1. ballad

2. Calvinism

3. dramatic irony

4. epic

5. metaphysical conceit

6. Oedipus complex

7. round character

8. transcendentalism

1. ballad

Ballad is a narrative poem, usually simple and fairly short, originally designed to be sung. Ballads often begin abruptly, imply the previous action, utilize simple language, tell the story tersely through dialogue and described action, and make use of refrains. The folk ballad, which reached its height in Britain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was composed anonymously and handed down orally, often in several different versions. The literary ballad, consciously created by a poet in imitation of the folk ballad, makes use (sometimes with considerable freedom) of many of its devices and conventions. Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, Keats’s “La Belle Dame sans Merci”, and Wilde’s “Ballad of Reading Gaol” are all literary ballads.

2. Calvinism

Calvinism is the doctrine of John Calvin, the great French theologian who lived in Geneva. It’s doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few) through a special infusion of grace from god.

3. dramatic irony

Dramatic (or tragic irony) depends on the structure of the play more than on the actual words of the characters. An extraordinary example of sustained dramatic irony is Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, in which Oedipus seeks throughout the play for the murderer of Laius, the former king of Thebes, only to find that he himself is the guilty one. The term dramatic irony is also used to describe the situation which arises when a character in a play speaks lines which are understood in a double sense by the audience though not by the characters onstage. When Brabantio warns Othello against being betrayed by Desdemona, the Moor replies, “My life upon her faith.” For an audience who knows the story, Othello’s remark presages the tragedy to come.

4. epic

Epic is a long narrative poem in which action, characters, and language are on a heroic level and style is exalted and majestic. Basically, there are two kinds of epic: (a) primary-also known as oral or primitive, (b) secondary-also known as literary. The first belongs to the oral tradition and is thus composed orally and recited; only much later, in some cases, is it written down. The second is written down at the start. Major characteristics of an epic are 1) a vast setting remote in time and place, 2) a noble and dignified objective, 3) a simple plot, 4) a central incident (or series of incidents) dealing with legendary material, 5) a theme involving universal human problems, 6) a towering hero of great stature, 7) superhuman strength of body, character, or mind, 8) supernatural forces such as gods, angels, and demons, intervening from time to time. Among noted epics are Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Old English Beowulf, Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Longfellow’s Hiawatha. Sometimes Whitman’s long poem Leaves of Grass is also called an epic.

5. metaphysical conceit

Conceit means concept, idea and conception. As a literary term this word has come to denote a fairly elaborate figurative device of a fanciful kind which often incorporates metaphor, simile, hyperbole or oxymoron and which is intended to surprise and delight by its wits and ingenuity. The pleasure we get from many conceits is intellectual rather than sensuous. The Metaphysical conceit, characteristic of Donne and other Metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century, is a comparison, often elaborate, extended, or startling, between objects which are apparently dissimilar, e.g. John Donne’s comparison of two souls with two bullets in “The Dissolution” and that of two lovers with compasses.

6. Oedipus complex

It is a Freudian term, drawn from the myth of Oedipus who without knowing the truth married his mother. The term designates attraction on the part of the child toward the parent of the opposite sex and rivalry and hostility toward the parent of its own. It occurs during the phallic stage of the psychosexual development of the personality, approximately years three to five. Resolution of the Oedipus complex is believed to occur by identification with the parent of the same sex and by the renunciation of sexual interest in the parent of the opposite sex. Freud considered this complex the cornerstone of the superego and the nucleus of all human relationships.

7. round character

This is a term first used by E. M. Forster to designate a character drawn with sufficient complexity to be able to be recognizable, understandable, and different from all others appearing in the same selection. A round character must, according to Forster, be capable of surprising a reader “in a convincing way.” Complexity of characterization, moreover, must be accompanied by an organization of traits or qualities. The round character is opposite to flat character whose personal traits can be summed up in one or two points. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV the Prince changes and develops, and he is a round character.

8. transcendentalism

Transcendentalism is a New England movement which flourished from about 1835 to 1860. It had its roots in romanticism and in post-Kantian idealism by which Coleridge was influenced. It had a considerable influence on American art and literature. Basically religious, it emphasized the role and importance of the individual conscience, and the value of intuition in matters of moral guidance and inspiration. The actual term was coined by opponents of the movement, but accepted by its members (e.g. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-82, one of the leaders, published The Transcendentalist in 1841). The group of people was also social reformers. Some of the members, besides Emerson, were famous, including Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

1. classicism

2. expressionism

3. hermeneutics

4. Jacobean Age

5. low comedy

6. mood

7. myth

8. parody

9. point of view

10.soliloquy

1. Classicism：

Classicism as commonly opposed to Romanticism, and in particular as the ideal of 17th century France, implies a social ideal: man is viewed as a social being consciously and willingly subject to certain disciplines. This term, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic quality of high distinction. When we speak of classicism we refer to the styles, rules, modes, conventions, themes and sensibilities of the Classical authors, and, by extension, their influence on and presence in the work of later authors. More precisely, the term refers to the admiration and imitation of Greek and Roman literature, art, and architecture. Because the principles of classicism were derived from the rules and practices of the ancients, the term came to mean the adherence to specific academic canons. Classicism tends naturally to be expressed in such classical forms as the Alexandrine, the heroic couplet and the ode, and places importance on such values as order, clarity, harmony, grace and humanity. The major English authors to follow Classical rules and modes were Ben Jonson, Dryden, Pope, Swift, Addison and Dr Johnson.

2. Expressionism：

The term refers to a movement in Germany very early in the 20th century (c. 1905) in which a number of painters sought to avoid the representation of external reality and, instead, to project themselves and a highly personal vision of the world. In fine arts it involves such techniques as exaggerating or distorting forms and applying intensified colors to express emotion. In literature expressionism involves the presentation of life and world through intensified impressions and moods of characters. Often emphasized emotions, subjective reactions of characters and symbolic or abstract representations of reality are apparent in such literature. Works noted for expressionistic tendencies and techniques are: Strindberg’s Dream Play, Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones, James Joyce’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, and T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.

3. Hermeneutics：

In its most general sense, it refers to any theory of interpretation. Originally, the term was limited to Biblical exegesis, but since the nineteenth century it has been extended to any theory or procedure in interpreting literary, legal, or social science texts. The “hermeneutic circle,” first described in the early nineteenth century by the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher, was so named later in the century by the philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey to describe an approach to understanding: the meaning of constituent parts of a whole can be understood only if the whole has prior meaning, but only when those constituent parts are understood can the full meaning of the whole be grasped. Thus, the interrelationships of words, sentences, paragraphs to whole literary works involve a progressive clarification of mutually conferred meanings. In The Validity of Interpretation (1967) and The Aims of Interpretation (1976), the American critic E. D. Hirsch has argued that, in employing the hermeneutic circle, a reader may determine the meaning of a work by progressively testing a hypothesis of interpretation while examining the relationship of the whole to its parts: the result is likely to be a close approximation of the author’s intent.

4. Jacobean Age：

Referring to the reign of King James I of England (1603-1625), the term came from the Latin form of James, Jacobus. It is generally applied to the literature (especially drama), furniture, art and architecture of that period. The literature of this era was really a late flowering of Elizabethan writing, although toward the end of James’ reign, cynicism and realism began to flourish. The King himself published at least four books: two on poetry, a work on demonology, and the famous A Counterblaste to Tobacco. During this epoch, many of Shakespeare’s greatest plays were written; John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Francis Bacon were at the peak of their creative powers; the King James Bible appeared in 1611.

5. Low comedy：

Low comedy is a coarse type of comedy sometimes used as comic relief. The mirth it provokes is likely to come from the belly rather than the brain. It commonly contains buffoonery, slapstick, violent action and ribald jokes. It is thus a crudely fundamental form which trades upon people’s relish at seeing others humiliated and ridiculed and involved in scabrous episodes. The punch-up, the custard-pie contest are common examples of low comedy situations. It is frequent in Aristophanic comedy, farce, medieval English drama, Tudor and Jacobean drama and also Restoration comedy. In Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, for instance, Falstaff, getting into a basket to hide from a suspicious husband, has “foul linen” piled atop him. The basket is then carried offstage to be dumped into the Thames.

6. Mood：

Mood is the emotive attitude conveyed by a literary work, such as gaiety, gloom, resignation and irony. It is a synonym to tone, while some distinguish mood –the author’s attitude toward the subject—from tone, the writer’s attitude toward the audience. In works of dramatic irony, the speaker’s mood is probably serious, earnest or self-important, in contrast with the author’s view of the speaker, amused, condescending, contemptuous, wry, or whatever.

7. Myth：

A myth is a traditional sacred story, usually featuring gods and heroes, which purports to explain a natural phenomenon or cultural practice. It is a religious story, and will therefore involve the existence and activities of a supernatural being, such as a god, a demigod, a goddess, or several such entities. It will seek to explain at least some aspect of the origin or manner of things (e.g. where people came from) if not of the very universe itself. It connects up in some significant way with other similar stories within a culture. Its authorship is communally shared and it came into existence through oral tradition, and therefore usually has more than one version. It is believed to be essentially true by those in the society for whom it is one part of a cultural mythology. With an increase in scientific knowledge, however, myths are often supplanted and they survive simply as stories.

8. Parody：

Parody is the imitative use of the words, style, attitude, tone and ideas of an author in such a way as to make them ridiculous. This is usually achieved by exaggerating certain traits, using more or less the same technique as the cartoon caricaturist. In fact, it is a kind of satirical mimicry. As a branch of satire its purpose may be corrective as well as derisive. Parodies have existed since literature began. Aristophanes brilliantly parodied the plays of Euripides; Cervantes’s Don Quixote (1605–15) parodies chivalric romances; Henry Fielding’s novel Joseph Andrews (1742) parodies Samuel Richardson’s moral novel Pamela (1740); and Max Beerbohm’s A Christmas Garland (1912) wickedly parodies such authors as Kipling, Conrad, and Henry James. Noted 20th-century parodists include Ogden Nash, S. J. Perelman, Robert Benchley, James Thurber, E. B. White, and Woody Allen.

9. Point of view：

The term is used in the analysis and criticism of fiction to describe the way in which the writer presents the reader with the materials of the story. Simply speaking, point of view is who tells the story and how it is told. It falls into two categories, first person point of view and third person point of view. The latter is further divided into three groups, omniscient point of view, limited omniscient point of view and objective point of view.

10. Soliloquy：

It is the speech delivered by a character in a literary composition, usually a play, while the speaker is either alone addressing the audience directly or the other actors are silent. It is most commonly used to reveal the innermost concerns or thoughts of the speaker, thus pointing up the drama of internal conflict. The soliloquy may also act simply as a vehicle for information about absent characters or events occurring at some other time or place. The form is quite popular in Elizabethan drama, notably in the plays of Shakespeare, such as Hamlet’s “to be or not to be”. In the modern theater the soliloquy has tended to disappear completely, although experimentations in its use were attempted by such playwrights as Eugene O’Neill, who sought through the soliloquy to achieve a greater psychological realism.