Lit Terms 31-56

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

32. Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.

33. Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.

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

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

36. Dogmatic: rigid in beliefs and principles.

37. 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.

38. 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).

39. Epigram: witty aphorism.

40. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

47. Fallacy: from Latin word “to deceive”, a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.

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

49. Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.

50. Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech (such as metaphor and simile).

51. Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.

52. Foil: a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.

53. Folk Tale: story passed on by word of mouth.

54. 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.

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

56. Genre: a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content.