Tuesday, January 29, 2013

WHATS THE STORY?

Why did Charles Dickens write the novel you're reading/reviewing? What in your analysis of literary techniques led you to this conclusion?

I believe that Dickens wrote Great Expectations to show people that money isn't everything. You can be happy without money, or fame. All you need is good people by your side and reasonable ambitions.
What led me to this conclusion was Dickens use of antagonism. Having Mrs. Havishm and Estella as antagonists to the protagonist, Pip, it helped me to see that the two women really weren't happy at all. Their happiness was materialistic and fictional. Pip thinks that he needs all those fancy things in order to be happy too, but in the end he realizes that he can create his own happiness, just by being around the people he loves, doing the things he loves.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

LIT TERMS 31-56

Dialect: the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons; the sounds , grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.

Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.


Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.

Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.

Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.

Dogmatic: rigid beliefs and principles.

Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.

Epic: a long narrative poem unified be a hero who reflects the customs, morals, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on circumlocution).

Epigram: witty aphorism.

Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.

Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone's character, characteristics.

Euphemism: the use of indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one though to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.

Evocative (evocation): a calling forth of memories and sensation; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.

Exposition: the beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.

Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling.

Fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.

Fallacy: a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.

Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.

Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.

Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech.

Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.
 
Foil: a person that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.

Folk Tale: a story passed on by word of mouth

Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; "planning" to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.

Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

SMART GOAL

My goal is to pass the AP english exam. Out of the 4 AP classes I am taking, this is the only one that is within reach of me passing. The test is in May, so i still have a few months to prepare. My plan is to study once a week, every week until April. When April rolls around, then i will bump my study time up to three times a week. Hopefully that is enough to get me a 3 on the AP. exam.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

LIT TERMS 6-30

Analogy: a comparison made between two things to show the similarities.

Analysis: a method in which a worker or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts are given rigorous and detailed scrutiny.
 

Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences.

Anecdote: a short story used to illustrate a point.


Antagonist: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative.
Antithesis: a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness.

Aphorism: a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.

Apologia: a defense or justification for some doctrine , piece of writing, or action; also apology.

Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly.
 

Argument: the process of convincing a reader by either the truth or falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself.
 

Assumption: the act of supposing, or taking for granted a thing one does.

Audience: the intended listener or listeners.
 

Characterization: the means by which a writer reveals a character's personality.
 

Chiasmus: a reversal in the order of words so that the second half or the statement balances the first half in reverse order.
Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have sufficed.

Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome; tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance.

Cliche: a phrase or situation overused within society.

Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the point of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved.

Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words, or phrases usually used in informal conversation.
 

Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed to provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter.

Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension.
 

Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition.

Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity.

Denotation: plain dictionary definition.
Denouement: loose ends tied up in the story after the climax, closure, conclusion.