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 in 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 by a hero who reflects the customs, mores, 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 an indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt

Evocative - a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality

Exposition - 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(s)

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

Fallacy - from Latin word “to deceive”, 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 (such as metaphor and simile

Flashback - a narrative device that flashes back to prior events

Foil - a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent

Folk Tale - 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