi des into two parts: a n ei ght-line octave a nd a six-line s estet, rhyming a bba a bba cde cde or a bba a bba cd cd cd. Spondee A metri calfoot represented by two s tressed syllables, s uch a s KNICKKNACK. Sta nza A di vi sion or unit of a poem that is repeated i n the same form--either wi th s imilar or i dentical patterns or rhyme a ndmeter, or wi th va ri a tions from one stanza to a nother. The stanzas of Gertrude Schna ckenberg's "Signs" are regul ar; those of Rita Dove's "Ca na ry" a re i rregular. Styl e The wa y a n a uthor chooses words, a rra nges them i n sentences or in l i nes of dialogue or verse, and develops ideas and a ctions with des cription, imagery, a nd other l i terary techniques. See Connotation, Denotation, Dicti on, Fi gurative l a nguage,Image, Imagery, Irony, M eta phor, Narrator, Point of vi ew, Syntax, a nd Tone. Subject Wha t a s tory or play i s about; to be di stinguished from pl ot and theme. Faulkner's "A Ros e for Emily" is about the decl ine of a particular way of l ife endemic to the American s outh before the ci vil war. Its plot concerns how Faulkner describes a nd organizes the a ctions of the s tory's characters. Its theme is the overa ll meaning Faulkner conveys. Subplot A s ubsidiary or s ubordinate or pa ra llel plot i n a play or s tory that coexi sts with the main plot. The s tory of Ros encrantz and Gui ldenstern forms a subplot with the overall plot of Hamlet. Symbol An object or a ction in a literary work tha t means more than i tself, tha t s tands for s omething beyond i ts elf. The glass unicorn in The Gl a ss Menagerie, the rocking

hors e i n "The Rocking-Horse Wi nner," the road i n Frost's "The Roa d Not Taken"--all a re symbols i n thi s sense. Synecdoche A fi gure of speech in which a part i s s ubstituted for the whole. An exa mple: "Lend me a hand." See Metonymy. Synta x The gra mmatical order of words in a s entence or line of verse or di a logue. The organization of words a nd phrases and clauses in s entences of prose, verse, and di a logue. In the following exa mple, normal s yntax (subject, verb, object order) is inverted: "Whos e woods these a re I think I know." Tercet A three-line stanza, as the stanzas i n Fros t's "Acquainted With the Ni ght" a nd Shelley's "Ode to the Wes t Wi nd." The three-line s ta nzas or s ections that together cons titute the sestet of a Petra rchan or Italian sonnet. Theme The i dea of a literary work a bs tracted from its details of l a nguage, character, a nd a ction, a nd ca st in the form of a generalization. See discussion of Di ckinson's "Crumbling is not an i ns tant's Act." Tone The i mplied a ttitude of a wri ter towa rd the s ubject a nd characters of a work, a s, for example, Fl a nnery O'Connor's ironic tone i n her "Good Country People." See Irony. Trochee An a ccented s yllable followed by a n unaccented one, as i n FOOTba l l. Understatement A fi gure of speech in which a wri ter or s peaker says l ess than wha t he or she means; the opposite of exaggeration. The last l i ne of Frost's "Birches" illustrates thi s literary device: "One could do wors e than be a s winger of bi rches." Vi l lanelle A ni neteen-line lyri c poem that

rel i es heavily on repetition. The fi rs t a nd third lines alternate throughout the poem, which i s s tructured i n six s tanzas -fi ve tercets a nd a concl uding quatrain. Exa mples i ncl ude Bishop's "One Art," Roethke's "The Waking," and Thoma s's "Do Not Go Gentle into Tha t Good Night."

Al l egory Defi nition: An a l legory i s a s ymbolism device where the meaning of a greater, often a bstract, concept is conveyed with the aid of a more corporeal object or i dea being us ed as a n example. Us ually a rhetori c device, a n allegory s uggests a meaning vi a meta phoric examples. Exa mple: Fa i th i s like a stony uphill climb: a s i ngle s tumble might send you s pra wling but belief a nd s teadfastness will see you to the very top. Al l iteration Defi nition: Al l iteration is a literary device where words are used i n quick s uccession and begin with l etters bel onging to the same sound group. Whether it i s the cons onant s ound or a s pecific vowel group, the alliteration i nvol ves creating a repetition of s i milar s ounds in the sentence. Al l iterations a re also created when the words all begin with the same l etter. Alliterations are used to a dd character to the wri ting a nd often a dd a n element of fun to the pi ece.. Exa mple: The Wi cked Witch of the West went her own way. (The W sound i s highlighted and repeated throughout the sentence.) Al l usion Defi nition: An a l lusion is a figure of s peech whereby the author refers to a

s ubject matter s uch as a place, event, or l iterary work by way of a pa ssing reference. It is up to the rea der to make a connection to the s ubject being mentioned. Exa mple: Its no wonder everyone refers to Ma ry a s a nother Mother Teresa i n the ma king; she l oves to help a nd ca re a fter people everywherefrom the s treets to her own fri ends. In the example the author uses the mention of Mother Teresa to i ndicate the sort of qualities that Ma ry ha s . Ampl ification Defi nition: Ampl ification refers to a literary pra cti ce wherein the writer embellishes the sentence by a dding more information to it i n order to i ncrease i ts worth and understandability. When a plain s entence is too abrupt a nd fails to convey the full implications des ired, a mplification comes i nto pl a y when the mwriter a dds more to the s tructure to give i t more mea ning. Exa mple: Ori gi nal sentence- The thesis pa per was difficult. After a mplification- The thesis paper wa s difficult: i t required extensive res earch, data collection, sample s urveys , intervi ews a nd a lot of fi eldwork. Ana gra m Defi nition: Ana gra ms are an extremely popular form of literary device wherein the writer jumbles up pa rts of the word to create a new word. From the syllables of a phra se to the i ndividual l etters of a word, a ny fraction can be jumbl ed to create a new form. Ana gra m is a form of wordplay tha t a llows the writer to i nfuse mys tery a nd a little interactive fun i n the writing so that the reader ca n decipher the actual word on

thei r own a nd discover a depth of mea ning to the wri ting. Exa mple: An a na gram for "debit card" is "ba d credit". As you ca n see, both phra ses use the same l etters. By mi xi ng the l etters a bit of humor is crea ted. Ana l ogy Defi nition: An a na logy is a literary devi ce that hel ps to establish a relationship ba s ed on s imilarities between two concepts or ideas. By using a n a na logy we ca n convey a new idea by us i ng the blueprint of an old one a s a basis for understanding. Wi th a mental l inkage between the two, one ca n create comprehension regarding the new concept i n a s imple a nd s uccinct ma nner. Exa mple: In the s ame way a s one ca nnot ha ve the ra inbow without the ra i n, one ca nnot achieve success a nd ri ches without hard work. Ana s trophe Defi nition: Ana s trophe is a form of literary devi ce wherein the order of the noun a nd the a djective i n the s entence is exchanged. In s ta ndard parlance a nd writing the a djective comes before the noun but when one is employing an a na strophe the noun is followed by the a djective. This reversed order crea tes a dramatic impact a nd l ends weight to the des cription offered by the a djective. Exa mple: He s poke of times past and future, a nd dreamt of things to be. Anthropomorphism Defi nition: Anthropomorphism can be understood to be the act of l ending a human quality, emotion or a mbi tion to a non-human object or being. This act of lending a human element to a non-human s ubject is often employed in order

to endear the latter to the readers or a udience and increase the l evel of rel ativity between the two whi le a lso lending character to the s ubject. Exa mple: The ra ging s torm brought wi th it howl ing winds a nd fierce l ightning a s the residents of the village l ooked up a t the angry s kies i n a l arm. Anti thesis Defi nition: An a nti thesis is used when the wri ter employs two s entences of contra sting meanings in close proxi mity to one another. Whether they a re words or phra ses of the same s entence, a n a nti thesis is used to create a stark contra st using two divergent el ements that come together to crea te one uniform whole. An a nti thesis plays on the compl ementary property of opposites to create one vivi d pi cture. The purpose of using a n a nti thesis i n literature is to create a ba lance between opposite qua lities a nd l end a greater insight i nto the s ubject. Exa mple: When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon it might have been one s ma ll step for a man but i t was one giant leap for mankind. Aphori sm Defi nition: An a phorism is a concise s ta tement that is made in a ma tter of fact tone to state a pri nciple or a n opinion that is generally understood to be a uni versal truth. Aphorisms a re often a dages, wise sayings and ma xi ms aimed at i mparting s ense a nd wisdom. It is to be noted that a phorisms are usually witty a nd curt a nd often have an underlying tone of a uthority to them. Exa mple: Upon s eeing the shoddy work done by the employee the boss

tol d him to either shape up or s hi p out. Archetype Defi nition: An a rchetype is a reference to a concept, a person or a n object that ha s served as a prototype of its kind a nd i s the original idea that has come to be used over a nd over a ga in. Archetypes are literary devi ces that employ the use of a fa mous concept, person or object to convey a wealth of meaning. Archetypes are immediately i dentifiable a nd even though they run the ri sk of being overused, they a re s till the best examples of their ki nd. Exa mple: Romeo and Juliet a re an archetype of eternal love and a s tar-crossed l ove s tory. As s onance Defi nition: As s onance refers to repetition of s ounds produced by vowels within a s entence or phrase. In this regard a s sonance can be understood to be a ki nd of alliteration. What sets it a pa rt from alliterations is that i t is the repetition of only vowel sounds. As s onance is the opposite of cons onance, which implies repetitive usage of consonant s ounds. Exa mple: A l ong song. (Where the o sound i s repeated in the l ast two words of the s entence) As yndeton Defi nition: As yndeton refers to a practice i n l i terature whereby the a uthor purposely l eaves out conjunctions i n the sentence, while maintaining the gra mmatical accuracy of the phra se. As yndeton as a literary tool hel ps i n shortening up the i mplied mea ning of the entire phrase and pres enting i t in a succinct form. This compa ct version helps i n creating a n i mmediate i mpact whereby the rea der i s instantly a ttuned to what the wri ter is tryi ng to convey. Use of thi s l iterary device helps i n crea ti ng a s trong i mpact a nd s uch

s entences have greater recall worth s i nce the idea is presented in a nuts hell. Exa mple: 1. Rea d, Wri te, Learn. 2. Wa tch, Absorb, Understand. 3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycl e. Authori al Intrusion Defi nition: Authori al Intrusion is a n interesting l i terary device wherein the a uthor penning the story, poem or prose s teps away from the text a nd s peaks out to the reader. Authorial Intrusion establishes a one to one rel a tionship between the writer a nd the reader where the latter i s no l onger a secondary player or a n i ndirect a udience to the progress of the s tory but is the main s ubject of the a uthors attention. Exa mple: In ma ny olden novels, especially i n s us pense novels, the protagonist woul d move a way from the stream of the s tory a nd s peak out to the rea der. This technique was often us ed to reveal s ome crucial el ements of the story to the reader even though the protagonist might rema in mystified wi thin the story for the ti me being. Bi bliomancy Defi nition: As the very na me itself s uggests, thi s kind of literary device finds i ts roots i n biblical origins. This term refers to the practice of basing a pl ot happening or event a nd a nti cipating the results it will have on a fa ction of the Bible. It i nvolves a ra ndom selection process wherein the biblical passage is chos en as a founding stone for ba s ing the outcome of the writing. In a n overall context, not limited to jus t l iterature, bibliomancy refers to foretelling the future by turning to ra ndom portions of the Bible for gui dance. Exa mple: The Vedas s erve a s a tool for Bi bliomancy to the Hindus while Mus l ims rely on the Kora n. Bi l dungsroman Defi nition:

Thi s is a very popular form of s torytelling whereby the a uthor ba s es the plot on the overall growth of the central character throughout the timeline of the s tory. As the story progresses, the s ubject undergoes noticeable mental, physical, s ocial, emotional, mora l , and often spiritual a dva ncement a nd strengthening before the readers eyes. It has often been seen that the prota gonist begins with vi ews, aims a nd dreams that a re in contrast to the other characters in the s tory a nd then fights his or her way through to a chieve them. Exa mple: Sca rl et OHara i n Gone With the Wi nd experiences i mmense pers onal growth as s he learns the va l ue of friends and hard work under duress, without compromising her own dreams. Ca cophony Defi nition: A ca cophony i n l iterature refers to the us e of words and phrases that i mply s trong, harsh sounds within the phrase. These words have ja rri ng and dissonant sounds that crea te a disturbing, objectionable a tmosphere. Exa mple: Hi s fingers ra pped a nd pounded the door, a nd his foot thumped a gainst the yel lowing wood Ca es ura Defi nition: Thi s literary devi ce involves crea ti ng a fra cture of sorts within a s entence where the two separate pa rts are distinguishable from one a nother yet intrinsically l inked to one a nother. The purpose of using a ca esura is to create a dramatic pa use, which has a strong impact. The pa use helps to add an emoti onal, often theatrical touch to the s entence a nd conveys a depth of s entiment i n a short phrase. Exa mple: Moza rt- oh how your music makes me s oar! Cha ra cterization Defi nition:

Cha ra cterization i n literature refers to a s tep-by-step process wherein a cha ra cter of a story i s brought to noti ce a nd then detailed upon i n front of the reader. Cha ra cterization is a sort of i ni tiation wherein the reader i s i ntroduced to the character. The i ni tial s tep is to i ntroduce the cha ra cter with a marked emergence. After the a rrival his behavi or is discussed. This is fol l owed by a n insight i nto his thought-process. Then comes the pa rt where the character voices his opi nions or converses with others i n the story. The l ast a nd finalizing pa rt i s when others in the plot res pond to the characters pres ence. Exa mple: Mi cha el Corleone was not jus' a ma fi aso, but a family man. A ma n who wa lked the knife's edge to pres erve his sanity. Chi a smus Defi nition: A chi asmus is a l iterary tool where a rhetori c figure of speech is utilized. The uniqueness of a chiasmus a ri ses from the fact that it has two fra cti ons in the whole phrase/ pros e/ paragraph a nd these two fra cti ons are i n s ync with one a nother. The second fraction is a rra nged i n a s yntactically tuned form wi th respect to the first. Exa mple: You ca n ta ke the patriot out of the country but you ca nnot ta ke the country out of the patriot" Ci rcuml ocution Defi nition: Ci rcuml ocution is a form of writing where the writer uses exa ggeratedly l ong a nd complex s entences in order to convey a mea ning that could have otherwise been conveyed through a s horter, much s impler s entence. Ci rcuml ocution i nvolves stating an i dea or a vi ew in an i ndirect manner tha t l eaves the reader guessing a nd gra s ping a t the actual meaning. Exa mple: Ins tead of writing he arrived for di nner at 8 pm the author wri tes,

8 pm wa s when he reached the di nner party. Confl ict Defi nition: It i s a literary devi ce used for expressing a resistance the prota gonist of the story fi nds in a chi eving his a ims/ dreams. The confl ict is a discord that can have external a ggressors or can even a ri se from within the s elf. It occurs when the s ubject is battling his i nner discord, may be a t odds with hi s surroundings and lastly, ma y be pi tted a gainst others i n the story. Exa mple: John tri ed hard to convi nce himself tha t hi s Hollywood dreams were worth the s truggle but his parents, a nd his inner voice of reason, failed to a gree. Connotation Defi nition: Connotation is a complex l iterary devi ce wherein the i ntended mea ning i s not stated cl early and is i ns tead conveyed through covert, i ndirect means. Connotations l eaves a little of the meaning uns tated s o that the reader ca n decode it for himself. Exa mple: And once again, the autumn leaves were fa lling. Thi s phrase uses autumn to signify s omething coming to a n end. Cons onance Defi nition: Cons onance refers to repetition of s ounds produced by consonants wi thin a s entence or phrase. In this rega rd consonance can be understood to be a kind of a l literation. What sets it a part from a l literations is that i t is the repetition of only consonant s ounds. Consonance is the opposite of a s sonance, which i mplies repetitive usage of vowel sounds. Exa mple: Si ng s weet s ongs for s uzy. Denotation Defi nition: Denotation refers to expressing a mea ning or the significance of a

pa rt of a s tory i n a straightforward, cl ea r-cut manner. There is no roundabout, covert manner empl oyed and hence denotation is the opposite of connotation. Exa mple: He pa cked his bags and made his wa y out of the house, l eavi ng his ol d l ife behind forever. Deus ex Ma china Defi nition: Deus ex Ma china is a rather debatable a nd often cri ticized form of l i terary device. It refers to the i nci dence where a n i mplausible concept or character i s brought into the s tory i n order to make the confl ict in the story resolve a nd to bri ng a bout a pleasing solution. The us e of Deus ex Ma china is not recommended as it is s een to be the ma rk of a poor plot that the wri ter needs to resort to ra ndom, i ns upportable and unbelievable twi s ts and turns to reach the end of the s tory. Exa mple: If i n a suspense novel the prota gonist s uddenly finds a s ol ution to his dilemmas because of di vi ne intervention. Di cti on Defi nition: Di cti on is the distinctive tone or tenor of a n a uthors writings. Di cti on is not just a writer's choice of words it ca n i nclude the mood, a tti tude, dialect a nd style of wri ti ng. Diction is usually judged wi th reference to the prevailing s ta ndards of proper writing and s peech a nd i s seen as the mark of qua lity of the writing. It is also understood as the selection of certa i n words or phrases that become peculiar to a writer. Exa mple: Certa i n wri ters in the modern day a nd a ge use a rchaic terms such as thy, thee a nd wherefore to i mbue a Shakespearean mood to thei r work. Doppelganger Defi nition: The term i s derived from the Germa n l anguage a nd l iterally tra ns lates i nto double walker. It

refers to a character i n the story tha t i s a ctually a counterfeit or a copy of a rea l/ genuine character. Doppelgangers of the main cha ra cters usually bear the ability to i mpersonate the original but ha ve va stly different spirits and i ntentions. The doppelganger us ually has a different a ppearance but a n earthly s oul a nd s upernatural hoodwinking a bilities tha t a llow it to fool other uns uspecting characters. Exa mple: Dr. Jekyl l and Mr. Hyde Ekphra stic Defi nition: Ekphra stic refers to a form of wri ti ng, mostly poetry, wherein the a uthor describes another work of a rt, us ually vi sual. It is used to convey the deeper symbolism of the corporeal art form by means of a s eparate medium. It has often been found that ekphrastic writing i s rhetorical in nature and symbolic of a grea ter meaning. Exa mple: A photograph of an empty l a ndscape can convey desolation, a ba ndon a nd l oss. Similarly, one ca n convey the s ame s entiments a nd concepts by using phrases s uch a s a n empty doorway or a chi l dless nursery. Epi l ogue Defi nition: Epi l ogues are a n i nherent part of a ny s tory or poem and a re essential to the s tructure of any wri tten form. The epilogue i s an i mportant l i terary tool that acts as the a fterword once the l ast chapter is over. The purpose of a n epilogue is to a dd a little insight to s ome i nteresting developments that ha ppen once the major plot is over. Epi l ogues often act as a teaser tra i ler to a ny possible s equels that mi ght be created l ater. Sometimes the epilogue is used to a dd a little bi t a bout the life/future of the main cha ra cters after the s tory i tself has unfolded and wrapped up. Epi l ogues are a n i nteresting fa ction beca use they ca n be wri tten in a number of ways : sometimes the

s a me narrative styl e as adopted in the s tory i s continued while a t other ti mes one of the characters mi ght ta ke up the narrative or s peak one-to-one with the a udience. Exa mple: In a remarkably contemporary moment at the end of The Tempest, Shakespeare's wizard Pros pero a ddresses the audience di rectly, breaking down the boundaries of the play. He informs them tha t the play i s over, his powers a re gone, and thus his es cape from the play's island s etting depends on their a pplause-tha t they, i n effect, get to decide hi s fate. Thi s serves as a Epilogue for Sha kespeare's tra gi-comedy The Tempest. Epi thet Defi nition: An epi thet is a literary device that is us ed as a descriptive device. It is us ually used to a dd to a person or pl a ces regular name a nd a ttribute s ome special quality to the same. Epi thets are remarkable i n that they become a part of common pa rl ance over time. These des criptive words a nd phrases ca n be us ed to enhance the persona of rea l and fictitious places, objects, pers ons a nd divi nities. Exa mple: Al exa nder the Great is the epithet commonly used to refer to Al exa nder III of Ma cedon. The young ki ng has come to be recognized by this epithet i n all of hi s tory a nd popular culture owing to hi s spectacular a chievements in crea ti ng one of the largest-ever hi s torical empires. Euphemism Defi nition: The term euphemism is used to refer to the literary pra ctice of us i ng a comparatively milder or less a bra sive form of a negative des cription instead of its original, uns ympathetic form. This devi ce is us ed when writing a bout matters s uch a s sex, vi olence, death, crimes

a nd "embarrassing". The purpose of euphemisms is to s ubstitute unpl easant a nd s evere words with more genteel ones i n order to mask the ha rshness.. The use of euphemisms is s ometimes ma nipulated to lend a touch of exa ggeration or irony i n satirical wri ti ng. Exa mple: Us i ng to put out to pasture when one i mplies retiring a person beca use they a re too old to be effective. Bel ow a re some more examples of Euphemisms Downsizing - This is used when a compa ny fi res or lays off a larger number of employees Fri endly fire - This is used by the mi l itary when s oldiers are a cci dentally killed by other s oldiers on the s ame s ide. Ti ps y - This is a s oft way to s ay that s omeone has had to much to drink. Gol den years - This is used to des cribe the l ater period of life when s omeone is of old a ge. Gone to heaven - This i s a polite wa y to s a y that s omeone is dead. Enha nced interrogation - This is modern euphemism to minimize wha t by ma ny people would be vi ewed as torture. Euphony Defi nition: The l iterary device euphony refers to the use of phrases and words that are noted for possessing a n extensive degree of notable l oveliness or melody in the sound they crea te. The use of euphony i s predominant in literary prose and poetry, where poetic devices such a s a lliterations, rhymes a nd a s sonace are used to create pl easant sounds. Euphony i s the opposite of ca cophony, which refers to the creation of unpleasant a nd harsh s ounds by using certain words / phrases together. This l i terary devices is based on the use a nd manipulation of phonetics i n l i terature.

Exa mple: It ha s been said that the phrase cel lar door i s reportedly the most pl easant sounding phrase in the Engl ish l anguage. The phrase is said to depict the highest degree of euphony, and is said to be es pecially notable when spoken i n the Bri tish a ccent. Fa ulty Pa rallelism Defi nition: In l i terature, the term parallelism i s used to refer to the practice pl a cing together similarly s tructure rel a ted phrases, words or cl auses. Pa ra llelism i nvolves placing s entence i tems i n a parallel gra mma tical format wherein nouns a re l isted together, s pecific verb forms a re listed together a nd the s uchlike. When one fails to follow thi s parallel structure, i t results i n fa ulty pa rallelism. The failure to ma i ntain a balance i n grammatical forms i s known as fa ulty parallelism wherein similar gra mmatical forms recei ve dissimilar/unequal weight. Exa mple: On the TV s how The Simpsons, lead cha ra cter Bart Si mpson says, they a re l aughing, not wi th me. Fl a shback Defi nition: Fl a shback is a literary device wherein the writer/ a uthor depicts the occurrence of s pecific events to the rea der, which have ta ken place before the present time the na rra tion is following, or events tha t ha ve happened before the events that a re currently being unfolded in the story. Flashback devi ces that are commonly used a re past narratives by characters, depictions and references of drea ms and memories a nd a subdevi ce known as a uthorial s overeignty wherein the author di rectly chooses to refer to a past occurrence by bri nging it up i n a s tra ightforward manner. Flashback i s used to create a background to the present s ituation, place or pers on. Exa mple: Ba ck i n the day when Sarah was a young gi rl

You ca n s ee flashbacks used very often i n movies. For example, is is common i n movies for there to be a fl a shback that gives the vi ewer a l ook into the characters life when they were younger, or when they ha ve done something previously. Thi s is done to help the viewer better understand the present s i tuation. Foi l Defi nition: The term foil refers to a literary devi ce where the a uthor creates a cha ra cter whose primary purpose is to crea te a contrast to another cha ra cter by l aying emphasis or dra wi ng attention to the latters tra i ts a nd characteristics through the formers obviously contra dictory ones. Exa mple: In the popular book s eries, Harry Potter, the cha racter of Hogwarts pri ncipal Al bus Dumbledore, who portra ys good, is con stantly shown to bel ieve i n the power of true love (of a l l forms and types) and is portra yed a s a s trong, benevolent a nd positive character while the a nta gonist Lord Voldemort, who depicts the evil and bad in the s eri es is constantly s hown to mock a nd disbelieve the sentiment of l ove a nd think of it as a foolish i ndulgence, a trait that is finally his undoing. Fores hadowing Defi nition: The l iterary device foreshadowing refers to the use of i ndicative words /phrases and hints that s et the s tage for a s tory to unfold a nd gi ve the reader a hint of s omething tha t i s going to happen without revea ling the story or s poiling the s us pense. Foreshadowing is used to s uggest an upcoming outcome to the s tory. Exa mple: He ha d no idea of the disastrous cha i n of events to follow. In this s entence, while the protagonist i s cl ueless of further developments, the rea der l earns that something di s astrous and problematic is about to ha ppen to/for him.

Hubri s Defi nition: Hubri s, in this day a nd a ge, i s a nother way of saying overly a rroga nt. You ca n tell the di fference of hubris and just regular a rroga nce or pride by the fact that the cha racter has seemed to allow rea lity s lip a way from them. The cha ra cter portraying hubris, also commonly referred to as hybris, ma y ha ve just gained a huge a mount of power a nd the false bel ief that they a re untouchable. Thi s term hubris used to have a s l ightly different meaning and was a very nega tive subject back i n a nci ent Greek. It used to be closely rel a ted to a crime in Athens. In wri ti ng a nd l iterature hubris is generally considered a tra gic flaw a nd i t is saved for the protagonist. The reason for this i s because at the end of the s tory you s hould be able to s ee that it is this flaw that brings the ba d guy down. Exa mple: A cl a ssic example of hubris is fea tured i n Shakespeares play Ma cbeth. Macbeth, the prota gonist, overfilled with a mbition and arrogance, allows his hubri s to think you would be able to ki l l the valiant Duncan without penalty s o he ca n claim the throne of Scotl and for himself. Obviously murder i s highly frowned upon, so thi s eventually l eads to Ma cbeths demise as well. Hyperbaton Defi nition: A hyperbaton is a literary device wherein the a uthor plays with the regul ar positioning of words a nd phra ses and creates a differently s tructured sentence to convey the s a me meaning. It is said that by us i ng a hyperbaton, words/ phrases overs tep their conventional pl a cements a nd result i n a more compl ex a nd i ntriguing sentence s tructure. This literary device is us ed to a dd more depth and i nterest to the sentence structure. Exa mple: Al one he walked on the cold, l onely roa ds. This sentence is a

va ri a tion of the more conventional, He wa lked alone on the cold, l onely roa ds. Hyperbole Defi nition: A hyperbole is a literary device wherein the a uthor uses s pecific words a nd phrases that exaggerate a nd overemphasize the basic crux of the s tatement i n order to produce a grander, more noticeable effect. The purpose of hyperbole is to crea te a larger-than-life effect a nd overly s tress a specific point. Such s entences usually convey a n a cti on or s entiment that is generally not practically/ rea listically possible or plausible but helps emphasize a n emotion. Exa mple: I a m s o tired I cannot walk a nother i nch or Im so sleepy I might fall a s leep s tanding here. Ima gery Defi nition: In l i terature, one of the strongest devi ces is i magery wherein the a uthor uses words a nd phrases to crea te mental i mages for the rea der. Imagery helps the reader to vi s ualize a nd therein more rea listically experience the a uthors wri ti ngs. The usage of metaphors, a l lusions, descriptive words a nd s i miles a mongst other literary forms i n order to ti ckle and a wa ken the readers sensory perceptions is referred to as i ma gery. Imagery i s not limited to onl y vi sual s ensations, but also refers to igniting kinesthetic, ol fa ctory, ta ctile, gustatory, thermal a nd a uditory s ensations a s well. Exa mple: The gus hing brook stole i ts way down the lush green mountains, dotted with ti ny fl owers i n a riot of col ors a nd trees coming a live with ga i ly chirping birds. Internal Rhyme Defi nition: In l i terature the internal rhyme is a pra cti ce of forming a rhyme in only one l one line of verse. An internal rhyme i s also known as the middle rhyme because i t is typically

cons tructed i n the middle of a line to rhyme wi th the bit at the end of the s ame metrical line. Exa mple: The l ine from the famed poem Anci ent Ma riner, We were the first tha t ever burst. Inversion Defi nition: The term i nversion refers to the pra cti ce of changing the conventional placement of words. It i s a literary practice typi cal of the ol der cl assical poetry genre. In pres ent day l iterature i t is usually us ed for the purpose of laying emphasis this literary devi ce is more prevalent i n poetry than pros e because i t helps to arrange the poem i n a ma nner that ca tches the a ttention of the reader not only wi th i ts content but also with its phys i cal a ppearance; a result of the peculiar s tructuring. Exa mple: In the much known a nd read Pa ra dise Lost, Mi lton wrote: Of Ma n's First Disobedience, a nd the Frui t Of tha t Forbidden Tree, whose morta l taste Brought Death i nto the World, and a l l our woe, Wi th l oss of Eden, till one greater Ma n Res tore us, a nd regain the blissful Sea t, Si ng Heav'nly Mus e. . . Irony Defi nition: The us e of irony i n literature refers to pl a ying around with words s uch tha t the meaning i mplied by a s entence/word i s actually different from the l iteral meaning derived. Often, i rony i s used to suggest the s ta rk contrast of the literal meaning bei ng put forth. The deeper, real l a yer of significance is revealed not by the words themselves but the s i tuation and the context i n which they a re placed. Exa mple:

Wri ti ng a sentence such as, Oh! Wha t fi ne l uck I have!. The s entence on the surface conveys tha t the s peaker is happy with their l uck but actually what they mean is tha t they a re extremely unhappy a nd dissatisfied wi th their (bad) l uck. Juxta position Defi nition: In l i terature, juxtaposition i s a l i terary device wherein the a uthor pl a ces a person, concept, place, i dea or theme parallel to another. The purpose of juxtaposing two di rectly/indirectly related entities cl os e together in literature i s to hi ghlight the contrast between the two a nd compare them. This l i terary device is usually used for etchi ng out a character in detail, crea ti ng suspense or l ending a rhetori cal effect. Exa mple: In Pa ra dise Lost, Mi lton has used juxta position to draw a parallel between the two protagonists, Sa ta n a nd God, who he discusses by pl a cing their tra its in comparison wi th one another to highlight their di fferences. Kenni ngs Defi nition: The us e of Kennings i n literature is cha ra cteristically related to works i n Ol d English poetry where the a uthor would use a twist of words, fi gure of s peech or ma gic poetic phra se or a newly created compound sentence or phrase to refer to a person, object, place, a cti on or i dea. The use of i magery a nd i ndicative, direct a nd i ndirect references to substitute the proper, forma l name of the s ubject is known as kennings. The use of kennings was also prevalent in Old Nors e and Germanic poetry. Exa mple: Whi le kennings are ra re i n modern da y l a nguage, there are a few common examples. The phrase tra mp s tamp, used to refer to womens ta ttoos on the lower back, i s a popular one, referri ng to a tra s hy, ta cky a nd vulgar tattoo.

Ma l a propism Defi nition: Ma l a propism in l iterature refers to the pra ctice of misusing words by s ubstituting words with similar s ounding words that have different, often unconnected meanings, and thus creating a situation of confusion, misunderstanding a nd a musement. Ma lapropism is used to convey tha t the s peaker/character is fl ustered, bothered, unaware or confused and a s a result cannot employ proper di cti on. A tri ck to using ma l apropism is to ensure that the two words (the original and the s ubstitute) sound s imilar enough for the rea der to ca tch onto the i ntended switch a nd find humor i n the res ult. Exa mple: In the play Much Ado About Nothi ng, noted playwright William Sha kespeares character Dogberry s a ys , "Our wa tch, sir, have indeed comprehended two a uspicious pers ons." Instead, what the cha ra cter means to s ay is "Our wa tch, s ir, have i ndeed a pprehended two s uspicious pers ons." Meta phor Defi nition: Meta phors are one of the most extensively used literary devices. A meta phor refers to a meaning or i dentity a scribed to one subject by wa y of a nother. In a metaphor, one s ubject is i mplied to be another s o a s to draw a comparison between thei r similarities and shared traits. The fi rst s ubject, which/who is the focus of the sentences is usually compa red to the second subject, whi ch is used to convey/carry a degree of meaning that is used to cha ra cterize the first. The purpose of us ing a metaphor is to ta ke a n i dentity or concept that we understand cl early (s econd subject) a nd use i t to better understand the l esser-knownelement (the first s ubject). Exa mple: Henry wa s a lion on the ba ttl efield. This sentence suggests

tha t Henry fought s o va liantly a nd bra vely tha t he embodied all the pers onality tra its we attribute to the ferocious a nimal. This s entence i mplies immediately that Henry was coura geous and fearless, much like the Ki ng of the Jungle. Metonymy Defi nition: Metonymy i n literature refers to the pra ctice of not using the formal word for a n object/subject a nd i ns tead referring to i t by using a nother word that is intricately l i nked to the formal name/word. It i s the practice of substituting the ma i n word with a word that is cl os ely linked to i t. Exa mple: When we use the name Wa s hington D.C we are ta lking a bout the U.S political hot s eat by referri ng to the political ca pital of the Uni ted States because all the s i gnificant political institutions such a s the White House, Supreme Court, the U.S. Ca pitol a nd many more a re located her. The phrase Wa s hington D.C. i s meton ymy for the government of the U.S. i n this ca s e. Mood Defi nition: The l iterary device mood refers to a definitive s tance the author a dopts i n s haping a s pecific emoti onal perspective towards the s ubject of the literary work. It refers to the mental and emotional di s position of the author towards the s ubject, which in turn l ends a pa rti cular character or a tmosphere to the work. The final tone a chi eved thus is instrumental i n evoki ng specific, appropriate res ponses from the reader. Exa mple: In Eri ch Segals Love Story, the rel a tionship of the two protagonists i s handled with s uch beauty, del icateness a nd s ensitivity tha t the rea der i s compelled to feel the tri a ls a nd tri bulations of the cha ra cters. Moti f Defi nition:

The l iterary device motif is a ny el ement, subject, i dea or concept tha t i s constantly present through the entire body of literature. Using a moti f refers to the repetition of a s pecific theme dominating the l i terary work. Motifs are very noti ceable a nd play a significant rol e i n defining the nature of the s tory, the course of events and the very fa bric of the literary pi ece. Exa mple: In a ll the famed fairytales, the motif of a ha ndsome prince falling i n l ove wi th a damsel i n distress and the two being bothered by a wicked s tep-mother/ evil witch/ beast and fi nally conquering a ll a nd l iving ha ppily ever after is a common moti f. Another common motif is the s i mple, pretty peasant girl or gi rl from a modest background i n fa i rytales discovering that she is a ctua lly a royal or noble by the end of the ta le. Nega tive Ca pability Defi nition: The us e of negative ca pability i n l i terature is a concept promoted by poet John Keats, who was of the opi nion that literary a chievers, es pecially poets, should be able to come to terms with the fact that s ome matters might have to be left uns olved a nd uncertain. Keats was of the opinion that some certainties were best l eft open to i magination a nd that the element of doubt a nd a mbiguity a dded romanticism and s pecialty to a concept. Exa mple: The best references of the use of nega tive capability i n literature woul d be of Keats own wo rks, es pecially poems s uch as Ode on a Greci an Urn and Ode to a Ni ghtingale. Nemesis Defi nition: In l i terature, the use of a nemesis refers to a situation of poetic jus ti ce wherein the positive cha ra cters are rewarded and the nega tive characters are penalized. The word also sometimes refers to

the cha racter or medium by which thi s justice is brought a bout as Nemesis was the patron goddess of vengeance a ccording to classical mythol ogy. Exa mple: In the popular book s eries Harry Potter, the protagonist Harry Potter i s the nemesis of the evil Lord Vol demort. Onoma topoeia Defi nition: The term onomatopoeia refers to words whose very s ound is very cl os e to the sound they are meant to depict. In other words, it refers to s ound words whose pronunciation to the actual s ound/noise they represent. Exa mple: Words s uch as grunt, huff, buzz and s na p a re words whose pronunciation sounds very s imilar to the a ctual sounds these words represent. In literature s uch words a re us eful i n creating a stronger mental i mage. For i nstance, s entences such as the whispering of the forest trees or the hum of a thousand bees or the cl ick of the door i n the nighttime create vi vi d mental images. Oxymoron Defi nition: Oxymoron i s a significant l iterary devi ce as it allows the author to use contra dictory, contrasting concepts pl a ced together i n a manner that a ctua lly ends up making s ense in a s tra nge, and slightly complex ma nner. An oxymoron is an i nteresting literary devi ce because i t hel ps to perceive a deeper level of truth a nd explore different layers of s emantics while writing. Exa mple: Sometimes we cherish things of l i ttle va lue. He possessed a cold fi re in his eyes. Pa ra dox Defi nition: A pa ra dox i n literature refers to the us e of concepts/ ideas that are contra dictory to one a nother, yet, when placed together they hold s i gnificant value on several l evels.

The uniqueness of paradoxes l ies i n the fa ct that a deeper l evel of mea ning a nd s ignificance is not revea led a t first glace, but when it does crys tallize, i t provides a s tonishing insight. Exa mple: Hi gh walls ma ke not a palace; full coffers make not a king. Pa thetic Fallacy Defi nition: Pa thetic fallacy i s a type of literary devi ce whereby the author a scribes the human feelings of one or more of hi s/her characters to non-human objects or nature or phenomena. It i s a type of personification, and is known to occur more by accident a nd l ess on purpose. Exa mple: The s oftly whistling teapot i nformed him i t was time for brea kfast. Peri odic Structure Defi nition: In l i terature, the concept of a peri odic structure refers to a pa rti cular placement of s entence el ements s uch a s the main clause of the s entence a nd/or i ts predicate a re purposely held off a nd placed at the end instead of at the beginning or thei r conventional positions. In s uch placements, the crux of the s entences meaning does not become cl ear to the reader until they rea ch the last part. While undeniably confusing at fi rst, a peri odic structure l ends a flair of dra ma and romanticism to a s entence a nd i s greatly used i n poetry. Exa mple: Ins tead of writing, brokenhearted a nd forlorn she waited till the end of her da ys for his return one ma y wri te, for his return, brokenhearted a nd forlorn, waited s he till the end of her days. Peri phrasis Defi nition: The term periphrasis refers to the us e of excessive language and s urplus words to convey a meaning tha t could otherwise be conveyed wi th fewer words and in more

di rect a manner. The use of this l i terary device ca n be to embellish a s entence, to create a grander effect, to beat a round the bush and to dra w a ttention a way from the crux of the message being conveyed. Exa mple: Ins tead of simply saying I a m di s pleased with your behavior, one ca n s ay, the manner i n which you ha ve conducted yourself in my pres ence of late has caused me to feel uncomfortable and has res ulted i n my feeling disgruntled a nd disappointed with you. Pers onification Defi nition: Pers onification is one of the most commonly used a nd recognized l i terary devices. It refers to the pra cti ce of attaching human tra its a nd characteristics with inanimate objects, phenomena and animals. Exa mple: The ra ging winds The wi se owl The wa rm and comforting fire Pl ot Defi nition: The pl ot usually refers to the s equence of events a nd happenings tha t ma ke up a s tory. There is us ually a pattern, unintended or i ntentional, that threads the plot together. The plot basically refers to the ma in outcome and order of the s tory. There is another kind of pl ot i n literature as well; it refers to the conflict or cl ash occurring as a pa rt of the story. The conflict us ually follows 3 regular formats: a) cha ra cters in conflict wi th one a nother b) characters i n conflict wi th their s urroundings a nd c) cha ra cters in conflict wi th thems elves. Exa mple: Ma ny da te movies follow a similar s i mple plot. Boy meets girl, boy l os es gi rl, boy wins girl back in the end. Poi nt of Vi ew Defi nition:

In l i terature, the point of vi ew is a l i terary device that depicts the ma nner i n which a s tory i s na rra ted/ depicted and who it is tha t tells the story. Simply put, the poi nt of vi ew determines the a ngle a nd perception of the story unfolding, a nd thus influences the tone i n which the s tory ta kes place. The point of vi ew is instrumental i n ma nipulating the readers understanding of the narra tive. In a wa y, the point of vi ew ca n allow or wi thhold the reader a ccess i nto the grea ter reaches of the s tory. Two of the mos t common point of vi ew techniques are the fi rst person, wherein the s tory i s told by the na rra tor from his/ her s tandpoint a nd the third person wherein the na rra tor does not figure i n the events of the s tory a nd tells the s tory by referri ng to all characters a nd places in the third person with thi rd person pronouns and proper nouns. Exa mple: In the popular Lord of the Rings book s eries, the s tories are na rra ted i n the third person a nd all ha ppenings a re described from an outs ide the s tory point of vi ew. Contra s tingly, i n the popular teen book s eries, Pri ncess Diaries, the s tory i s told in the first person, by the prota gonist herself. Pol ys yndeton Defi nition: In l i terature, the literary device pol ys yndeton refers to the process of us ing conjunctions or connecting words frequently i n a sentence, pl a ced very cl ose to one another, as opposed to the usual norm of using them s parsely, only where they a re technically needed. The use of pol ys yndetons is primarily for a dding dramatic effect as they ha ve a s trong rhetorical presence. Exa mple: For exa mple: a ) Sa yi ng here and there and everywhere, i nstead of simply s a yi ng here, there and everywhere.

b) Ma rge a nd Susan and Anne a nd Da i sy and Barry a ll planned to go for a pi cnic, instead of Ma rge, Sus an, Anne, Daisy a nd Barry emphasizes each of the i ndividuals a nd ca lls a ttention to every person one by one i nstead of assembling them a s a group. Portma nteau Defi nition: In l i terature, this devi ce refers to the pra ctice of joining together two or more words i n order to create an enti rely new word. This i s often done in order to create a name or word for s omething by combining the i ndividual characteristics of 2 or more other words. Exa mple: 1. The word s mog is a portma nteau that was built combi ning fog a nd smoke a nd s mog has the properties of both fog a nd smoke. 2. Li ger= Li on + Ti ger= A hybri d of the two feline s pecies, possessing cha ra cteristics of both. Prol ogue Defi nition: A prol ogue can be understood to be a s ort of i ntroduction to a s tory that us ually sets the tone for the s tory a nd a cts as a bit of a backgrounder or a s neak peek i nto the story. Prol ogues a re typically a narrative s poken by one of the characters a nd not from the part of the a uthor. Exa mple: 1. "The ori gin of this story i s..." 2. It a l l began one day when Puns Defi nition: Puns a re a very popular literary devi ce wherein a word is used i n a ma nner to s uggest two or more pos sible meanings. This is generally done to the effect of creating humor or i rony or wryness. Puns ca n a lso refer to words that suggest mea nings of similar-sounding words . The tri ck is to make the rea der have an a h! moment and di s cover 2 or more meanings. Exa mple:

Sa ntas helpers are known as s ubordinate Cl auses. Rhyme Scheme Defi nition: The rhyme s cheme is the practice of rhymi ng words placed at the end of the l ines i n the prose/ poetry. Rhyme s cheme refers to the order i n which particular words rhyme. If the a l ternate words rhyme, it is a n a -b-a-b rhyme s cheme, which mea ns a is the rhyme for the lines 1 a nd 3 a nd b is the rhyme a ffected i n the lines 2 a nd 4. Exa mple: Ros es a re red (a) Vi ol ets a re blue (b) Bea utiful they a ll ma y be (c) But I l ove you (b) The a bove is an a -b-c-b rhyme s cheme. Rhythm & Rhyme Defi nition: The concept of rhythm a nd rhyme refers to a pattern of rhymes that is crea ted by using words that produce the same, or s imilar s ounds. Rhythm and rhyme together refer to the recurrence of s i milar s ounds in prose and poetry, crea ti ng a musical, gentle effect. Exa mple: I a m a teapot Short a nd s tout; Thi s is my handle And thi s is my s pout. When the waters boiling Hea r me shout; Jus t l ift me up And pour me out Sa ti re Defi nition: The us e of satire in l iterature refers to the pra ctice of making fun of a huma n weakness or character flaw. The us e of satire is often inclusive of a need or decision of correcting or bettering the character that is on the receiving end of the satire. In

general, even though satire might be humorous a nd may ma ke fun, i ts purpose is not to entertain and a muse but actually to derive a rea cti on of contempt from the rea der. Exa mple: The best example of satire in modern popculture is the TV s eries Southpark that uses s atire a s it pri ma ry medium for drawing a ttention the flaws in s ociety, es pecially American society a t pres ent. The s cripts and writing for the s how are an excellent example of s a tire i n written form. Setti ng Defi nition: In l i terature, the word setting is us ed to i dentify a nd establish the ti me, place and mood of the events of the s tory. It basically helps in es tablishing where and when and under what ci rcumstances the story i s ta king place. Exa mple: In the first i nstallment of the Harry Potter s eries, a large part of the book ta kes place at the protagonist, Ha rrys , a unts and uncles place, l i vi ng in the muggle (non-magical) worl d with the muggle folks, and Ha rry i s unaware of his magical ca pa bilities and blood. This setting es tablishes the background that Ha rry ha s a non-magical childhood wi th other muggle people a nd ha s no cl ue about his special powers or his parents and is raised much l i ke, actually worse than, regul ar people, till his 11th bi rthday. Si mile Defi nition: Si miles a re one of the most commonly used l iterary devices; referri ng to the practice of drawing pa ra llels or comparisons between two unrelated a nd dissimilar things, people, beings, places a nd concepts. By using similes a greater degree of meaning and understanding is a ttached to a n otherwise simple sentence. The rea der i s able to better understand the s entiment the author wishes to convey. Si miles a re marked by the

us e of the words as or such as or l i ke. Exa mple: He i s like a mouse i n front of the tea cher. Spoonerism Defi nition: Spoonerism refers to the practice of i nterchanging the first l etters of s ome words i n order to create new words or even to create nons ensical words in order to crea te a humorous s etting. While they a re often unintentional and known as a slip of the tongue, in l i terature they a re welcomed as wi tty word-play. Exa mple: The phrase flesh a nd blood being s poken as a character as blesh and fl ood i n urgency a nd heigh tened emoti on. Sta nza Defi nition: The term s tanza refers to a single, rel a ted chunk of lines i n poetry. It ba s ically refers to one unit or group of l i nes, which forms one particular fa cti on in poetry. The most basic ki nd of stanza is usually 4 l ines per group, wi th the simplest rhyme s cheme a-b-a-b being followed. Exa mple: The greedy paddy ca t, Cha s ed a fter the mice; She got s o round a nd fa t, But i t ta s ted so nice Strea m of consciousness Defi nition: The phrase stream of cons ciousness refers to an uni nterrupted and unhindered col l ection a nd occurrence of thoughts and ideas in the conscious mi nd. In literature, the phrase refers to the flow of these thoughts, with reference to a pa rti cular characters thinking process. This literary devi ce is us ually used in order to provide a na rra tive i n the form of the cha ra cters thoughts i nstead of us i ng dialogue or description. Exa mple:

Al l wri tings by Vi rginia Woolff a re a good example of literary s tream of cons ciousness. "Li fe is not a s eries of gig lamps s ymmetrically arra nged; life is a l uminous halo, a s emi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the begi nning of consciousness to the end." The Common Reader (1925) Sus pense Defi nition: Sus pense is the intense feeling that a n a udience goes through while wa i ting for the outcome of certain events. It basically l eaves the rea der holding their breath and wa nting more i nformation. The a mount of intensity in a s us penseful moment is why i t is ha rd to put a book down. Without s us pense, a reader would lose i nterest quickly i n any s tory beca use there is nothing that is ma ki ng the reader a sk, Whats goi ng to happen next? In wri ting, there has to be a s eries of events tha t l eads to a climax that ca pti vates the audience and makes them tense and anxious to know wha t i s going to happen. Exa mple: A cl i ffhanger is a great way to crea te suspense. You remember when you were a kid a nd very exci ted to watch those Saturday morni ng s hows. You can probably reca ll the feeling you had a t the pit of your s tomach when, a fter a bout 25 mi nutes and lots of commercials, you were hoping to fi nd out what happened to your fa vori te character. However, you di dnt get to find out. Instead they woul d make the Tune In Next Week a nnouncement a nd you a l ready knew that you would be there. Same ti me, same place. Sus pense is a powerful literary tool beca use, i f done correctly, you know your a udience will be back for more a nd more. Syl l epsis Defi nition: The device s yllepsis comes into play when a single word that i nfluences or regul ates two or more than two

other words needs to be comprehended indivi dually and i n l i ght of every pa rticular ensuing word. Syl l epsis is often used for a comi cal, wry a nd witty effect. Exa mple: a ) Ja ck l ost his ca r keys a nd his cool. b) Ma ry wa s unable to keep a check on her children or her temper. Symbol Defi nition: A s ymbol is literary device that conta ins s everal layers of meaning, often concealed at first sight, a nd is representative of s everal other a s pects/ concepts/ tra its than those tha t a re visible i n the literal tra ns lation alone. Symbol i s using a n object or a ction that means s omething more than its literal mea ning. Exa mple: The phrase a new dawn does not ta l k only a bout the actual beginning of a new day but also signifies a new s tart, a fresh chance to begin a nd the end of a previous tiring ti me. Synecdoche Defi nition: A s ynecdoche is a literary devices tha t us es a part of something to refer to the whole. It is somewhat rhetori cal i n nature, where the enti re object i s represented by wa y of a fa ction of it or a faction of the object i s symbolized by the full. Exa mple: Wea ry feet i n the walk of life, does not refer to the feet actually bei ng tired or painful; it i s symbolic of a l ong, hard s truggle through the journey of life and feeling low, ti red, unoptimistic and the walk of l i fe does not represent an actual pa th or distance covered, i nstead refers to the entire sequence of life events that has made the person ti red. Synes thesia Defi nition: Whi le the term synesthesia l iterally refers to a medical condition wherein one or ma ny of the s ensory modalities become joint to

one a nother, i n literature it refers to the depiction of a s trong connection, l ink or bond between the di fferent senses. Characters in l i terature are sometimes described to be experiences s ynesthesia. Synes thesia i s the conflation of the s enses. Exa mple: The Sound of Blue by Hollu Pa yne whi ch portra ys synesthesia with res pect to the Romantic i deal. Synta x Defi nition: Synta x i n literature refers to the a ctua l way i n which words a nd s entences are placed together in the wri ting. Usually i n the English l a nguage the s yntax s hould follow a pa ttern of s ubject-verb-object a greement but sometimes a uthors pl a y a round with this to a chieve a l yri ca l, rhythmic, rhetoric or questioning effect. It is not related to the a ct of choosing specific words or even the meaning of each word or the overall meanings conveyed by the s entences. Exa mple: The s entence "The man drives the ca r" woul d follow normal syntax in the English l anguage. By cha nging the s yntax to "The ca r drives the ma n", the s entence becomes a wkward. Theme Defi nition: The theme of a ny l iterary work is the ba se topic or focus that acts as a foundation for the entire l iterary pi ece. The theme links all aspects of the l i terary work with one a nother a nd i s basically the main subject. The theme can be an enduring pa ttern or motif throughout the l i terary work, occurring in a compl ex, l ong winding manner or i t ca n be s hort a nd s uccinct a nd provi de a certain insight into the s tory. Exa mple: The ma in theme in the play Romeo a nd Juliet was l ove with smaller themes of sacrifice, tra gedy, s truggle, hardship, devotion and so on.

Tone Defi nition: The tone of a literary work is the pers pective or attitude that the a uthor adopts with regards to a s pecific character, place or development. Tone ca n portra y a va ri ety of emotions ra nging from s ol emn, grave, a nd cri tical to witty, wry a nd humorous. Tone helps the rea der a scertain the writers feelings towards a particular topic a nd this in turn i nfluences the rea ders understanding of the s tory. Exa mple: In her Harry Potter s eries, author J.K. Rowl ing has ta ken a n extremely pos itive, i nspiring and uplifting tone towa rds the idea of l ove a nd devoti on. Tra gedy Defi nition: In l i terature, the concept of tragedy refer to a s eries of unfortunate events by which one or more of the l i terary cha racters in the story undergo several misfortunes, which fi nally culminate into a disaster of epi c proportions. Tragedy i s generally built up in 5 s tages: a ) ha ppy ti mes b) the introduction of a problem c) the problem worsens to a cri s is/ dilemma d) the cha ra cters are unable to prevent the problem from taking over e) the probl em results in some ca ta strophic, gra ve ending, which is the tra gedy culminated. Exa mple: In the play Julius Ca esar, the l ead cha ra cter is a n a mbitious, fearless a nd power hungry king who i gnores a l l the signs a nd does not heed the a dvi ce of the well-meaning: finally bei ng stabbed to death by his own bes t friend and advisor Brutus. This moment has been immortalized by the phrase Eu tu Brutus?, wherein Ca esar realizes that he has fi nally been defeated, a nd that too through betrayal. Understatement Defi nition: Thi s literary devi ce refers to the pra cti ce of drawing a ttention to a fa ct tha t is a lready obvious a nd noti ceable. Understating a fact i s

us ually done by way of sarcasm, i rony, wryness or any other form of dry humor. Understating something i s a kin to exaggerating i ts obvi ousness as a means of humor. Exa mple: The phrase, Oh! I wonder i f he coul d get a ny l ater; I am free all day l ong. Said i n a s arcastic tone i t i ndicates that the s peaker obviously mea ns the opposite of the literal mea ning. Veri similitude Defi nition: Veri similitude is an interesting l i terary device wherein the quality of s eeming truthfulness or verity i s a s cribed to a person, notion, concept, s tatement or event. The qua lity of the stated seeming to be true a nd correct a nd a ccurate is referred to a s verisimilitude. Exa mple: The bestseller Diary of Anne Fra nk l ent verisimilitude to the s uffering of the Jewish people during the Hol ocaust.

ri tua ls, l iteratures) a nd reproduced as a rchetypes. New Hi storicism i s concerned with relating the i dea of Archetypes are figures or patterns recurring i n cul works ture,of discourse, the imagination, ideology, a the nd ca self, n be and history. New di vi ded into three ca tegories. Archetypal characters text, rea include der, a nd (but history are not a nd limited with a to): special the emphasis o hero, the villain, the outcast, the femme fa tale, Hia s nd toricists the s tar-crossed a lso examine lovers.Archetypal the relationship of literature s i tuations include (but are not limited to): theHi quest, s torical the research journal, death might and include rebirth, Biography a nd (s ee above the ta sk. Archetypal s ymbols and associationssinclude tudies, polarities: or even a technological l ight/dark, water/desert, approach to the mediu hei ght/depth, spring/winter. i ndustry, computers a nd the WWW). It has also been u It i s i mportant to note two things. First, workscri may ti cism contain (seemultiple below). You archetypes. mi ght a sk, Second, "How does the te not everything i s an a rchetype. A balance between thi s text these a useful two extremes historical can document?" be very di fficult to a chieve. Looking for recurring patterns For further within a reading: piece or Columbia within a collection Li terary History of of the U rel a ted stories ca n be useful in using this a pproach. a nd The Li terary History of England, edited by Al bert C For further reading: Northrop Frye's The Educated Top Imagination and Anatomy of Cri ticism. Top

Pos t-Structuralism: While a ccepting Structuralism and (s ee Structuralism below), post-structuralism consider Bi ographical: Relates the author's life and thoughts a nd meaning, to her works. ultimately As these rejecting tend to any reflect certainty of mea the period in which s he lived, biographical criticism mos t imay nfluential be an post-structuralism, important aspect of called the his critical m (New) Historical a pproach (see below). The biographical deconstruction, approach the reader a llows analyzes one to better the text and espe understand elements within a work, a s well as ato mbiguity relate works a nd upset to authorial the connection intention between a nd the text a udience. You might ask, "How does the text reflect i ni tially the ask, author's "How does life? the Is this language/meaning text an in this t extension of the a uthor's position on issues inwork the abe uthor's i nterpreted l ife?" i n multiple ways?" Bi ographical cri ticism has two weaknesses that For should further bereading: avoided.From First, the a void New equating Cri ticism to Decons the work's content with the a uthor's life (or the a nd character Deconstruction: with the Theory a uthor); a they nd Pra a re ctice not by Christoph necessarily the same. Second, avoid less-than-credible Top sources of i nformation, particularly works that tend to be highly s peculative or controversial unless verified by s everal sources. (Some of the recent biographies on Thomas Jefferson might serve as an example of this pi tfall.) Ps ychoa nalytic: Such cri ticism aims a t uncovering the w For further reading: Charles Dickens: A Cri ti cal es Introduction pecially theby expression K. J. Fi elding; of the Henry unconscious. Ja mes: Possibilit Vers e Hi s Life a nd Wri tings by F. W. Duppee; a nd The drea Farm, Side looking of Pa radise: for symbolism A Bi ography and repressed of F. Scott meaning, Defi nition: Fi tzgerald by Arthur Mi zener. a na lysis of a character. The l iterary term verse i s used to Three i deas found i n the work of Sigmund Freud a re pa refer to a ny single, l one line of a Na rra tological: Concerns i tself with the s tructure the of unconscious narrative --how mind events over the a re constructed conscious, the express poetry composition. A metrical a nd through what point of vi ew. You might a sk, s ymbols "How is (often the narrative i n dreams), of this a nd work s exuality (fiction, a s a powerful wri ti ng line is known as verse. The poetry, fi lm) pieced together? Who or what is narrating?" behavi or. Ps This ychoanalyti considers c criticism the narrator ca n be not a pplied to ei word ca n however, also refer to a necessarily a s a person, but more as a window to through the rea which der/text onerelationship. sees a constructed You might a sk, "How is s ta nza or a ny other part of the rea lity. This ca n ra nge from s omeone telling a ta unconscious le to a s eemingly mind: objective of the author, camera: the"To characters, the re poetry. wha t extent is the narrative mediated?" For further reading: Li terature a nd Ps ychoanalysis, edi Exa mple: Top Phi l lips, and The Purl oined Poe: Lacan, Derri da and Psy A s i ngle line or s tanze in poetry P. Mul l er a nd William J. Ri chardson. woul d be a n example of verse. Top New Cri ti cism: Unlike biographical and historical a pproaches, a New Cri tic approach contends that literature need have little or no connection with the a uthor's i ntention, life, or s oci al/historical situation.Everything needed Rea toder-Response a nalyze the work Cri ticism: is contained Studies within the interaction the of r text. New Cri ti cs also tend to examine the physical i ncompleteuntil qualities of ithe t is text read. in This a "scientific cri tical a pproach ca n be Li tera ture Resources ma tter" that examines language and literary conventions a pproaches(e.g. (such rhyme, a s Psychoanalytical meter, alliteration, and Historical) b pl ot, point of view, etc.). It is s imilar, though not focus identical, of New to Cri Structuralism ticism or thein claim its emphasis of meaninglessnes on the text i tself (see below). For further reading: The Reader i n the Text: Essays on Anthropological: Tends to focus on aspects ofFor everyday life i n va rious folklore, further reading: Thecultures New Cri(i.e. ticism by John by Crow Sus a Ransom. n R. Suleiman and Inge Crossman, a nd Is There ri tua l, celebrations, traditions). You might a sk, "What is the everyday s ocial function of this Top of Interpretive Communities by Sta nley Fish. text? How has i t been tra nsmitted (orally/written)? Does it reflect folk culture?" Top Top

(New) Historicism: Ma y approach a text from numerous perspectives, but a ll perspectives tend to reflect a concern wi th the period i n which Semi aotics: text iCri s produced tiques the a nd/or use ofread l anguage, (including preferably i n Archetypa l: Relates to Ps ychoanalytical Cri ticism in s ome ways(see below). Developed by contemporary work). No "history" ca n be truly la objective nguage (see or comprehensive Structuralism). because To the semiotician, history l angu Ca rl Jung, this a pproach a ccepts the idea of the unconscious mind. However, unlike i s constantly wri tten a nd rewritten; however,s studying ys tem of the assigned historical meanings.You context of amight work, ask, "How doe Si gmund Freud a nd other cri tics, Jungians argue part of the unconscious iss hared by pa that rti cularly i n contrast with that in which it i s brea read,kca the n i rules lluminate of language our biases usage? a nd hopefully Why?" Or i f the tex a l l people. From this perspective the term "collective unconscious" developed, a term ena ble us to understand the text (a nd the culture, own context, l anguage, ourselves) "How does better. the language used reflect a n representing the memories of human products and activities (found i n m yths, symbols,

i deological tool?" Top

a re obvious similarities between the Cons piracy i n the play and the Popi sh Plot in history. The Tories woul d never approve of the Soci al Cri ticism: Concerns i tself with the s ocial bl function oody Popish of texts, Plot, thus butconsisting they of s everal ca tegories, a nd a nalyzes social structure, power, nonetheless politics, and s ympathized agency. Social withcriticism the is s i milar to historical cri ticism in recognizing literature pl otters as for a reflection the way they of envi were ronment. There a re s everal s ocial movements, but Ma rxism, Feminism a bused by a nd the Gender Tory enemy, Studies, the and Green Theory a re prevalent. Whi gs. Thus it ma kes sense for Ma rxi s m i s concerned with labor practices, class Otwa theories, y to condemn a nd economics, the conspiracy especially a s concerned with the struggles of the poor a nd ioppressed. ts elf in Vencie A Ma Preserv'd rxist might without ask, "How are cl a sses stratified/defined i n this text? Does this condemning text reflect the a n economic conspirators ideology? What is the a tti tude toward labor furthered by this text?" thems elves. For further reading: Ma rx, Engels, a nd the Poets: (2) To Orihel gins p of usMa decide rxistwhich Literary is Cri the ti cism by Peter Demetz and Ma rxism and Li terary Cri ticism better by Terry of two Ea conflicting gleton. readings. Femi nist Cri ticism examine works by a nd a bout A forma women. list Gender a pproach Cri ticism might enable evolved out of femi nism to a ddress issues of masculinity/femininity us to choose a s binaries, between sexual a reading orientation, hetereosexism, and differences i n sexes. Bothwhi are ch political sees the activities dissolution concerned of with fair representation and treatment of people. A cris tcic ociusing ety i nFeminist Lord of the Studies Flies as orbeing Gender Studies (s ometimes also known as Queer Studies) might ca us ask, ed"How by too isstrict gender a suppression constructed or deconstructed in this text? Is the vi ew of the text of the gendered "bestial" orside s exist?" of man a nd For further reading: The New Feminist Cri ticism: one Es which says on s ees Women, i t as resulting Li terature, from a nd Theory, edited by El aine Showalter, and The Gay tooa l nd i ttle Lesbian suppression. Studies We Reader, can look edited by Henry Avel ove, et al. to the text a nd a sk: What textual A Green Cri tic might ask, "Of what priority i s conservation evi dence is there i n this for text? theWhat is the rel a tionship between humankind and Nature?" s uppression or indulgence of the Top "bes tial" side of man? Does Ralph s uppress Jack when he tri es to i ndulge his bestial side in hunting? Structura lism: Li ke New Cri ticism, Structuralism Does concentrates i t appear from on elements the text within that works of l i terature without focusing on historical, s ocial, an a ind mposition biographical of s tricter influences. law and Structuralism, however, is grounded in linguistics a nd developed order by would Ferdinand have de prevented Sausseure. theSausseure's work a rgues that language is a complete, self-contained brea kdown? s ystem Did itawork nd s hould in the be studied as s uch. Sausseure also claimed that language i s "grownup" a sys tem of world signs. of When the novel? applied to l i terature, this form of criticism is generally known (3) Toas ena Semiotics ble us to (see form a bove). For further reading: Semiotic and Structural Analyses judgments of Fiction: about literature. An Introduction a nd a Survey of Applications by Leonard Orr; Structuralism One of ithe n Li terature: purposesAn of cri Introduction ticism is by Robert Scholes; andThe Role of the Reader: Expl to judge orations ifa inwork the Semiotics is a ny good of or Texts by Umberto Eco. not. For i nstance, we might use a The Purpose of Cri ticism: forma list approach to a rgue that a Li tera ry cri ticism has a t least three John Donne poem is of high pri ma ry purposes. qua lity because i t contains (1) To hel p us resolve a question, numerous intricate conceits that probl em, or difficulty i n the a re well sustained. Or, we might rea ding. us e the mimetic a pproach to The hi storical a pproach, for a rgue that The West Indian is a i ns tance, might be helpful in poor pl ay because it fails to paint a ddressing a problem i n Thomas a rea listic picture of the world. Otwa y's play Venice Preserv'd. Ba ck to Top Why a re the conspirators, despite the horri ble, bloody details of Hi s torical / Biographical Approach: thei r obviously brutish plan, Defi nition: portra yed i n a sympathetic l ight? Hi s torical / Biographical cri tics s ee If we l ook at the a uthor a nd his works as the reflection of an ti me, we see that he was a Tory a uthor's life a nd ti mes (or of the whos e play wa s performed in the cha ra cters' life and times). They wa ke of the Popish Plot and the bel ieve i t is necessary to know Excl us ion Bill Cri sis, and that there a bout the author a nd the political,

economical, and sociological context of his ti mes in order to trul y understand his works. Adva nta ges: Thi s approach works well for some works --like those of Al exander Pope, John Dryden, and Milton-whi ch are obviously political in na ture. One must know Mi lton wa s blind, for i nstance, for "On His Bl i ndness" to have a ny meaning. And one must know something a bout the Exclusion Bill Cri sis to a ppreciate John Dryden's "Abs alom a nd Achitophel." It a lso i s necessary to ta ke a historical a pproach in order to place a l lusions i n there proper cl assical, pol itical, or biblical background. Di s advantages: New Cri ti cs refer to the historical / bi ographical cri tic's belief that the mea ning or va lue of a work may be determined by the author's i ntention as "the intentional fa l lacy." They believe that this a pproach tends to reduce art to the l evel of biography a nd make it rel a tive (to the times) ra ther than uni versal. Sa mple Pa pers: The Ideal Source for a Tory Mes sage: Thomas Otway's Venice Pres erv'd Moti va tion in Sandra Ci sneros's "Never Ma rry a Mexi can" Ba ck to Top Mora l / Philosophical Approach: Defi nition: Mora l / philosophical cri tics bel ieve that the larger purpose of l i terature is to teach morality a nd to probe philosophical issues. Pra cti ti oners: Ma tthew Arnold -- a rgued works mus t have "high s eriousness" Pl a to -- i nsisted l iterature must exhi bit moralism and utilitarianism Hora ce - felt l iterature should be "del ightful a nd i nstructive" Adva nta ges: Thi s approach i s useful for such works as Al exander Pope's "An Es s ay on Ma n," which does pres ent a n obvious moral phi losophy. It is a lso useful when cons idering the themes of works

(for exa mple, man's inhumanity to ma n i n Ma rk Twain's Huckelberry Fi nn). Finally, i t does not vi ew l i terature merely a s "art" isolated from a l l moral i mplications; i t recognizes that l iterature ca n a ffect readers, whether subtly or di rectly, a nd that the message of a work--a nd not just the decorous vehi cle for that message--is i mportant. Di s advantages: Detra ctors argue that such a n a pproach ca n be too "judgmental." Some believe l i terature should be judged pri ma rily (i f not solely) on its a rti stic merits, not its moral or phi losophical content. See Al so: Rea d my i ntroduction to my pa pers for a justification of a Chri s tian cri tical a pproach to l i terature. Ba ck to Top Mi metic Approach: Defi nition: Thi s can be cl osely related to the mora l / philosophical a pproach, but i s somewhat broader. Mi metic cri ti cs ask how well the work of l i terature accords with the real worl d. Is it a ccurate? Is it correct? Is i t moral? Does i t show how people really a ct? As s uch, mi metic criticism ca n i nclude s ome forms of moral / phi losophical cri ticism, ps ychological cri ticism, and femi nist criticism. Ba ck to Top Forma lism / New Cri ticism My a rti cl e on formalism is a va ilable here. Pl ease return to thi s page using the back arrow of your brows er when you are done rea ding the article. Below a re two s a mples of this approach. One is on my website, a nd the other has been contributed as an article to a nother website. Sa mple Pa pers: Sound in William Sha kespeare's The Tempest A Forma list Reading of Sandra Ci s neros's "Woman Hollering

Creek" Ba ck to Top Ps ychol ogical Approach Defi nition: Ps ychol ogical cri tics vi ew works through the l ens of psychology. They l ook either a t the ps ychological motivations of the cha ra cters or of the authors thems elves, a lthough the former i s generally considered a more res pectable approach. Most frequently, ps ychological cri tics a pply Freudian psychology to works , but other a pproaches (such a s a Jungian approach) also exist. Freudian Approach: A Freudian approach often i ncl udes pinpointing the i nfluences of a character's i d (the i ns tinctual, pleasure s eeking part of the mi nd), s uperego (the part of the mi nd that represses the i d's i mpulses) and the ego (the part of the mi nd that controls but does not repress the i d's impulses, rel easing them in a healthy way). Freudian cri tics l ike to point out the s exual implications of s ymbols a nd i magery, s ince Freud's bel ieved that a ll human behavior i s motivated by s exuality. They tend to s ee concave images, such a s ponds, flowers, cups, a nd ca ves a s female symbols; whereas objects that a re longer than they a re wi de a re usually s een a s phallic symbols. Dancing, riding, a nd flyi ng are associated with s exual pleasure. Wa ter is usually a s sociated with birth, the female pri nciple, the maternal, the womb, a nd the death wish. Freudian cri ti cs occasionally discern the pres ence of a n Oedipus compl ex (a boy's unconscious ri va l ry wi th his father for the love of hi s mother) i n the male cha ra cters of certain works, s uch a s Hamlet. They may a lso refer to Freud's psychology of child development, which includes the ora l stage, the anal s tage, and the genital s tage. Jungi an Approach:

Jung i s also an i nfluential force i n myth (a rchetypal) cri ticism. Ps ychol ogical cri tics a re generally concerned with his concept of the process of individuation (the process of discovering what makes one different form everyone else). Jung l abeled three parts of the s elf: the s hadow, or the darker, unconscious s elf (usually the vi l lain in l iterature); the persona, or a ma n's social personality (us ually the hero); and the a nima, or a ma n's "soul i mage" (usually the heroine). A neurosisoccurs when s omeone fails to a ssimilate one of these unconscious components into his conscious a nd projects it on s omeone else. The persona must be flexible and be a ble to balance the components of the psyche. Pra cti ti oners: Ernes t Jones, Otto Rank, Marie Boa parte, and others Adva nta ges: It ca n be a useful tool for understanding some works, s uch a s Henry Ja mes The Turning of the Screw, i n which characters obvi ously have psychological i s sues. Li ke the biographical a pproach, knowing s omething a bout a writer's psychological ma ke up ca n give us i nsight i nto hi s work. Di s advantages: Ps ychol ogical cri ticism can turn a work i nto little more than a ps ychological case s tudy, negl ecting to vi ew it a s a piece of a rt. Cri ti cs sometimes attempt to di a gnose long dead authors based on their works, which is perhaps not the best evidence of their ps ychology. Cri tics tend to see sex i n everything, exaggerating this a s pect of literature. Finally, s ome works do not lend themselves rea dily to this approach. Exa mples: (1) A ps ychological approach to John Mi lton's Samson Agoni sties might s uggest that the s horning of Samson's locks is s ymbolic of his castration at the ha nds of Dalila and that the fi ghting words he exchanges with

Ha ra pha constitute a reassertion of hi s ma nhood. Ps ychological cri ti cs might see Samson's bondage as a s ymbol of his s exual i mpotency, a nd his destruction of the Phi listine temple and the ki l ling of himself and many others a s a final orgasmic event (since dea th a nd s ex are often closely a s sociated i n Freudian ps ychology). The total a bsence of Sa ms on's mother i n Samson Agoni sties would make it difficult to a rgue anything regarding the Oedi pus complex, but Samson refus al to be ca red for by his fa ther and his remorse over failing to rul e Dalila may be seen as i ndicative of his own fears rega rding his s exuality. (2) A ps ychological approach to "The Si lence of the Llano" would a l low us to look into the moti va tions of Rafael--it would a l low us to examine the effects of i s olation and loneliness on his cha ra cter a nd provide s ome rea s oning for why he might chose to es ta blish a n i ncestuous rel a tionship with his daughter. A s pecifically Freudian approach will tune us i n to the relevant s ymbolism which will enable us to better understand the conclusion. For i ns tance, with such a mind fra me, we ca n i mmediately recognize that Rafael's s tatement to hi s daughter "I will turn the ea rth for you. The seeds will grow" i s the establishment of a sexual rel a tionship that will result i n chi l dren. We ca n see the water i n whi ch she bathes a s symbolic of tha t bi rth that is to come. Sa mple Pa per: A Freudian Approach to Erin McGra w's "A Thief" Ba ck to Top Mythol ogical / Archetypal / Symbol ic Note: "Symbolic" a pproaches may a l so fall under the ca tegory of forma lism because they i nvolve a cl os e reading of the text. Myth cri ti cism generally has broader, more universal applications than s ymbolic cri ticism, although both

a s sume that certain images have a fa i rly universal a ffect on readers. Defi nition: A mythol ogical / a rchetypal a pproach to literature assumes tha t there is a collection of s ymbols, images, characters, and moti fs (i.e. a rchetypes) that evokes basically the same res ponse i n all people. According to the ps ychologist Ca rl Jung, ma nkind possesses a "collective unconscious" that contains these a rchetypes and that is common to a l l of humanity. Myth cri tics i dentify these archetypal patterns a nd discuss how they function i n the works. They believe that these a rchetypes are the s ource of much of l i terature's power. Some Archetypes (See A Ha ndbook of Cri tical Approaches to Li tera ture for a complete l ist): a rchetypal women - the Good Mother, the Terrible Mother, a nd the Soul Ma te (such a s the Vi rgin Mary) wa ter - crea tion, birthdea th-resurrection, purification, redemption, fertility, growth ga rden - paradise (Eden), i nnocence, fertility des ert - s piritual empti ness, death, hopelessness red - bl ood, sacrifice, pa ssion, disorder green - growth, fertility bl a ck - cha os, death, evil s erpent - evil, s ensuality, mys tery, wi sdom, destruction s even - perfection s ha dow, persona, a nd a ni ma (see psychological cri ticism) hero a rchetype - The hero i s involved in a quest (in whi ch he overcomes obstacles). He experiences i nitiation (involving a s eparation, tra nsformation, and return), a nd finally he serves a s a s ca pegoat, that is, he dies to a tone. Pra cti ti oners: Ma ud Bodkin, Bettina L. Kna pp, a nd others. Adva nta ges:

Provi des a universalistic a pproach to l i terature and i dentifies a rea s on why certain literature may s urvi ve the test of time. It works wel l with works that a re highly s ymbolic. Di s advantages: Li tera ture may become little more tha n a vehicle for archetypes, a nd thi s approach may ignore the "art" of l i terature. Exa mples: (1) In Go Down, Moses by William Fa ulkner, for example, we might vi ew Isaac McCa slin's repudiation of the l and as an attempt to deny the exi stence of his a rchetypal s ha dow--that dark part of him that ma i ntains some degree of compl icity i n slavery. When he s ees the gra nddaughter of Ji m, a nd ca n barely tell she is black, his horri fied reaction to the mi s cegenation of the ra ces may be i ndicative of his s hadow's (his deeply ra cist dark s ide's) emergence. (2) In Herman Melville's Moby Di ck, Fedallah can be s een as Aha b's shadow, his defiant pagan s i de wholly unrestrained. Numerous a rchetypes appear i n Moby Di ck. The sea is associated both wi th s piritual mystery (Ahab i s ultimately on a s piritual quest to defy God because evil exists) a nd wi th death and rebirth (all but Is hmael die at s ea, but Ahab's dea th a s if crucified i s suggestive of rebi rth). Three is s ymbolic of s pi ritual awareness; thus we see numerous triads i nMoby Dick, i ncl uding Ahab's three mysterious crew members and the three ha rpooners. (3) In "The Silence of the Llano" by Rudolfo Anaya, a mythological / a rchetypal approach would a llow us to exa mine the a rchetypes that i l licit similar reactions in most rea ders. We ca n s ee how Anaya is dra wi ng on the archetype of water to i mply purification (when Rita ba thes a fter her period) and ferti lity a nd growth (when Rita wa s hes before the i ncestuous rel a tionship is established). The red bl ood Rita washes away ca lls

up vi s ions of vi olent passions, whi ch will be evidenced i n the ra pe. The garden conjures up i ma ges of i nnocence, unspoiled bea uty, a nd fertility. Thus, the rea der ca n s ense in the end that a s ta te of i nnocence has been rega ined and that growth will ens ue. This approach, however, is l i mited i n that by assuming it, the cri ti c ma y begin to vi ew the story not a s a work within itself, but merely a s a vessel for tra nsmitting thes e archetypes . He may a lso overl ook the possibility that s ome s ymbols are not associated with thei r a rchetype; for i nstance, the s un, which normally i mplies the pa ssage of time, seems i n its i ntensity i n the llano to actually s uggest a s lowing down of ti me, a nea r s tatic s tate i n the llano. Sa mple Pa per: A Ca ta logue of Symbols in Ka te Chopi n's The Awakening Ba ck to Top Femi nist Approach Defi nition: Femi nist criticism is concerned wi th the impact of gender on wri ti ng a nd reading. It usually begi ns with a critique of pa tri archal culture. It is concerned wi th the place of female wri ters in the ca nnon. Finally, i t i ncludes a s earch for a feminine theory or a pproach to texts. Feminist cri ti cism is political a nd often revi s ionist. Feminists often argue tha t ma le fears are portrayed through female characters. They ma y a rgue that gender determines everythi ng, or just the opposite: tha t a ll gender differences a re i mposed by s ociety, a nd gender determines nothing. El a ine Showalter's Theory: In A Li terature of Their Own, El a ine Showalter a rgued that l i terary s ubcultures a ll go through three ma jor phases of development. For literature by or a bout women, s he labels these s ta ges the Feminine, Feminist, and Fema le: (1) Femi nine Stage - i nvolves "i mi tation of the prevailing modes

of the dominant tra dition" a nd "i nternalization of i ts s tandards." (2) Femi nist Stage - i nvolves "protest a gainst these standards a nd va lues and a dvocacy of mi nority ri ghts...." (3) Fema le Stage - this is the "pha se of self-discovery, a turning i nwards freed from some of the dependency of opposition, a s earch for identity." Pra cti ti oners: El l en Mores, Sandra Gilbert, Elaine Showalter, Ni na Baym, etc. Adva nta ges: Women have been s omewhat underrepresented in the tra di tional cannon, and a feminist a pproach to literature redresses thi s problem. Di s advantages: Femi nist turn literary cri ticism into a pol itical battlefield and overlook the meri ts of works they consider "pa tri archal." When arguing for a di s tinct feminine writing styl e, they tend to relegate women's l i terature to a ghetto s tatus; this i n turn prevents female literature from bei ng naturally i ncluded in the l i terary ca nnon. The feminist a pproach is often too theoretical. Exa mple: Showalter's three stages of femi nine, feminist, and female a re i dentifiable i n the life of Cl efilas i n Sa ndra Cisneros's "Woman Hol lering Creek." Cl efilas begins to i nternalize the pa ternalistic va lues of the society i n which she l ives at l east as early a s the i ce house s cene. She "a ccompanies her husband," as is expected of her (48). Since women s hould be seen a nd not heard i n a pa ternalistic s ociety, s he "sits mute beside their conversation" (48). She goes through all of the moti ons that are expected of her, l a ughing "a t the appropriate moments" (48). She submits, i f unha ppily, to the rule of her hus band, "this man, this father, thi s rival, this keeper, this lord, thi s master, this husband till ki ngdom come" (49). Yet Cl efilas gradually begins to emerge from the feminine stage

i nto the feminist stage, where s he begi ns to revolt a nd a dvocate for her own ri ghts. It begins with "[a] doubt. Slender as a hair" (50). When s he returns from the hos pital with her new son, s omething seems different. "No. Her i magination. The house was the s ame as always. Nothing" (50). Thi s is true because the house is not di fferent; i t is Cl efilas who ha s begun to change. Perhaps gi vi ng birth to a child has made her a ware of the power a nd i mportance women possess. She begi ns to think of returning home, but i s not ready for the possibility yet. It woul d be "a disgrace" (50). She begins to i nternally protest a ga inst the society, thi nking a bout the town "with i ts silly pri de for a bronze pecan" and the fact that there i s "nothing, nothing, nothing of i nterest" (50). The patriarchal s oci ety, with its ice house, city ha l l, liquor stores, and bail bonds i s of no interest to her. She is ups et that the town is built s o that "you ha ve to depend on hus bands" (51). Though her hus band says s he is "exa ggerating," s he s eems to be becoming convi nced that her s oci ety is a bad one, where men ki l l their wi ves with i mpunity. "It s eemed the newspapers were full of s uch s tories. This woman found on the s ide of the interstate. This one pushed from a moving car . . ." (52). Al though s he does nothing when he throws a book at her, Cl efilas does (if only meekly) i ns ist that he ta ke her to the doctor. And there she s olidifies her i nternal rebellion with actions: s he leaves her husband with Felice to return to Mexi co. Fel ice is a ctually more representative of the third, fema le, stage than Clefilas, but the fa ct that Cl efilas enjoys her compa ny s uggests that when she returns to Mexico, she may s eek to enter that third stage herself. Fel ice is not phalocentric--she i s not i nterested in revolting a gainst men, s he simply does not need them. She doesn't have a husband

a nd s he owns her own car. "The pi ckup was hers. She herself had chos en it. She herself was paying for i t" (55). Felice i s most likely a pa rt of a community of women; s he is certainly friends with the nurs e Gra ciela. Cl efilas is a ttra cted to Felice, who "was l ike no woma n she'd ever met" (55). At home, in Mexico, Cl efilas recounts the story of Felice's yel l ing when they crossed the creek. "Just like that. Who woul d've thought?" (56). Cl efilas s eems to have enjoyed her compa ny a nd has kept the experience in her mind. Felice's l a ughter, "gurgling out of her own throa t, a l ong ribbon of l aughter, l i ke water" suggests that Felice ha d completed the s elf-discovery s ta ge. (Water is often s ymbolic of rebi rth.) Cl efilas has witnessed the thi rd stage i n Felice, and it i s up to her whether she will enter i t or regres s to the feminine stage a nd i nternalize the paternalistic va l ues of her father a nd brothers wi th whom s he is now living. Ba ck to Top Rea der Response Cri ticism My a rti cl e on reader response cri ti cism is a vailable here. Pl ease return to thi s page using the back a rrow of your browser when you a re done reading the a rticle. Ba ck to Top Mi s cellaneous Ari s totle (Augustine) - reality i n concrete substance vs . Plato (Aqui nas) - reality i n a bstract ideal forms dra ma tic unities - rules governing cl a ssical dramas requiring the uni ty of a ction, ti me, and place (The i dea was based on a Renaissance misinterpretation of pa ssages in Ari stotle's Poetic.) pa thetic fallacy - Ruskin a ttri buting human traits to nonhuman objects fa ncy - Col eridge -- combining s everal known properties into new combi nations

i ma gination - using known properties to create a whole that i s entirely new Pa ter: Aes thetic experience permi ts the greatest i ntensification of each moment "Of s uch wisdom, the poetic pa ssion, the desire of beauty, the l ove of a rt for its own sake, has mos t." Longi nus: emphasis on greatness of s entiments - the s ublime Goethe: "The poet makes himself a s eer by a l ong, prodigious, a nd ra ti onal disordering of all the s enses." Howells: "Our novelists..concern thems elves with the more smiling a s pect of life, which a re the more Ameri can." a lso "When ma n is at hi s very best, he is a sort of l ow gra de nickel-plated angel." Morri s : "Art wa s once the common possession of the whole people..today..art i s only enjoyed...by comparatively few pers ons...the ri ch and the pa ra sites that minister to them." Sweetness and Light: Delight a nd Ins truction (in reference to the Anci ents) Newma n: "I say that a cultivated i ntellect, because i t is a good in i ts elf, brings wi th it a power and a gra ce to every work." Cri ti ca l Approaches to Li terature Pl a in text version of this document. Des cribed below a re nine common cri ti cal a pproaches to the l i terature. Quotations a re from X.J. Kennedy a nd Dana Gi oias Literature: An Introduction to Fi cti on, Poetry, a nd Drama, Si xth Edition (New York: Ha rperCollins, 1995), pages 17901818. Forma list Cri ticism: This a pproach rega rds literature a s a unique form of human knowledge that needs to be examined on i ts own terms . Al l the elements necessary for understanding the work a re conta ined within the work itself. Of pa rti cular i nterest to the forma list critic a re the elements of form s tyle, s tructure, tone, i ma gery, etc.that a re found

wi thin the text. A pri mary goal for forma list critics is to determine how s uch elements work together wi th the texts content to shape its effects upon readers. Bi ographical Cri ticism: This a pproach begins with the simple but central i nsight that l iterature i s wri tten by a ctual people a nd tha t understanding an a uthors life ca n help readers more thoroughly comprehend the work. Hence, i t often a ffords a practical method by whi ch readers ca n better understand a text. However, a bi ographical cri tic must be careful not to ta ke the biographical facts of a wri ters life too far i n cri ti ci zing the works of that writer: the bi og raphical cri tic focuses on expl icating the literary work by us i ng the insight provi ded by knowledge of the a uthors l ife.... [B]i ographical data should a mplify the meaning of the text, not drown i t out with irrelevant ma terial. Hi s torical Cri ticism: This a pproach s eeks to understand a literary work by i nvestigating the social, cul tural, a nd i ntellectual context tha t produced ita context that necessarily i ncludes the artists bi ography and milieu. A key goal for hi s torical critics is to understand the e ffect of a l iterary work upon its original readers. Gender Cri ticism: This approach exa mines how s exual identity i nfluences the creation and reception of literary works. Ori gi nally a n offshoot of feminist movements, gender cri ticism toda y i ncludes a number of a pproaches, including the soca l led masculinist a pproach recently a dvocated by poet Robert Bl y. The bulk of gender cri ticism, however, is feminist and takes as a centra l precept that the pa tri archal attitudes that have domi nated western thought have res ulted, consciously or unconsciously, i n literature full of unexa mined male-produced a s sumptions. Feminist cri ticism a ttempts to correct this imbalance by a na lyzing and combatting such

a tti tudes by questioning, for exa mple, why none of the cha ra cters in Shakespeares pl a y Othello ever challenge the ri ght of a husband to murder a wi fe accused of adultery. Other goa ls of feminist cri tics include a na lyzing how s exual identity i nfluences the reader of a text a nd examin*ing+ how the images of men a nd women i n imaginative l i terature reflect or reject the s oci al forces that have historically kept the sexes from achieving tota l equality. Ps ychol ogical Cri ticism: This a pproach reflects the effect that modern psychology has had upon both l iterature and literary cri ti cism. Fundamental figures i n ps ychological cri ticism include Si gmund Freud, whose ps ychoanalytic theories changed our noti ons of human behavior by expl oring new or controversial a reas l ike wish-fulfillment, s exuality, the unconscious, and repre ssion a s well a s expanding our understanding of how l a nguage a nd s ymbols operate by demonstrating their ability to refl ect unconscious fears or des ires; and Ca rl Jung, whose theori es a bout the unconscious a re a lso a key foundation of Mythol ogical Cri ticism. Ps ychol ogical cri ticism has a number of a pproaches, but i n general, it usually employs one (or more) of three approaches: 1. An i nvestigation of the crea tive process of the a rti st: what is the nature of l i terary genius a nd how does it rel a te to normal mental functi ons? 2. The ps ychological s tudy of a particular a rti st, usually noting how a n a uthors biographical ci rcums tances affect or i nfluence thei r motivations and/or behavior. 3. The a nalysis of fi cti onal characters using the l a nguage a nd methods of ps ychology. Soci ological Cri ticism: This a pproach examines literature in

the cul tural, economic a nd pol itical context i n which it is wri tten or received, exploring the rel a tionships between the artist a nd s ociety. Sometimes it exa mines the a rtists s ociety to better understand the a uthors l i terary works; other times, it may exa mine the representation of s uch s ocietal elements wi thin the l i terature itself. One i nfluential type of s ociological cri ticism i s Ma rxist cri ticism, which focuses on the economic and political el ements of art, often emphasizing the ideological content of literature; because Ma rxi s t cri ticism often argues that a l l a rt is political, either cha l lenging or endorsing (by s i lence) the s tatus quo, i t is frequently eva luative and judgmental, a tendency that can l ead to reductive judgment, as when Soviet cri tics ra ted Jack London better than William Fa ulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Edi th Wharton, and Henry Ja mes, beca use he illustrated the pri nciples of class struggle more cl ea rly. Nonetheless, Ma rxist cri ti cism can illuminate political a nd economic dimensions of l i terature other a pproaches overl ook. Mythol ogical Cri ticism: This a pproach emphasizes the recurrent unive rsal patterns underlying most l iterary works. Combi ning the i nsights from a nthropology, psychology, history, a nd comparative religion, mythol ogical criticism explores the a rtists common humanity by tra ci ng how the individual i ma gination uses myths a nd s ymbols common to different cul tures a nd epochs. One key concept i n mythlogical cri ticism is the a rchetype, a symbol, cha ra cter, situation, or i mage that evokes a deep universal res ponse, which entered literary cri ti cism from Swiss psychologist Ca rl Jung. According to Jung, all i ndividuals s hare a collective unconscious, a set of primal memories common to the human

ra ce, existing below each persons cons cious mindoften derivi ng from pri mordial phenomena such a s the s un, moon, fire, night, and bl ood, archetypes a ccording to Jung tri gger the collective unconscious. Another cri tic, Northrop Frye, defined a rchetypes i n a more l imited way a s a s ymbol, usually a n image, which recurs often enough i n literature to be recognizable as an element of ones literary experience as a whol e. Regardless of the defi nition of archetype they use, mythol ogical critics tend to vi ew l i terary works in the broader context of works sharing a s imilar pa ttern. Rea der-Response Cri ticism: This a pproach ta kes as a fundamental te net that literature exists not a s a n a rtifact upon a printed page but a s a tra nsaction between the phys i cal text and the mind of a rea der. It a ttempts to describe wha t happens in the readers mi nd while i nterpreting a text a nd reflects that reading, like wri ti ng, is a creative process. Accordi ng to reader-response cri ti cs , literary texts do not conta in a meaning; meanings deri ve only from the act of i ndividual readings. Hence, two di fferent readers may derive compl etely different i nterpretations of the same l i terary text; l ikewise, a reader who re-reads a work years later ma y fi nd the work shockingly di fferent. Reader-response cri ti cism, then, emphasizes how rel i gious, cultural, a nd s ocial va l ues affect readings; i t also overl aps with gender cri ticism in expl oring how men and women rea d the same text with different a s sumptions. Though this a pproach rejects the notion that a s i ngle correct reading exists for a l i terary work, it does not cons ider a ll readings permissible: Ea ch text crea tes l imits to its pos sible interpretations. Deconstructionist Cri ticism: This a pproach rejects the traditional a s sumption that language ca n

a ccura tely represent reality. Deconstructionist cri tics regard l a nguage as a fundamentally uns table mediumthe words tree or dog, for i nstance, undoubtedly conjure up different mental i mages for different peopleand therefore, because l i terature is made up of words, l i terature possesses no fixed, s i ngle meaning. According to critic Pa ul de Ma n, deconstructionists i ns ist on th e impossibility of ma ki ng the actual expression coi ncide with what has to be expressed, of making the a ctual s i gns [i.e., words] coincide with wha t i s signified. As a result, deconstructionist cri tics tend to emphasize not what is being said but how l anguage i s used in a text. The methods of this a pproach tend to resemble those of forma list cri ticism, but whereas forma lists primary goal is to l oca te unity wi thin a text, how the di verse elements of a text cohere into meaning, deconstructionists try to s how how the text deconstructs, how i t ca n be broken down ... i nto mutua lly i rreconcilable positions. Other goa ls of deconstructionists i ncl ude (1) challenging the notion of a uthors ownership of texts they crea te (a nd their a bility to control the meaning of their texts) a nd (2) focusing on how language i s used to a chieve power, a s when they try to understand how a s ome interpretations of a literary work come to be regarded a s truth. Li nguistics is the s cientific study of huma n language.[1][2][3][4][5] Li nguist i cs ca n be broadly broken i nto three ca tegories or subfields of s tudy: l anguage form, l anguage mea ning, a nd l anguage i n context. The ea rliest known activities i n descriptive linguisticshave been a ttri buted to Panini around 500

BCE, wi th his analysis of Sa nskrit i nAshtadhyayi.[6] The fi rst s ubfield of l inguistics is the s tudy of l anguage s tructure, or gra mma r. This focuses on the s ys tem of rules followed by the us ers of a language. It includes the s tudy of morphology (the forma tion and composition of words ), syntax (the formation a nd composition of phrases and s entences from these words), a nd phonology (s ound s ys tems). Phonetics is a related bra nch of linguistics concerned wi th the actual properties of s peech s ounds and nonspeech s ounds, and how they a re produced and perceived. The s tudy of l anguage meaning is concerned with how languages empl oy l ogical s tructures a nd realworl d references to convey, process, a nd a ssign meaning, as wel l as to manage and res olve a mbiguity. This ca tegory i ncl udes the s tudy of s emantics (how meaning is i nferred from words and concepts) a nd pragmatics (how meaning i s i nferred from context). Li nguistics also l ooks at the broa der context i n which language i s i nfluenced by social, cultural, hi s torical and political factors. This i ncl udes the s tudy of evolutionary

l i nguistics, which investigates i nto questions related to the origins a nd growth of l a nguages; historical l inguistics, whi ch explores language cha nge; s ociolinguistics, which l ooks at the relation between l i nguistic va riation a nd s ocial s tructures; psycholinguistics, whi ch explores the representation a nd function of language i n the mi nd; neurolinguistics, which l ooks at language processing in the bra in; l anguage a cquisition, on how chi ldren or adults a cquire l a nguage; a nd discourse a nalysis, whi ch involves the s tructure of texts a nd conversations. Al though linguistics is the s ci entific study of language, a number of other intellectual di s ciplines a re relevant to l a nguage a nd i ntersect with i t. Semiotics, for example, i s the general study of signs and symbols both wi thin l anguage a nd wi thout. Li terary theoristsstudy the us e of language in l iterature. Li nguistics a dditionally draws on a nd i nforms work from s uch di verse fields a s a coustics, anthropology, biolog y, computer science , human a na tomy, i nformatics, neuroscienc e, phi losophy, psychology, s ociolo

gy, a nd s peech-language pa thology. Phonetics (pronounced /fntks/ , from the Greek: , phn, 's ound, voice') is a branch of l i nguistics that comprises the s tudy of the s ounds of huma n s peech, orin the ca se of s i gn languages the equivalent a s pects of sign. It i s concerned wi th the physical properties of s peech s ounds or signs (phones): thei r physiological production, a coustic properties, a uditory perception, a nd neurophysiological s ta tus. Phonology, on the other ha nd, is concerned with the a bs tract, grammatical cha ra cterization of systems of s ounds or signs. The fi eld of phonetics is a multiple l a yered s ubject of linguistics that focus es on s peech. In the case of ora l languages there are three ba s ic areas of s tudy: Arti cul atory phonetics: the s tudy of the production of s peech s ounds by the a rticulatory a nd voca l tra ct by the speaker Acous tic phonetics: the study of the phys ical tra nsmission of s peech s ounds from the s peaker to the l istener
[1]

Audi tory phonetics: the study of the reception and perception of s peech s ounds by the listener Thes e areas are i nter-connected through the common mechanism of s ound, such as wavelength (pi tch), amplitude, a nd harmonics. Phonology i s a branch of l i nguistics concerned with the s ys tematic organization ofs ounds in l anguages. It has tra di tionally focused largely on s tudy of the s ys tems ofphonemes i n pa rti cular languages, but it ma y a l so cover a ny l inguistic a na lysis either a t a level beneath the word (i ncluding syllable, onset a nd rhyme, articulatory gestures, a rti culatory features, mora, etc.) or a t a l l levels of language where sound is considered to be s tructured for conveying linguistic mea ning. Phonology a lso includes the s tudy of equivalent orga nizational s ystems i n sign l a nguages. The word phonology (a s in the phonology of English) ca n also refer to the phonological s ystem (s ound system) of a given l a nguage. This is one of the fundamental systems which a l a nguage is considered to compri se, like its syntax and i ts voca bulary.

Phonology i s often distinguished from phonetics. While phonetics concerns the physical production, a coustic tra nsmission a nd perception of the sounds of s peech,[1][2] phonology describes the wa y s ounds function within a gi ven language or a cross l a nguages to encode meaning. In other words, phonetics belongs to des criptive linguistics, and phonology totheoretical l i nguistics. Note that this di s tinction was not a lways made, pa rti cularly before the development of the modern concept of phoneme i n the mid 20th century. Some subfields of modern phonology have a cros s over with phonetics in des criptive disciplines such a s psycholinguistics a nd s peech perception, resulting in s pecific a reas l ikearticulatory phonology or l aboratory phonology. n l i nguistics, morphology i s the i dentification, analysis and des cription of the s tructure of a gi ven language's morphemes and other l inguistic units, s uch a s words, a ffixes, parts of s peech, i ntonation/stress, or i mplied context (words in a l exicon are the subject ma tter ofl exicology). Morphological

typol ogy represents a method for cl a ssifyi ng languages a ccording to the wa ys by which morphemes are us ed i n a language from the a nalyticthat use only isolated morphemes, through the a gglutinative ("stucktogether") andfusional l a nguages that use bound morphemes (affixes), up to the polys ynthetic, which compress l ots of separate morphemes into s i ngle words. Whi le words a re generally a ccepted a s being (with cl itics) the s ma llest units of syntax, it i s clear tha t i n most languages, if not a ll, words ca n be related to other words by rules (grammars). For exa mple, English speakers recognize that the words dog a nd dogs are closely rel a ted differentiated only by the pl urality morpheme "-s", whi ch is only foundbound to nouns, and is never separate. Spea kers of English (a fusional l a nguage) recognize these rel a tions from their ta cit knowledge of the rules of word forma tion in English. They i nfer i ntuitively that dog is to dogs as ca t is to ca ts; s i milarly, dog is to dog ca tcher a s dish is to dishwasher, in one s ense. The rules understood

by the s peaker reflect s pecific pa tterns, or regularities, i n the wa y words are formed from s ma ller units and how those s ma ller units interact i n s peech. In thi s way, morphology is the bra nch of linguistics that studies pa tterns of word formation within a nd a cross languages, a nd a ttempts to formulate rules that model the knowledge of the s peakers of those languages. A l a nguage like Cl assical Chi nese i nstead uses unbound ("free") morphemes, but depends on pos t-phrase affixes, and word order to convey meaning. However, this ca nnot be said of pres ent-day Ma ndarin, in which mos t words a re compounds (a round 80%), and most roots are bound. In the Chi nese l anguages, these a re understood a s grammars that represent the morphology of the l a nguage. Beyond the a ggl utinative languages, a pol ys ynthetic l anguage l i ke Chukchi will have words composed of many morphemes: The word "tmeyl evtp trkn" is composed of eight morphemes t-mey--levt-p t--rk n, that ca n be glossed 1.SG.SUBJ-greathea d-hurt-PRES.1, meaning 'I have

a fi erce headache.' The morphology of such languages a l lows for each consonant a nd vowel to be understood as morphemes, just as the grammars of the l anguage key the usage and understanding of each morpheme. The di scipline that deals s pecifically with the s ound cha nges occurring within morphemes is ca l led morphophonology. In l i nguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek "a rrangement" from s yn, "together", a nd t xis, "a n ordering") is "the s tudy of the principles a nd processes by which s entences are cons tructed i n pa rti cular languages".[1] In a ddition to referring to the overa rching discipline, the term s ynta x is also used to refer di rectly to the rules a nd principles tha t govern the sentence s tructure of a ny i ndividual l a nguage, for example i n "the s yntax of Modern Irish." Modern research i n syntax a ttempts to describe l anguages in terms of s uch rules. Ma ny professionals i n this discipline a ttempt to find general rules that a pply to a ll natural l anguages. The term s yntax is also used to refer to the rules governing the

behavi or of mathematical s ys tems, s uch as formal l a nguages used in logic. Sema ntics (from Greek: smantik , neuter plural of s mantiks ) [1][2] i s the study ofmeaning. It focuses on the rel a tion between signifiers, such a s words, phrases, signs, a ndsymbols, a nd what they stand for, thei r denotata. Li nguistic s emantics is the s tudy of mea ning that is used to understand human expression through language. Other forms of s emantics include the semantics of progra mming languages, formal l ogics, a nd s emiotics. The word s emantics itself denotes a ra nge of i deas, from the popular to the hi ghly technical. It is often us ed i n ordinary l anguage to denote a problem of understanding that comes down to word s election or connotation. Thi s problem of understanding has been the subject of many formal i nquiries, over a l ong period of ti me, most notably i n the field offormal s emantics. In linguistics, i t i s the study of i nterpretation of s i gns or s ymbols as used by a gents or communities within pa rti cular ci rcumstances a nd contexts . Wi thin this vi ew, s ounds, facial expressions, body
[3]

l a nguage, a nd proxemics have s emantic (meaningful) content, a nd each has several branches of s tudy. In written l anguage, s uch thi ngs as paragraph structure a nd punctuation have semantic content; i n other forms of l a nguage, there is other semantic content.
[3]

Di s course a nalysis (DA), or di s course studies, is a general term for a number of a pproaches to a na lyzing written, vocal, or s ign l a nguage use or a ny s i gnificant semioticevent. The objects of discourse analysis di scourse, writing, conversation, communicativeevent, etc. a re va ri ously defined in terms of coherent s equences of s entences,propositions, speech a cts , or turns-at-talk. Contrary to much of tra ditional linguistics, di s course a nalysts not only s tudy l a nguage use 'beyond the s entence boundary', but also prefer to a nalyze 'naturally occurri ng' language use, a nd not i nvented examples. Text l i nguistics is related. The essential di fference between discourse a na lysis a nd text linguistics is that i t a i ms a t revealing s ociops ychological characteristics of a pers on/persons ra ther than text s tructure.[1] Di s course a nalysis has been taken up i n a va riety of social s ci ence disciplines, i ncl udinglinguistics, sociology, a nt hropology, s ocial work, cognitive ps ychology, s ocial ps ychology,international rel a tions, human

The formal s tudy of s emantics i ntersects with many other fi elds of i nquiry, i ncl udinglexicology, s yntax, pra gm a ti cs, etymology a nd others, a l though s emantics is a welldefi ned field i n i ts own ri ght, often wi th s ynthetic properties. In philosophy of l a nguage, s emantics a nd reference a re cl osely connected. Further related fields i ncl ude philology,communication, a nd s emiotics. The formal study of s emantics is therefore complex. Sema ntics contrasts wi th syntax, the s tudy of the combinatorics of uni ts of a language (without reference to their meaning), a nd pragmatics, the study of the rel a tionships between the s ymbols of a language, their mea ning, a nd the users of the l a nguage.
[5] [4]

In i nternational s cientific voca bulary s emantics is also ca l led semasiology.

geogra phy, communication s tudies, and tra nslation s tudies, ea ch of which is subject to its own a s sumptions, dimensions of a na lysis, a nd methodologies. Styl i stics is the study a nd i nterpretation of texts from a l i nguistic perspective. As a di s cipline it links literary cri ti cism and linguistics, but has no a utonomous domain of i ts own.
[1][2]

In a ddition, stylistics is a di s tinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects wi thin a particular va riety of l a nguage. Therefore, s tylistics l ooks at what i s going on within the l a nguage; what the linguistic a s sociations a re that the style of l a nguage reveals. Poetry As well a s conventional styles of l a nguage there a re the unconventional the most obvi ous of which is poetry. In Pra cti cal Stylistics,HG Wi ddowson examines the tra di tional form of the epitaph, as found on headstones i n a cemetery. For example: Hi s memory i s dear today As i n the hour he passed away. (Ernes t C. Dra per Ern. Died 4.1.38) (Wi ddowson. 1992, 6) Wi ddowson makes the point that s uch s entiments a re usually not very i nteresting a nd s uggests that they ma y even be dismissed as crude verbal carvi ngs and crude verba l disturbance (Widdowson, 3). Nevertheless, Widdowson recognises that they a re a very rea l attempt to convey feelings of huma n l oss a nd preserve a ffectionate recollections of a

bel oved friend or family me mber. However, what may be seen a s poetic i n this language is not s o much i n the formul aic phraseology but i n where it a ppears. The verse may be gi ven undue reverence preci sely because of the sombre s i tuation in which i t is placed. Wi ddowson s uggests that, unlike words set i n s tone i n a graveyard, poetry i s unorthodox language tha t vi brates with i nter-textual i mplications. (Widdowson. 1992, 4) Two problems with a s tylistic a na lysis of poetry a re noted by PM Wetherill i n Li terary Text: An Exa mi nation of Cri tical Methods. The fi rst is that there may be an over-preoccupation with one pa rti cular feature that ma y well mi nimise the s ignificance of others tha t a re equally i mportant. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) The s econd i s that a ny a ttempt to see a text as s i mply a collection of stylistic el ements will tend to i gnore other wa ys whereby meaning is produced. (Wetherill. 1974, 133) [edi t]Implicature In Poetic Effects from Literary Pra gma tics, the linguist Adrian Pi l kington analyses the idea of i mplicature, a s instiga ted in the previ ous work of Dan

The preferred object of

s tyl istic s tudies is literature, but not excl usively "high literature" but a l so other forms of wri tten texts s uch as text from the doma ins ofadvertising, pop cul ture, politics or religion. Styl i stics also attempts to es tablish principles ca pable of expl aining the particular choices ma de by i ndividuals and social groups i n their use of language, s uch a s socialisation, the production and reception of mea ning, cri tical discourse a na lysis a nd literary cri ti cism. Other fea tures of s tylistics i nclude the us e of dialogue, i ncluding regi onal accents a nd peoples dialects, descriptive l a nguage, the use of grammar, s uch a s the active voi ce orpassive voi ce, the distribution of s entence lengths, the use of pa rti cular language registers, etc.
[3]

Sperber a nd Deirdre Wilson. Implicature may be divided into two ca tegories: s trong a nd wea k implicature, yet between the two extremes there a re a va ri ety of other alternatives. The s trongest implicature is what is emphatically i mplied by the s peaker or wri ter, while weaker i mplicatures a re the wider pos sibilities of meaning that the hea rer or reader may conclude. Pi l kingtons poetic effects , as he terms the concept, a re those that a chi eve most relevance through a wi de array of weak implicatures a nd not those meanings that a re s i mply read i n by the hearer or rea der. Yet the distinguishing i ns tant at which weak implicatures a nd th e hearer or readers conjecture of meaning diverge rema ins highly s ubjective. As Pi l kington says: there is no clear cut-off point between a s sumptions which the s peaker certa i nly endorses a nd a s sumptions derived purely on the hea rers responsibility. (Pi l kington. 1991, 53) In a ddition, the s tyl istic qualities of poetry ca n be s een as a n accompaniment to Pi l kingtons poetic effects i n understanding a poem's meaning. [edi t]Tense

Wi ddowson points out that i n Sa muel Taylor Coleridges poem "The Ri me of the Ancient Ma riner" (1798), the mys tery of the Ma ri ners a brupt appearance is s us tained by a n i diosyncratic use of tens e. (Widdowson. 1992, 40) For i ns tance, the Mariner holds the wedding-guest with his skinny ha nd in the present tense, but rel eases it i n the past tense ('...his ha nds dropt he.'); only to hold him a ga in, this time with his glittering eye, i n the present. (Widdowson. 1992, 41) Wi ddowson notices that when the content of poetry i s summarised, i t often refers to very ge neral a nd uni mpressive observations, s uch a s nature is beautiful; l ove is grea t; l ife is lonely; ti me passes, a nd s o on. (Widdowson. 1992, 9) But to s a y: Li ke as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our mi nutes hasten to their end ... Wi l liam Shakespeare, 60. Or, i ndeed: Love, a l l alike, no season knows nor cl i me, Nor hours , days months, which are the ra gs of ti me ... John Donne, The Sun Ri s ing , Poems (1633)

Thi s language gi ves us [who?] a new pers pective on familiar themes a nd a llows us to look a t them wi thout the personal or s ocial condi tioning that we unconsciously a ssociate with them. (Wi ddowson. 1992, 9) So, a l though we [who?] ma y still use the s a me exhausted words a nd va gue terms l ike l ove, heart a nd s oul to refer to human experience, to pl a ce these words i n a new a nd refres hing context a llows the poet the a bility to represent humanity a nd communicate honestly. This, i n pa rt, is s tylistics, and this, a ccording to Wi ddowson, is the poi nt of poetry (Widdowson. 1992, 76).

One of the main goals of language teachers is to provide i n the TL. Often when s tudents a re assigned projects an s tudy) their l ack of practical tools to produce the a ctual mi ght very well have the necessary resources to a ccom communicative approach to teaching the l anguage, focu s tudents to complete assigned tasks. In this section we ta ught i n the SL classroom.

Wha t i s communicative language tea ching? The concept of communicative l a nguage teaching has grown out of the notion that solely teaching

gra mma r is not enough to prepare s tudents for using the language i ndependently. This method of tea ching proposes that s tudents need to understand the meaning a nd the communicative function of a l a nguage in order to l earn the l a nguage. Da vi d Wilkins, a theorist cl osely l i nked with communicative l a nguage teaching, suggests that l a nguage teaching should be orga nized into notional (relating to mea ning) and functional (relating to communication) syllabi. He s uggests that the concept of communicative functions (to which he credits Holladay) may be the mos t i mportant aspect of this fra mework. Other contributors to thi s theory, s uch as Jan van Ek, bui ld on Wilkins terms a nd i deas, but i nterpret them somewhat di fferently. In place ofcommunicative function, they s ubstitute language function, referri ng to what people do through language. To l earn more about communicative l a nguage teaching and its history cl i ck here. Wha t a re l anguage functions? A l ot of what we say i s for a s pecific purpose. Whether we are a pologizing, expressing a wish or a s king permission, we use language i n order to fulfill that purpose. Each purpose ca n be known as a l a nguage function. Savignon des cribes a l anguage function as the us e to which language is put, the purpose of an utterance ra ther tha n the particular gra mmatical form a n utterance takes (Savignon, 1983). By us i ng this idea to s tructure teaching, the i nstructional focus becomes less about form a nd more a bout the meaning of a n uttera nce. In this way, s tudents use the l a nguage i n order to fulfill a s pecific purpose, therefore ma king thei r s peech more meaningful.

ba ck to top Wha t a re s ome examples of functi ons of language? If we thi nk about a functi on of l anguage a s one that s erves a purpose we ca n s ee that much of what we see can be considered to be functi onal. Let's ta ke the exa mple of going to a di nner party. Arri ving a t the di nner party we may i ntroduce ourselves, tha nk the host and ask where to put our coats. Duri ng the dinner we ma y congra tulate s omeone on a recent a ccomplishment, ask a dvi ce, express affection a nd compliment the host on the meal. Ea ch of thes e individual uttera nce are considered functi ons of language. How ca n we tea ch functions of l a nguage? Kra s hen a nd Terrell (1983) s uggest tha t ba sic communication goals can be expressed i n terms of situations, functi ons a nd topics. It is up to the tea cher to plan the situations wi thin which s tudents will be a ble to us e their language for a purpose i n the classroom context. For i ns tance if the topic being learned i s fa mily a nd relatives then the s i tuation may be i ntroductions or vi s i ting relatives. By creating a s i tuation the teacher is providing the necessary context students need to use the l anguage for a functi on. In a ddition to creating situations, tea chers must a lso be prepared to expl ain that there may be a large number of possible ways to fulfill ea ch function of l anguage. For i ns tance greeting a n elderly lady on the s treet would differ from

greeti ng a peer i n their home. Choos ing the appropriate way i n whi ch to say s omething will partly depend on: 1. your s ocial standing relative to

the person you are talking to; 2. how well you know the person; 3. who i s listening; a nd 4. the ci rcumstances under which the communication occurs.

What is Linguistics? Origins Li nguistics is the s ystematic and s ci entific study of human language. Its ori gins go back to the s tudy of cl a ssical a uthors and languages i n the Renaissance a nd i nto the early 19th century. The Rosetta Stone, di s covered at the end of the 18th century, contained an ancient bi l ingual text which provided the key to understanding Egyptian hi eroglyphics and generated a good dea l of i nterest i n ancient l a nguages. European scholars i n pa rti cular were influential in the

ea rl y s tudy of l anguages. The Gri mm Brothers in Germany were i nterested not only i n origins of fa i ry ta les but also of languages. Germa n l inguists i n the 19th century l ed the way i n the s tudy of l a nguages such as Sanskrit. Branches of Linguistics Toda y, historical and comparative l i nguistics, such as that done i n the 19th century, conti nues, focusing on how l anguages have developed a nd how they di ffer, but there is more i nterest today i n descriptive l i nguistics, This is the s tudy of how l a nguage is s tructured a nd how i t is us ed by contemporary s peakers of the l a nguage. Pa rticular influential i n the direction of linguistics study toda y a re Ferdinand de Saussure, the fa ther of structural linguistics a nd Noam Chomsky, the originator of tra ns formational grammar. Speci fic a reas of study i n linguistics toda y i nclude phonetics, morphology, s yntax, a nd s emantics.

An i mportant aspect of the study of phonetics is learning the International Phonetic Al phabet (IPA), whose symbols are used to des cribe s pecific s ounds. The IPA i s i ndependent of a ny s pecific l a nguage, all world languages can be tra nscribed using its s ymbols, whi ch include s ounds such as the cl i cks used in some African l a nguages. The word "fish" is rendered i n IPA as / f /. Note that the IPA s ymbols are placed between slashes. Here a re s ome of the IPA s ymbols for Engl ish vowels: fa ther sit run, enough

fi elds as diverse a s astronomy a nd fol klore s tudies. In l i nguistics morphology i s the s tudy of how the forms of words cha nge when used in actual speech, i ncl uding endings and tra ns formations which i ndicate how words grammatical function. In the s entence "he s ees the children", the "s " i s added to the verb see when i t is used in the 3rd person s i ngular a nd "children" i s the plural tra ns formation of "child". Some l anguages have extensive s ets of changes to words s uch as nouns and adjectives. French and Spa nish, for example, change forms of a djective endings for masculine vers us feminine nouns. German a nd Russian have much for extensive endings, that correspond to cha nges in grammatical case, i .e. di fferent endings for nominative (s ubject case), accusative (direct objects) and for dative (indirect objects). On the other hand, some l a nguages, such as Chinese, undergo very l ittle in the way of word tra nsformations. Plural forms i n Chi nese, for example, a re i dentical to singular forms.

not, wa s p put, wood s oon, through

i s ee bed l a d, ca t, ra n

Exercises Ha ve you read the i ntro?

a bout

Syntax Phonetics The Sounds of language Phonetics is the study of the sounds of a l a nguage. In English, a nd in ma ny other l anguages, how words a re s pelled does not necessarily corres pond to how they a re pronounced. Some languages a re much cl oser in pronunciation to the wa y they a re spelled. English i s notori ous for i ts erratic spelling in rel a tion to pronunciation. Morphology Word formation The concept of morphology i s not uni que to linguistics. In fact, it was fi rs t used by the German writer Goethe i n the early 19th century i n rel a tion to plants, as a way to des cribe the different va rieties of pl a nts that have arisen from common a ncestors. In a ddition to bi ology, morphology i s also used in How sentences are put together Synta x i nvolves the way that words a re put together to construct s entences. In English normal word order i s s ubject - verb - object as in "We s a w him". Word order varies in di fferent languages. In English word order i s i mportant i n determining gra mma tical function, for example, whether a noun is a s ubject or di rect object. This is because Engl ish i s not a heavily i nflected l a nguage, that is i t does not have a ri ch s et of endings. In contrast, i n

l a nguages like German or Russian, word order is often not as i mportant as ca se endings i n determining grammatical function. Synta x i s a lso concerned with s entence connectors s uch a s conjunctions. In English, clauses a re often combined with coordinating conjunctions ("and", "but"), s ubordinating conjunctions ("beca use", "although"), or adverbs ("however", "nevertheless"). Longer s entences with more than one cl ause are compound s entences, while s hort utterances wi thout a verb a re called ellipses

Semantics The meaning of words In l i nguistics semantics i s the study of the meaning of words. Linguists di s tinguish between "signifiers" -the words used to i dentify things or i deas -- a nd "signified" -- the actual i tems referred to. This distinction wa s first made by Ferdinand de Sa ussure i n his lectures on l i nguistics - this has become not onl y a major area of modern l i nguistics, bust has a lso spawed the fi eld of s emiotics - the s tudy of s i gns (not just words) a nd their s i gnificance. Semantics is a crucial el ement in the philosophy of l a nguage. In i nternational s cientific voca bulary s emantics is also ca lled s emasiology. One of a reas of interest i n s emantics is the relationship among words , i ncluding synonyms -- same or s i milar meaning --, antonyms -opposites --, a nd homonymes -words that sound the same but ha ve different meanings.

Sha nnon's (1948) model of the communication process is, i n i mportant ways, the beginning of the modern field. It provided, for the fi rst ti me, a general model of the communication process that coul d be treated as the common ground of such diverse disciplines a s journalism, rhetoric, linguistics, a nd s peech a nd hearing s ciences. Pa rt of i ts success is due to its s tructuralist reduction of communication to a set of basic cons tituents that not only explain how communication happens, but why communication s ometimes fa i ls. Good timing played a role a s wel l. The world was barely thirty yea rs i nto the a ge of mass ra dio, ha d a rguably fought a world war in i ts wa ke, and an even more powerful, television, was about to a s sert i tself. It was ti me to create the fi eld of communication as a uni fied discipline, a nd Shannon's model was as good a n excuse as a ny. The model's enduring va lue is rea dily evident in i ntroductory textbooks. It remains one of the fi rs t things most s tudents l earn a bout communication when they ta ke a n introductory communication cl ass. Indeed, it is one of only a handful of theoretical s ta tements a bout the communication process that ca n be found in introductory textbooks in both ma ss communication a nd i nterpersonal communication.

2.

3.

Figure 1: Sha nnon's (1948) Model of the communi ca ti on proces s . Sha nnon's model, as shown in Fi gure 1, breaks the process of communication down i nto eight di s crete components: 1. An i nformation source. Pres umably a person who crea tes a message.

4.

Shannon's Model of the Communication Process

The message, which is both s ent by the i nformation source a nd recei ved by the des tination. A transmitter. For Sha nnon's i mmediate purpose a telephone i ns trument that ca ptures a n a udio signal, converts i t i nto an electronic s i gnal, and amplifies it for tra ns mission through the tel ephone network. Tra ns mission is readily generalized within Sha nnon's i nformation theory to encompass a wi de range of tra ns mitters. The simplest tra ns mission s ystem, that a s sociated with face-tofa ce communication, has a t l east two l ayers of tra ns mission. The first, the mouth (sound) and body (gesture), create a nd modulate a signal. The s econd layer, which mi ght a lso be described a s a channel, is built of the a i r (sound) and light (ges ture) that enable the tra ns mission of those s i gnals from one person to a nother. A television broa dcast would obvi ously i nclude many more l ayers, with the a ddition of ca meras and mi crophones, editing a nd fi l tering sys tems, a na ti onal signal di s tribution network (often satellite), and a l oca l radio wave broa dcast a ntenna. The signal, whi ch flows through a channel. There ma y be multiple parallel s i gnals, as is the case i n fa ce-to-face interaction where sound and gesture i nvol ve different signal s ys tems that depend on di fferent channels and modes of transmission. There may be multiple

5.

6.

7.

s erial signals, with sound a nd/or gesture turned i nto electronic signals, ra di o waves, or words a nd pictures i n a book. A ca rri er or channel, whi ch is represented by the s mall unlabeled box in the mi ddle of the model. The most commonly used cha nnels i nclude a ir, light, el ectricity, ra dio waves, pa per, a nd postal s ys tems. Note that there ma y be multiple channels a s sociated with the mul tiple l ayers of tra ns mission, as des cribed above. Noise, i n the form of s econdary s ignals that obs cure or confuse the s i gnal carri ed. Given Sha nnon's focus on tel ephone tra nsmission, ca rri ers, and reception, it s hould not be surprising tha t noise is restricted to noi se that obscures or obl iterates some portion of the s ignal within the cha nnel. This is a fairly res tri ctive notion of noi se, by current s ta ndards, and a s omewhat misleading one. Today we have a t l east s ome media which a re s o noise free that compressed signals a re cons tructed with an a bs olutely minimal a mount i nformation and l i ttle l ikelihood of s ignal l oss. In the process, Sha nnon's s olution to noi se, redundancy, has been largely replaced by a mi nimally redundant s ol ution: error detection a nd correction. Today we us e noise more as a meta phor for problems a s sociated with effective l i stening. A receiver. In Shannon's conception, the receiving tel ephone instrument. In

8.

fa ce to fa ce communication a set of ea rs (sound) and eyes (ges ture). In television, s everal layers of receiver, i ncl uding a n antenna a nd a tel evision s et. A destination. Pres umably a person who cons umes and processes the message.

generally used in describing s uch des igns, a vocabulary tha t sets up both Shannon's mathematical theory of i nformation and a large a mount of subsequent communication theory. This corres pondence between Bell's s ketch and Shannon's model is ra rel y remarked (see Hopper, 1992 for one i nstance). Sha nnon's model isn't really a model of communication, however. It i s , i nstead, a model of the flow of i nformation through a medium, and a n i ncomplete and biased model tha t i s far more a pplicable to the s ys tem i t maps, a telephone or tel egraph, than it i s to most other media. It s uggests, for i nstance, a "pus h" model in which s ources of i nformation ca n inflict it on des tinations. In the real world of media, destinations are more typi ca lly s elf-selecting "consumers" of i nformation who have the ability to s elect the messages they a re mos t i nterested in, turn off mes sages that don't i nterest them, focus on one message in preference to other i n message rich envi ronments, and can choose to s i mply not pay a ttention. Shannon's model depicts transmission from a tra ns mitter to a receiver as the pri ma ry a ctivity of a medium. In the rea l world of media, messages a re frequently s tored for elongated peri ods of ti me a nd/or modified in s ome way before they a re a ccessed by the "destination". The model s uggests that communication wi thin a medium i s frequently di rect a nd unidirectional, but i n the rea l world of media, communication is a lmost never uni directional and is often indirect. Derivative Models of the Communication Process One of these shortcomings is a ddressed i n Figure 2's i ntermediary model of communication (sometimes referred to a s the gatekeeper model or two-step flow (Katz, 1957)). Thi s model, which i s

Li ke all models, this is a minimalist a bs traction of the reality i t a ttempts to reproduce. The reality of mos t communication s ystems is more complex. Most i nformation s ources (and destinations) a ct as both s ources and destinations. Tra ns mitters, receivers, channels, s i gnals, and even messages are often l ayered both serially a nd i n pa ra llel s uch that there a re multiple s i gnals transmitted and received, even when they are converged into a common signal s tream a nd a common channel. Ma ny other el aborations ca n be readily des cribed.. It remains, however, tha t Shannon's model is a useful a bs traction that identifies the most i mportant components of communication a nd their general rel a tionship to one another. That va l ue is evident in its similarity to rea l world pictures of the designs of new communication systems, i ncl uding Bell's original sketches of the tel ephone, as s een in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Bel l 's dra wi ng of the worki ngs of a telephone, from hi s ori gi na l s ketches (s ource: Bel l Fa mily Pa pers; Library of Congres s ; http://memory.loc.gov/mss /mcc/0 04/0001.jpg) Bel l's s ketch visibly contains a n i nformation source a nd destination, tra ns mitters a nd receivers, a cha nnel, a signal, and an i mplied mes sage (the information source is ta l king). What is new, in Shannon's model (aside from the concept of noi se, which is only partially reproduced by Bell's batteries), is a forma l voca bulary that is now

frequently depicted i n i ntroductory texts i n mass communication, focus es on the i mportant role that i ntermediaries often play i n the communication process. Ma ss communication texts frequently s pecifically associate editors, who deci de what stories will fit in a news paper or news broadcast, with thi s intermediary or ga tekeeper rol e. There a re, however, many i ntermediary roles (Foulger, 2002a ) a s sociated with communication. Ma ny of these i ntermediaries have the a bility to decide what messages others see, the context i n which they a re s een, and when they s ee them. They often have the a bility, moreover, to change messages or to prevent them from reaching a n a udience (destination). In extreme va ri a tions we refer to such ga tekeepers as censors. Under the more normal conditions of mass media, i n which publications choos e some content in preference to other potential content based on a n editorial policy, we refer to them a s editors (most mass media), moderators (Internet discussion groups), reviewers (peer-reviewed publications), or a ggregators (cl i pping services), among other ti tl es . Delivery workers (a postal del ivery worker, for i nstance) a lso a ct a s intermediaries, and have the a bi lity to a ct a s gatekeepers, but a re generally restricted from doing s o a s a matter of ethics a nd/or l aw.

Figure 4: An Intera cti ve Model : Thi s difference i n the level of a bs traction is a ddressed i n the tra ns actional model of communication, a va riant of which i s s hown i n Figure 5. This model a cknowledges neither creators nor cons umers of messages, preferri ng to l a bel the people associated with the model as communicators who both crea te and consume mes sages. The model presumes a dditional symmetries as well, with ea ch participant creating messages tha t a re received by the other communicator. This is, in many wa ys , a n excellent model of the fa ce-to-face interactive process whi ch extends readily to a ny i nteractive medium that provides us ers with s ymmetrical interfaces for crea ti on a nd consumption of mes sages, including notes, letters, C.B. Ra dio, electronic mail, a nd the ra di o. It is, however, a distinctly i nterpersonal model that implies an equality between communicators tha t often doesn't exist, even in i nterpersonal contexts. The caller in mos t telephone conversations has the i nitial upper hand i n setting the di rection and tone of a a telephone ca l lr than the receiver of the call (Hopper, 1992).In face-to-face hea d-complement interactions, the bos s (head) has considerably more freedom (in terms of message choi ce, media choice, ability to fra me meaning, a bility to s et the rul es of interaction) a nd power to a l locate message bandwidth than does the employee (complement). The model certainly does not a pply i n ma ss media contexts.

depict the i nteraction relationships of dozens of people. They network di a grams often presume, or a t least a l low, bi-directional arrows s uch tha t they a re more consistent with the notion that communication is mos t often bidirectional. The bi directionality of communication is commonly a ddressed i n interpersonal communication text with two el aborations of Shannon's model (whi ch is often labeled a s the action model of communication): the i nteractive model and the tra ns active model. The interactive model, a va riant of which is shown i n Fi gure 4, elaborates Shannon's model with the cybernetic concept of feedback (Weiner, 1948, 1986), often (as is the ca se i n Figure 4) wi thout changing any other el ement of Shannon's model. The key concept associated with this el aboration i s that destinations provi de feedback on the messages they receive such that the i nformation sources ca n adapt their mes sages, in real ti me. This is an i mportant elaboration, a nd as generally depicted, a radically overs implified one. Feedback is a mes sage (or a set of messages). The s ource of feedback is an i nformation source. The consumer of feedback is a destination. Feedback i s transmitted, re ceived, a nd potentially disruptable via noi se sources. None of this is visible i n the typical depiction of the i nteractive model. This doesn't di minish the i mportance of feedback or the usefulness of el aborating Shannon's model to i ncl ude i t. People really do a dapt thei r messages based on the feedback they receive. It is useful, however, to notice that the i nteractive model depicts feedback a t a much higher l evel of a bs traction than i t does messages.

Figure 3: An Intermedi a ry Model . Va ri ations of Figure 3's gatekeeper model are also used in teaching orga nizational communication, where gatekeepers, in the form of bri dges and liaisons, have some a bi lity to s hape the organization through their selective s haring of i nformation. These variations a re generally more complex i n depiction and often take the form of s ocial network diagrams that

i ntroductory communication cours es that a re missing from, or outri ght inconsistent with, these models. Consider that: we now routinely teach s tudents that "receivers" of mes sages really "cons ume" messages. Peopl e usually have a ri ch menu of potential mes sages to choose from a nd they s elect the mes sages they wa nt to hea r i n much the same wa y tha t diners select entrees from a restaurant menu. We teach s tudents tha t most "noise" is generated within the l i stener, that we engage mes sages through "s elective a ttention", that one of the most i mportant things we ca n do to i mprove our communication is to learn how to l isten, that mass media a udiences have choi ces, a nd that we need to be "l iterate" i n our media choices, even in (a nd perhaps especially i n) our choice of tel evision messages. Yet a l l of these models s uggest an "injection model" in which message reception is a utomatic. we s pend a l arge portion of our i ntroductory cours es teaching students a bout language, including wri tten, verbal, and nonverba l l anguages, yet l a nguage is a ll but ignored i n these models (the use of the term i n Figure 5 i s not the usual practice i n depictions of the tra ns active model). we s pend large portions of our i ntroductory cours es teaching students a bout the importance of perception, a ttribution, a nd relationships to our i nterpretation of

Figure 5: A Tra ns a cti ona l Model : The "ma sspersonal" (xxxxx, 199x) media of the Internet through this i mplied s ymmetry i nto even greater rel i ef. Most Internet media grant everyone symmetrical creation a nd cons umption i nterfaces. Anyone wi th Internet a ccess ca n create a web s ite and participate as an equal pa rtner in e-mail, instant mes saging, chat rooms, computer conferences, collaborative composition sites, blogs, interactive ga mes, MUDs, MOOs , and other media. It remains, however, that us ers have very di fferent preferences i n their message cons umption and creation. Some people are very comfortable crea ti ng messages for others onl ine. Others prefer to "l urk"; to freel y browse the messages of others without adding a nything of thei r own. Adding comments to a computer conference i s rarely more di fficult than s ending a n e -mail, but mos t Internet discussion groups ha ve ma ny more l urkers (cons umers of messages that never pos t) than they have contributors (people who both create and cons ume messages). Oddly, the l urkers sometimes feel more i ntegrated with the community tha n the contributors do (Baym, 2000). A New Model of the Communication Process Exi s ting models of the communication process don't provi de a reasonable basis for understanding such effects. Indeed, there a re many thi ngs that we routi nely teach undergraduates i n

mes sages; of the i mportance of communication to the perceptions that others ha ve of us, the perceptions we have of ours elves, a nd the crea ti on a nd ma i ntenence of the rel a tionships we have wi th others. These models say nothing about the rol e of perception and rel a tionshp to the way we i nterpret messages or our wi l lingness to consume mes sages from different people. we s pend large portions of our i ntroductory cours es teaching students a bout the socially cons tructed aspects of l a nguages, messages, and media use. Intercultural communication presumes both s ocial construction a nd the presumption that people schooled i n one s et of conventions will a l most certainly vi olate the expectations of people schooled i n a di fferent set of expectations. Discussions of the effects of media on cul ture presume that communication within the s ame medium may be very di fferent in different cul tures, but that the effects of the medium on va ri ous cultures will be more uniform. Existing general models provide l i ttle i n the way of a pl a tform from which thes e effects can be di s cussed. when we use these models in teaching cours es i n both i nterpersonal and mass communication; i n tea ching students about very di fferent kinds of media. Wi th the exception of the Shannon

model, we tend to use thes e models s electively i n describing those media, a nd without a ny s trong i ndication of where the medi um begins or ends; wi thout a ny i ndication of how media i nterrelate wi th l anguages, mes sages, or the people who crea te and consume mes sages.without a ddressing the ways in whi ch they a re . while thes e media describe, in a generalized way, media, The ecological model of communication, s hown i n Figure 6, a ttempts to provide a platform on whi ch these issues can be explored. It a s serts that communication occurs i n the i ntersection of four fundamental constructs: communication between people (crea tors and consumers) i s mediated by messages which are crea ted using language within media; consumed from media a nd i nterpreted using l anguage.This model is, i n many wa ys, a more deta iled elaboration of Lasswell's (1948) cl a ssic outline of the study of communication: "Who ... s ays wha t ... i n which channel ... to whom ... wi th what effect". In the ecol ogical model , the "who" a re the crea tors of messages, the "says wha t" a re the messages, the "in whi ch channel" is elaborated i nto l a nguages (which a re the content of cha nnels) and media (which cha nnels a re a component of), the "to whom" a re the consumers of mes sages, and the effects are found in va rious relationships between the primitives, i ncluding rel a tionships, perspectives, a ttri butions, i nterpretations, and the conti nuing evolution of l a nguages and media.

Fi gure 6: A Ecol ogical Model of the Communi ca ti on Proces s A number of relationships are des cribed in this model: 1. 2. 3. Mes sages are created and cons umed using language La nguage occurs within the context of media Mes sages are constructed a nd consumed within the context of media The rol es of consumer a nd creator a re reflexive. Peopl e become creators when they reply or supply feedback to other people. Crea tors become cons umers when they ma ke use of feedback to a da pt their messages to mes sage consumers. Peopl e learn how to crea te messages through the a ct of consuming other peoples messages. The rol es of consumer a nd creator a re i ntrospective. Creators of mes sages create mes sages within the context of their pers pectives of a nd rel a tionships with a nti cipated consumers of mes sages. Creators opti mize their messages to thei r ta rget audiences. Cons umers of messages i nterpret those messages wi thin the context of their pers pectives of, a nd rel a tionships with, crea tors of messages. Cons umers ma ke a ttri butions of meaning ba s ed on their opinion of the message creator. Peopl e form these pers pectives a nd rel a tionships as a function of thei r communication. The messages creators of mes sages construct are necessarily i mperfect representations of the

4.

5.

6.

mea ning they i magine. Mes sages are created wi thin the expressive l i mitations of the medium s elected and the meaning representation space provi ded by the language us ed. The message crea ted is a lmost always a pa rti al and imperfect representation of what the crea tor would like to s a y. 7. A cons umers i nterpretation of a mes sages necessarily a ttri butes meaning i mperfectly. Consumers i ntepret messages within the l i mits of the l a nguages used and the media those l anguages a re us ed in. A consumers i nterpretation of a mes sage may be very di fferent than what the crea tor of a message i ma gined. 8. Peopl e learn language by through the experience of encountering language bei ng used within media. The l anguages they l earn wi l l almost always be the l a nguages when communicating with people who already know a nd use those languages. Tha t communication a l ways occurs within a medi um that enables thos e l anguages. 9. Peopl e learn media by us i ng media. The media they l earn will necessarilly be the media used by the people they communicate wi th. 10. Peopl e invent a nd evolve l a nguages. While some behavi or expressions (a ba by's cry) occur na turally a nd s ome aspects of l a nguage s tructure may mi rror the ways i n which the bra in s tructures ideas, l a nguage does not occur na turally. People invent

new l anguage when there i s no language that they ca n be s ocialized into. Peopl e evolve language when they need to communicate ideas that exi s ting l anguage is not s ufficient to. 11. Peopl e invent a nd evolve media While some of the moda lities and channels a s sociated with communication a re na turally occurring, the media we use to communicate are not. A medium of communication is, in s hort, the product of a set of compl ex i nteractions between its pri ma ry consituents: messages, people (acting as creators of mes sages, consumers of messages, a nd i n other rol es), languages, and media. Three of these consituents a re themselves complex sys tems a nd the s ubject of entire fields of s tudy, i ncluding psychology, s oci ology, a nthropology (a ll three of whi ch study people), linguistics (l a nguage), media ecology (media), a nd communication (messages, l a nguage, a nd media). Even mes sages ca n be regarded as compl ex entities, but its compl exities ca n be described enti rely within the scope of l a nguages, media, and the people who us e them. This ecological model of communication is, in its mos t fundamental reading, a compa ct theory of messages and the s ys tems that enable them. Mes sages are the central feature of the model and the most fundamental product of the i nteraction of people, language, a nd media. But there a re other products of the model that build up from tha t base of messages, i ncl uding (in a rough ordering to i ncreased complexity) observation, l earning, interpretation, s oci alization, attribution, pers pectives, a nd relationships.

Discussion: Positioning the study of media in the field of communication It i s i n this l ayering of i nterdependent social construction tha t thi s model picks up its name. Our communication i s not produced within a ny s ingle s ystem, but i n the i ntersection of s everal i nterrelated s ystems, each of which i s s elf-standing necessarily des cribed by dedicated theories, but ea ch of which is both the product of the others a nd, in i ts own l imited way, a n i nstance of the other. The medium is, as McLuhan fa mously observed, a message that i s i nherent to every message that is crea ted i n or consumed from a medi um. The medium is, to the extent that we can s elect among media, a lso a language such that the message of the medium is not onl y i nherent to a message, but often a n element of i ts composition. In what may be the mos t extreme vi ew enabled by the processing of messages within media, the medium may also be a pers on and consumes messages, recrea tes them, a nd makes the modi fied messages a vailable for further consumption. A medium is rea lly none of these things. It is fundamentally a s ystem that ena bles the construction of mes sages using a set of languages s uch that they ca n be consumed. But a medium is also both all of thes e things a nd the product of thei r i nteraction. People learn, crea te, and evolve media as a vehi cle for enabling the creation a nd consumption of messages. The s ame might be said of each of the constituents of this model. Peopl e can be, a nd often a re, the medi um (insofar a s they a ct as mes sengers), the l anguage (insofar a s different people ca n be s elected a s messengers), or the message (one's choice of messenger ca n be profoundly meaningful). Fundamentally a person is none of thes e things, but they ca n be used a s a ny of these things and are the

product of their experience of a ll of thes e things. Our experience of mes sages, languages, media, and through them, other people, is fundamental in shaping who we become a nd how we think of ours elves a nd others. We i nvent ours elves, a nd others work di l igently to s hape that i nvention, through our consumption of mes sages, the languages we ma s ter, a nd the media we use. La nguage ca n be, a nd often a re, the mes sage (that is inherent to every mes sage constructed with it), the medi um (but only tri vially), the pers on (both a t the level of the "l a nguage instinct" that is i nherent to people (following Pi nker, xxxxx) a nd a socialized semiotic overlay on pers onal experience), a nd even "the l anguage" (insofar as we have a choi ce of what language we use in cons tructing a given message). Fundamentally a language is none of thes e things, but i t ca n be used a s a ny of these things and is the product of our use of media to cons truct messages. We use l a nguage, within media, to cons truct messages, such as defi nitions and dictionaries) that cons truct language. We i nvent and evol ve language as a product of our communication. As for messages, they reiterate a ll of thes e constituents. Every mes sage is a partial a nd i ncomplete preci s of the language that i t is cons tructed with, the medium it i s crea ted i n a nd consumed from, and the person who created it. Every mes sage we consume allows us to l earn a l ittle more a bout the l a nguage that we i nterpret with, the medium we create and cons ume messages in, and the pers on who created the message. Every mes sage we create is a n opportunity to change a nd extend the l a nguage we use, evolve the media we use, a nd i nfluence the pers pective that consumers of our mes sages have of us. Yet fundamentally, a message i s simply a message, an attempt to

communicate something we i ma gine such that another person ca n correctly i ntepret the message a nd thus i magine the same thing. Thi s welter of intersecting McLuha nesque/Burkean metaphors a nd i nterdependencies provides a s econd source of the models name. Thi s model s eeks, more than a nythi ng, to position language and media a s the intermediate building bl ocks on which communication is bui lt. The position of language as a bui lding block of messages a nd a nd communication is well understood. Over a century of s tudy i n s emantics, semiotics, a nd linguistics ha ve produced sys tematic theories of mes sage a nd language production which are well understood and generally a ccepted. The s tudy of l anguage is routinely i ncorporated into vi rtually a ll progra ms in the fi eld of communication, i ncluding journa lism, rhetoric a nd s peech, fi l m, theater, broadcast media, l a nguage a rts, speech and hearing s ci ences telecommunications, and other va riants, i ncluding departments of "language and s oci al i nteraction". The positioning of the s tudy of media within the fi eld of communication is cons iderably more tenuous. Ma ny departments, i ncluding most of thos e named in this paragraph, focus almost entirely on only one or two media, effectively a ssuming the medi um such that the focus of s tudy ca n be constrained to the a rt of mes sage production and i nterpretation, with a heavy focus on the l anguages of the medium a nd l ittle real introspection about wha t i t means to use that medium i n preference to a nother or the generalized ways in which all media a re i nvented, learned, evolved, s oci alized, s elected or used mea ningfully. Such i s, however, the primary s ubject matter of the newly emerging discipline of media ecol ogy, a nd this model can be s een as a n attempt to position

media ecology relative to language a nd messages as a building block of our communication. This model wa s created specifically to s upport theori es of media a nd position them relative to the process of communication. It is hoped that the rea der fi nds value in that pos itioning. Conclusion: Theoretical and Pedogogical Value Models a re a fundamental building bl ock of theory. They a re also a fundamental tool of instruction. Sha nnon's i nformation theory model, Weiner's Cybernetic model, a nd Ka tz' two s tep flow each a l lowed a llowed scholars decompose the process of communication i nto discrete s tructural elements. Ea ch provides the ba sis for considerable bodies of communication theory a nd res earch. Ea ch model also provi des tea chers with a powerful pedagogical tool for teaching s tudents to understand that communication is a complex process i n which many things ca n, a nd frequently do, go wrong; for tea ching students the ways i n whi ch they ca n perfect different s ki lls a t different points i n the communication process to become more effective communicators. But whi le Shannon's model has proved effective across the primary di vides i n the field of communication, the other models Ka tz' a nd Weiner's models have not. Indeed, they i n ma ny wa ys exemplify that divide a nd the differences in what is ta ught i n courses oriented to i nterpersonal communication a nd ma s s communication. Wei ner's cybernetic model a ccentuates the interactive s tructure of communication. Ka tz' model accentuates its production s tructure. Students of i nterpersonal communication a re taught, through the us e of the i nteractive/cybernetic and tra ns active models that a ttending to the feedback of their a udience i s

a n i mportant part of being a n effective communicator. Students of ma ss communication a re taught, through the i ntermediary/gatekeeper/two-step fl ow model, that controlled production processes are a n i mportant part of being an effective communicator. The difference is a s ma ll one and there is no denying tha t both attention to feedback and a ttention to detail are cri tical skills of effective communicators, but ma s s media programs focus heavily on the mi nutiae of production, i nterpersonal programs focus hea vily on the munitiae of attention to feedback. Despite the fa ct that both teach both message production the languages used in mes sage production, and the deta ils of the small ra nge of media tha t ea ch typically covers, they di s cuss different media, to s ome extent different languages, and di fferent approaches to message production. These differences, far more tha n more obvi ous di fferences like a udience s ize or technology, a re the divides that s eperate the study of i nterpersonal communication from mass communication. The ecological model of communication presented here ca nnot, by i tself, remediate such di fferences, but it does reconsitute a nd extend these models in ways tha t ma ke it useful, both pedogogically a nd theoretically, a cros s the normal disciplinary boundaries of the field of communication. The a uthor has ma de good use of the model i n tea ching a va riety of courses within s everal communication disciplines, i ncl uding on interpersonal communication, mass media cri ti cism, organizational communication, communication ethi cs, communication in rel a tionships and communities, and new communication technologies. In i ntroductory Interpersonal Communication classes the model ha s shown considerable value in outl ining a nd tyi ng together s uch

di verse topics as the s ocial cons truction of the s elf, verbal a nd non-verbal languages, listening, rel a tionship formation and development, miscommunication, perception, a ttribution, and the wa ys i n which communication cha nges in different i nterpersonal media. In a n Organizational Communication class the model has proved va lue i n tyi ng comtemporary Orga nizational models, including network a nalysis models, satisficing, a nd Weick's model to key organizational skills l i ke effective presentation, l i stening, a nd matching the medium to the goa l and the stakeholder. In a communication ethics cl ass it has proved va luable i n elaborating the ra nge of participants i n media who ha ve ethical responsibilities and the s cope of their responsibilities. In a ma s s media cri ticism cl ass i t has proved useful in showing how di fferent cri tical methods relate to the process of communication and to ea ch other. In each course the model has proved valuable, not onl y i n giving students tools with whi ch they ca n decompose communication, but which they can orga nize the course materials into a cohesive whole. Whi le the model was originally composed for pedagogical purposes, the primary va lue for the a uthor has been theoretical. The fi eld of communication encompasses a wide ra nge of very di fferent and often unintegrated theori es a nd methods. Contextba s ed gaps i n the field like the one between mass media and i nterpersonal communication have been equated to those of "two s overeign nations," with "different purposes, different boundaries", "di fferent methods", a nd "different theoretical orientations" (Berger a nd Cha ffee, 1988), ca using at l east s ome to doubt that the fi eld can ever be united by a common theory of communication (Craig, 1999). xxxxx The a uthor repeatedly fi nds thes e gaps a nd boundaries probl ematic

It ma y be be that complex model of the communication process that bri dges the theoretical orientations of i nterpersonal, organizational, a nd mass media perspectives ca n hel p to bridge this gap a nd provide s omething more than the kind of meta model that Cra ig calls for. Defi ning media directly i nto the process of communication may hel p to provide the kind of s ubstrate that would satisfy Ca ppella's (1991) s uggestion we can "rema ke the field by a ltering the orga nizational format", replacing contexts with processes that opera te within the scope of media. Thi s perspective does exactly that. The res ult does not i ntegrate all of communication theory, but i t may provi de a useful s tarting point on whi ch a more i ntegrated communication theory ca n be built. The construction of such theory i s the a uthor's primary objective in forwa rding this model for your comment and, hopefully, your res ponse.