40 literary terms you should know

The Centered Librarian:

Aphorism: Short, sweet little sayings expressing an idea or opinion are familiar to everyone -- they just don't always know the technical term for them. Dorothy Parker was a particularly adroit user of aphorisms.

Apostrophe: Beyond a term for daily punctuation, apostrophe also pulls audiences aside to address a person, place or thing currently not present. O, Shakespeare! Such a sterling example of apostrophe use!

Applicability: The venerable Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien coined this term when badgered one too many times about whether or not his beloved fantasy series was supposed to be a World War II allegory. It wasn't, but he thought readers could easily apply such an interpretation to the text without losing anything.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 13, 2011 2:20 AM
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