2. Satire
• What is it?
– The use of witty, ironic humor to ridicule/expose people’s weaknesses
– Includes: Irony, Sarcasm, Burlesque, Parody, Exaggeration, & Juxtaposition
• How to Remember!
– SARCASTIC + IRONIC = SATIRE
• Example:
Saturday Night Live
Political Cartoons
Quotes:
Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count
the votes decide everything. (Josef Stalin)
Death solves all problems: no man, no problem. (Joseph Stalin)
Marriage is the chief cause of divorce. (Grouch Marx)
divorce
3. Structure
• What is it?
– Framework/organization of a work of literature
– Has 3 principles: series, contrast & repetition
• How to Remember!
– Just like a house’s “structure” is how the building is built, literary “structure” is how the
built
author “built” the work
• Principles:
Example:
Series Shakespearean Sonnet = has 14 lines,
Things that follow one after another written in iambic pentameter, has a specific
*Order: Chronological, flashbacks, flash forwards rhyme scheme
•Very constrained form!
Contrast •A poem written with the STRUCTURE of a
Being strikingly different that something else.. Shakespearean sonnet:
*Highlights characteristics •Alludes to Shakespeare/his works
•May have a “constrained” tone
Repetition
Reoccurrence of an action/event
*EMPHASIZES elements
4. Ambiguity
• What is it?
– Something that is not clearly good or bad; a “gray area”; unclear meaning
• How to Remember!
– “Ambi” means two/both, and “guous” sounds like “guess”
– So, “ambiguous” means its any wild guess, it could be either,
it is unclear
• Examples:
Jay Gatsby - He purely loves Daisy, and devises a plan to see
Her by getting rich, moving near her and throwing lavish parties. However,
the way he gains his money is impure, so he is neither completely good
nor completely bad.
“We saw her duck” “I promise I’ll give you a ring tomorrow”
5. Connotation/Denotation
What is it?
– Connotation: the idea or feeling you get from a word
– Denotation: the literal meaning of the word
How to Remember!
Denotation starts with “D” and is the Dictionary meaning of a word
Connotation starts with “C” and is the Cultural or emotional meaning of a word
Examples:
Stop Sign Snake
Denotation: STOP Denotation: Snake
Connotation: Risk! (of accident or ticket) Connotation: Someone who can’t be trusted
6. Parable
• What is it?
– A simple story used to illustrate a moral lesson, general truth or religious principal
lesson
• How to Remember!
• Parable sounds like “Parallel”
• Things that are parallel are similar, just like parables are comparable to real
situations
• Example:
– “The Prodigal Son”
A man gives his two sons their shares of his estate. The younger son leaves with the
money and squanders it on worthless things. He runs out of money, and tries to earn
food by cleaning pig pens. Eventually, he goes home to his dad, where he is welcomed
with open arms and a big celebration feast. The older son, who never left, becomes
envious. He had never left and had not received treatment like that. The father replied
that there had to be a celebration because the son who was ‘dead’ is now ‘alive’, was
lost, and now is found.
This parable is from the Bible and is used to teach that no matter what we have done, Jesus, like the father in the
story, will always welcome us ‘home’ with open arms
7. Parody
• What is it?
– A humorous, satirical imitation of a person, event, or serious work of
literature designed to ridicule or criticize
• How to Remember!
– “Parody” sounds like “parrot-y”
– Just like a parrot repeats things people say
in a funny way, parodies retell an story with a
humorous interpretation.
• Example:
– Movies: “Scary Movie”, “Austin Powers”
– Music: Songs by Weird Al Yangkovich
– Television: SNL re-enactments of presidential
debates
8. Rhetorical Question
• What is it?
– A question asked in order to make a statement or produce an effect, not
expecting an answer.
• How to Remember!
– Rhetoric: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing
– So, a RHETORICAL question is a question that is designed to be effective or
persuasive, and not necessarily answered.
answered
• Example:
– Am I my brother’s keeper?
– Have you gone crazy?
– Am I talking to a wall?
– Why me?
9. Epigram
• What is it? A SHORT POEM
– a short poem ending with a witty thought
– Has 4 units: scene, act, line/stanza, chapter
• How to Remember!
– EPIC GRAM = something that is EPIC is phenomenal, but a GRAM is small
• Example:
“Sir, I admit your general rule,
That every poet is a fool,
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.”
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
10. Epigram (units)
• Scene
– Series of actions in a play, setting does not change
* A scene is like a couple paragraphs in a book
• Act
– Series of scenes in a play
* An act is like a chapter in a book
• Line/Stanza
– A STANZA is made of several LINES
* A stanza is the ‘metrical unit’ or verse of a poem
• Chapter
– Subsection of a book
11. Archetype
• What is it?
– The original model or pattern from which copies are made or from which something
develops.
– A symbol, theme, setting, or character that recurs in different places in literature.
• How to Remember!
– “Archetype” sounds like “prototype”, which is the original model of something
• Example:
– Colors: red =passion, blood, sacrifice, green =growth, hope, jealousy, black =death,
mystery, evil, white =purity, innocence, yellow =enlightenment, wisdom
– Seasons: Spring =new life, Summer =growing up, maturing, excitement, Fall =aging,
dying, Winter =death)
– Snake: symbol of evil, deceptiveness, corruption
12. FOIL
• What is it? A CHARACTER
– Character who contrasts another (usually protagonist or antagonist)
– The CONTRAST helps HIGHLIGHT the characteristics of the other character
– GOOD vs EVIL OR Weak vs Strong OR Leader vs Follower
• How to Remember!
– FOIL has a lot of contrast to it; the dark parts highlight
the light parts of the foil and make it look shinier
• Example:
Harry Potter Sherlock Holmes
Dumbledore (the protagonist) is portrayed as Dr. Watson serves as a foil character for
the “good” strong, and positive character, Holmes’ brilliance. Holmes says, “In
Where Voldemort (the antagonist) is the “evil” noting your fallacies I was occasionally
character who fights against all things guided towards the truth.” Watson gives
good. Holmes an opportunity to show off his
superior talent for observation.
