Literary Terms: Week 1

Our first semester included weekly grammar lessons, but this semester, we will begin shifting more towards literary analysis. In order to better understand how to deconstruct literature based on the literary elements within a text, we need to familiarize ourselves with the language and vocabulary used in this kind of work. I will post 5 new terms over the next 7 weeks. You will be tested on these the 8th week, so spend time each week reviewing these terms and mastering them. Here's your first set of terms:

                                     Literary Terms: Week 1

1.    Conflict-- Struggle between opposing forces in a work of literature

2.    Metaphor--Concise form of comparison equating two things that may at first seem completely dissimilar.

3.    Theme-- The central or dominant idea of a literary work.

4.    Melodrama--Sensational play that appeals shamelessly to the emotions, contains elements of tragedy, but ends happily.

5.    Symbol--Person, object, action or idea that transcends its literal or denotative sense in a complex way.