Lit Terms #6

simile: a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison. 
soliloquy: an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage. 
spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.
speaker: a narrator, the one speaking stereotype: cliche, a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story. 
stream of consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character's thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.
structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization. 
style: the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.
subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important structures of language. 
surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious of the non-rational aspects of man's existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.
suspension of disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.
symbol: something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.
synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense. 
synecdoche: another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole. 
syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence
theme: main idea of the story; its message(s). 
thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved of disapproved; the main idea 
tone: the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literally work; the author's perceived point of view. 
tongue in cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; aka "dry" or "dead pan." 
tragedy: in literature any composition with a comber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed. 
understatement: opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis
vernacular: everyday speech 
voice: The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that  convey a writer's or speaker's persona. 
zeitgeist: the feeling of a particular era in history.