Greetings,

This week, I thought it might be fun to give you a Glossary of Little Known Literary Terms - you'll find some gems here:

A is for Aphorism - a short, pointed expression of a principle or precept.

"A crowd is not a company."

B is for bathos - the spoiling of an impressive effect of a good climax by the introduction of a less important item at the end.

"And so the peace settlement was finally signed, after five long years of war, then they had a nice cup of tea."

C is for Caesura - a pause, usually about the middle of a metrical line of verse.

"The ponderous syllable like the sullen waves ..."

D is for Didacticism - the quality of being instructive.

Examples of didactic works are Bacon's Essays and Bunyon's "Pilgrim's Progress."

E is for Eclogue - originally used for the selected pastoral dialogues of Virgil, but today (??!) applied to any subject written in a rustic dialogue.

F is for Farce - a grotesque and exaggerated kind of comedy, such as "The Three Stooges" (or any kind of political campaign!)

G is for Gibberish - incoherent, inarticulate or unintelligible speech. Formerly the language of rogues (see 'Farce' above ...)

H is for Hypallage - a figure of speech in which the natural relationship of two elements is reversed without changing the essential meaning of the sentence.

"A lamp-post bumped into me." Instead of, "I bumped into a lamp-post." (I don't know about you, but to me, that changes the meaning of the sentence no end!)

I is for Iambus - a metrical foot composed of a stressed syllable preceded by one that is unstressed (iambic pentameters are the most common form of English verse).

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day." (Emphasise the syllables in bold to get the idea.)

J is for Jargon - speech that is dull and confusing, consisting mainly of unnecessary words, debased dialect or technical terms.

( ... see 'Farce')

K is for Katharsis - Aristotle used this term to describe the effects of drama on an audience. It's a 'purging' of the emotions. (also 'catharsis')

L is for Litotes - the use of understatement for the purpose of emphasis.

"Not a few people welcomed the change."

M is for Metonymy - a figure of speech which consists in mentioning one or two ideas, so closely associated that the mention of the first immediately suggests the second.

"The kettle is boiling (water)."

N is for Neologism - coining or using a new word.

"Internet" "rap music"

O is for Onomatopoeia - words that are meant to represent sounds.

"The fire crackled and hissed."

P is for Palindrome - a word, phrase or sentence that reads the same backwards as forwards.

"Able was I ere I saw Elba."

Q is for Quatrain - four consecutive lines of verse, which usually rhyme alternately.

"When you destroy a blade of grass,

You poison England at her roots:

Remember no man's foot can pass

Where evermore no green life shoots."

R is for Rhetoric - the art of writing or speaking in an impressive and convincing manner.

(Does not apply to 'Farce' ...)

S is for Synedoche - a figure of speech in which allusion to the part is used to imply the whole.

"Many hands make light work."

T is for Tautology - no need to explain this one to regular subscribers!

(See the Tautology of the Week at the end of this newsletter.)

U is for Unities - Aristotle is again responsible for this term. Describes the three elements of plot: time, place and action.

V is for Volta - the turn of thought at the end of the first eight lines in the Petrarchan-type sonnet.

Z is for Zeugma - a grammatical construction in which a verb or adjective is applied to two nouns, when logically it is applicable to only one.

"The room was empty, the lights out."

Phew! Now aren't you glad you weren't at school forty years ago when students had to learn these terms?

On the subject of subscribers - we now number over 1600 - but there's always room for more. Please tell your friends and colleagues about The Write Way and invite them to join. 

Abstract nouns are the names of qualities, states or feelings. Give the abstract nouns that correspond to the following:

e.g. hot - HEAT

1. silent

2. good

3. pure

4. innocent

5. prudent

6. noble

7. wise

8. deceive

9. choose

10.judge

From the words in Group B, select from (i) the word which is the closest synonym and from (ii) the word which is the most appropriate antonym:

How did you manage the punctuation exercise that Brian sent in? Remember this?

That that is is that that is not is not that that is is not that that is not that that is not is not that that is is that not it it is

Answer: "That that is", is.

"That that is not", is not.

"That that is", is not "that that is not."

"That that is not", is not "that that is."

Is that not it?

It is!

Here's another one, a bit easier this time:

There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire become a great writer.

When asked to define "great" he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry and howl in pain and anger!"

He now works for Microsoft, writing error messages.

Too true!

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