Lit Terms 31-60

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.