Adapted from a Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H. Abrams (5Th Edition)

American Perspectives

Semester Exam Preparation

The following array of definitions and explanations should help you in preparing readings and essays for this class:

adapted from A Glossary of Literary Terms by M.H. Abrams (5th Edition)

Motif is an element—a type of incident, device, reference or formula—which recurs frequently in literature. A leitmotif (guiding motif) is applied to the frequent repetition of a significant phrase, or set description, or complex of images.

Theme, though sometimes used interchangeably with motif, is more usefully applied to a general claim, or doctrine, whether implicit or asserted, which an imaginative work is designed to incorporate and make persuasive to the reader

Imagery is one of the most common terms in modern criticism, and one of the most variable in meaning:

a.  imagery is used to signify all the objects and qualities of sense perception referred to in a poem or other work of literature, whether by literal description or allusion.

b.  imagery is used more narrowly to signify only descriptions of objects or scenes, especially if the description is vivid and particularized

c.  imagery most commonly in current usage signifies figurative language, especially the vehicles of metaphor and simile

In some works there are image clusters (recurrent groupings of metaphors and similes) that work together to create the overall tonality of a work—they become a sort of thematic imagery or image motif.

Symbol—a symbol is in its broadest sense, equivalent to a sign—that is, anything which signifies something else. (In a sense, then, all words are symbols.) But in literature a symbol is an object, action or event which signifies something else, or has a range of reference, beyond itself. Some symbols are conventional or public: the flag, the cross, a clenched fist. Symbols may also be private or personal, so their significance is derived more from the context of the literature. Interpretation of private symbols poses a more complex problem for the reader.

(from Virtual Salt—link available on the Humanities webpage)

Irony. A mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation. A writer may say the opposite of what he means, create a reversal between expectation and its fulfillment, or give the audience knowledge that a character lacks, making the character's words have meaning to the audience not perceived by the character. In verbal irony, the writer's meaning or even his attitude may be different from what he says: "Why, no one would dare argue that there could be anything more important in choosing a college than its proximity to the beach." An example of situational irony would occur if a professional pickpocket had his own pocket picked just as he was in the act of picking someone else's pocket. The irony is generated by the surprise recognition by the audience of a reality in contrast with expectation or appearance, while another audience, victim, or character puts confidence in the appearance as reality (in this case, the pickpocket doesn't expect his own pocket to be picked). The surprise recognition by the audience often produces a comic effect, making irony often funny.

An example of dramatic irony (where the audience has knowledge that gives additional meaning to a character's words) would be when King Oedipus, who has unknowingly killed his father, says that he will banish his father's killer when he finds him.

Irony is the most common and most efficient technique of the satirist, because it is an instrument of truth, provides wit and humor, and is usually at least obliquely critical, in that it deflates, scorns, or attacks.

The ability to detect irony is sometimes heralded as a test of intelligence and sophistication. When a text intended to be ironic is not seen as such, the effect can be disastrous…To be an effective piece of sustained irony, there must be some sort of audience tip-off, through style, tone, use of clear exaggeration, or other device.

From Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory edited by J.A. Cudden (Penguin)

Ambiguity (literary)—developed from William Empson’s work Seven Types of Ambiguity (1930)

Empson: ‘We call it ambiguous…when we recognize that there could be a puzzle as to what the author meant, in that alternate views might be taken without sheer misreading…’ Empson used the word in an extended sense and finds relevance in any ‘verbal nuance, however slight, which gives room for alternative reactions to the same piece of language.’