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I've never used APA. Whatever you're more comfortable with, use that. There's no benefit of one over the other for the WL assignment, although MLA is usually used for literature. It should cover the same content.
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bumblebee.xo
Member Since 28 Apr 2010Offline Last Active Apr 28, 2011 - 02:35
#67208 MLA or APA for World Lit 2 Footnotes?
Posted
on May 03, 2010 - 01:47
#67185 List of literary features
Posted
on May 02, 2010 - 19:35
I made a list and some notes on literary features to look out for (especially during the unseen commentary). Feel free to use this list to help prepare for your own May exams.
List of Literary Features
- Allegory
o a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal, usually through symbolism
- Allusion
o a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage
- Analogies
o Something unfamiliar explained using an equivalent familiar example
- Anecdotes
o Short, entertaining side stories that related to the plot
- Antithesis
o used to describe a character who presents the exact opposite as to personality type or moral outlook to another character
- Aphorism
o a concise statement containing a subjective truth or observation cleverly and pithily written
- Characterization
o Direct – author/narrator talks about the characteristics
o Indirect – revealed through interaction with themselves and with others
o Anything can be characterization because Characters Carry the Plot
- Conceit
o An extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison
- Denotative/Connotative Meaning
o When something has both a literal meaning that is significant, as well as a figurative meaning that is equally if not more important
- Diction/Word Choice
o Can be used to create an effect – tone, mood, or reinforce the theme or a style
- Enjambment
o The continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break.
- Epiphany
- Flashback
- Foreshadowing
- Framing device
o When the narrative is starts and ends with something, which frames the said narrative to create and effect
- Grammer
o Dashes and commas, parentheses and sentence fragments – usually a lesser form of stream of consciousness but also used to reveal the thought process of a character at a given time
- Imagery/Sensory Detail
o Brings the audience into the scene by immersing them in the experience, in the setting
- Irony
o Verbal irony is a disparity of expression and intention: when a speaker says one thing but means another, or when a literal meaning is contrary to its intended effect. An acute example of this would be sarcasm.
o Dramatic irony is a disparity of expression and awareness: when words and actions possess a significance that the listener or audience understands, but the speaker or character does not.
o Situational irony is the disparity of intention and result: when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect. Likewise, cosmic irony is disparity between human desires and the harsh realities of the outside world (or the whims of the gods).
o Verbal and situational irony is often intentionally used as emphasis in an assertion of a truth. The ironic form of simile, or the irony of sarcasm or litotes may involve the emphasis of one's meaning by deliberate use of language that states the direct opposite of the truth, or drastically and obviously understates a factual connection
- Juxtaposition
o When the author places two themes, characters, phrases, words, or situations together for the purpose of comparison, contrast, or rhetoric.
- Magic Realism
o When magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward manner which allows the "real" and the "fantastic" to be accepted in the same stream of thought
- Metaphor
- Metonymy
o is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, "Washington," as the capital of the United States, could be used as a metonym for its government
- Mockery
o A form of mocking – deriding a character or a group of people, can be employed by another character, or by the narrator
- Mood
o When a scene is emotionally charged, although the emotional may be one such as melancholy or apathy. Used to supplement setting and sometimes to create its own effect
- Motif
o A symbol that is repeated throughout the narrative that relates to a specific theme of the narrative. Rarely obvious
- Narration
o First person, Third person limited, Omniscient
- Narrative hook
o Conscious, sometimes obvious attempt to grab and hold onto the audience’s attention
- Overstatement/Hyperbole
- Onomatopoeia
- Oxymoron
- Paradox
o a method of literary composition - and analysis - which involves examining apparently contradictory statements and drawing conclusions either to reconcile them or to explain their presence
- Parody
o Imitation of something meant to ridicule it
- Pastiche
o Imitation of the style of another person
- Pathetic Fallacy
o A form of personification – the reflection of the mood of a character (usually the protagonist) in the atmosphere or inanimate objects
- Pathos/Emotional Appeal
o one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric used by the author to inspire pity or sorrow in the reader towards a character
- Personification
- Plot Device
o an object or character whose sole purpose is to advance the plot
- Poetic Justice
o when virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in modern literature by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct
- Polyphony
o is a feature of narrative, which includes a diversity of points of view and voices
- POV
o can be shifted with or without warning to create an effect
- Sentence Structure/Argument Structure
o Watch for: subject first vs. verb first, double negatives, interesting construction, intricacy and discrepancy in the argument.
- Setting
- Stream of consciousness
o Usually devoid of grammer, reflects the innermost thoughts and workings of a characters mind during the stream’s text
- Symbolism
- Theme
- Tone
o Character specific, or narrator specific
o Ambiguity, philosophical, sarcastic, ironic, surprise, condescending, detached, etc.
- Understatement
o Giving an expression with less strength than would be expected, can be used to the effect of highlighting the importance of the thing being understated
o Litotes is a form of understatement in which a certain statement is expressed by denying its opposite
- Unreliable/biased narrator
- Verfremdungseffekt
o An effect that prevents the audience from losing itself passively and completely in the character created by the actor, and which consequently leads the audience to be a consciously critical observer
- Voice
o Voice of the author is a combination of a writer's use of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text
Please post any other literary features/devices that I have not included! My teacher for English A1 was pretty thorough though =D
List of Literary Features
- Allegory
o a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal, usually through symbolism
- Allusion
o a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage
- Analogies
o Something unfamiliar explained using an equivalent familiar example
- Anecdotes
o Short, entertaining side stories that related to the plot
- Antithesis
o used to describe a character who presents the exact opposite as to personality type or moral outlook to another character
- Aphorism
o a concise statement containing a subjective truth or observation cleverly and pithily written
- Characterization
o Direct – author/narrator talks about the characteristics
o Indirect – revealed through interaction with themselves and with others
o Anything can be characterization because Characters Carry the Plot
- Conceit
o An extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison
- Denotative/Connotative Meaning
o When something has both a literal meaning that is significant, as well as a figurative meaning that is equally if not more important
- Diction/Word Choice
o Can be used to create an effect – tone, mood, or reinforce the theme or a style
- Enjambment
o The continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break.
- Epiphany
- Flashback
- Foreshadowing
- Framing device
o When the narrative is starts and ends with something, which frames the said narrative to create and effect
- Grammer
o Dashes and commas, parentheses and sentence fragments – usually a lesser form of stream of consciousness but also used to reveal the thought process of a character at a given time
- Imagery/Sensory Detail
o Brings the audience into the scene by immersing them in the experience, in the setting
- Irony
o Verbal irony is a disparity of expression and intention: when a speaker says one thing but means another, or when a literal meaning is contrary to its intended effect. An acute example of this would be sarcasm.
o Dramatic irony is a disparity of expression and awareness: when words and actions possess a significance that the listener or audience understands, but the speaker or character does not.
o Situational irony is the disparity of intention and result: when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect. Likewise, cosmic irony is disparity between human desires and the harsh realities of the outside world (or the whims of the gods).
o Verbal and situational irony is often intentionally used as emphasis in an assertion of a truth. The ironic form of simile, or the irony of sarcasm or litotes may involve the emphasis of one's meaning by deliberate use of language that states the direct opposite of the truth, or drastically and obviously understates a factual connection
- Juxtaposition
o When the author places two themes, characters, phrases, words, or situations together for the purpose of comparison, contrast, or rhetoric.
- Magic Realism
o When magical elements are blended into a realistic atmosphere in order to access a deeper understanding of reality. These magical elements are explained like normal occurrences that are presented in a straightforward manner which allows the "real" and the "fantastic" to be accepted in the same stream of thought
- Metaphor
- Metonymy
o is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, "Washington," as the capital of the United States, could be used as a metonym for its government
- Mockery
o A form of mocking – deriding a character or a group of people, can be employed by another character, or by the narrator
- Mood
o When a scene is emotionally charged, although the emotional may be one such as melancholy or apathy. Used to supplement setting and sometimes to create its own effect
- Motif
o A symbol that is repeated throughout the narrative that relates to a specific theme of the narrative. Rarely obvious
- Narration
o First person, Third person limited, Omniscient
- Narrative hook
o Conscious, sometimes obvious attempt to grab and hold onto the audience’s attention
- Overstatement/Hyperbole
- Onomatopoeia
- Oxymoron
- Paradox
o a method of literary composition - and analysis - which involves examining apparently contradictory statements and drawing conclusions either to reconcile them or to explain their presence
- Parody
o Imitation of something meant to ridicule it
- Pastiche
o Imitation of the style of another person
- Pathetic Fallacy
o A form of personification – the reflection of the mood of a character (usually the protagonist) in the atmosphere or inanimate objects
- Pathos/Emotional Appeal
o one of the three modes of persuasion in rhetoric used by the author to inspire pity or sorrow in the reader towards a character
- Personification
- Plot Device
o an object or character whose sole purpose is to advance the plot
- Poetic Justice
o when virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in modern literature by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct
- Polyphony
o is a feature of narrative, which includes a diversity of points of view and voices
- POV
o can be shifted with or without warning to create an effect
- Sentence Structure/Argument Structure
o Watch for: subject first vs. verb first, double negatives, interesting construction, intricacy and discrepancy in the argument.
- Setting
- Stream of consciousness
o Usually devoid of grammer, reflects the innermost thoughts and workings of a characters mind during the stream’s text
- Symbolism
- Theme
- Tone
o Character specific, or narrator specific
o Ambiguity, philosophical, sarcastic, ironic, surprise, condescending, detached, etc.
- Understatement
o Giving an expression with less strength than would be expected, can be used to the effect of highlighting the importance of the thing being understated
o Litotes is a form of understatement in which a certain statement is expressed by denying its opposite
- Unreliable/biased narrator
- Verfremdungseffekt
o An effect that prevents the audience from losing itself passively and completely in the character created by the actor, and which consequently leads the audience to be a consciously critical observer
- Voice
o Voice of the author is a combination of a writer's use of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text
Please post any other literary features/devices that I have not included! My teacher for English A1 was pretty thorough though =D
