19 Terms
Contributors in Fiction
Fiction
Polysyllabism
Literature; Fiction
The tendency to use a big word for effect even when a small word is better.
Tic
Literature; Fiction
A minor mannerism — verbal, visual or otherwise — which is uniquely assigned to a particular character as a means of identifying him. One character twirls his hair; another ends many of his sentences ...
Theme
Literature; Fiction
The underlying element which governs the author's selection of dramatic events to show onstage. Can be a belief (e.g. ''Catch-22,'' war is insane, only lunatics fight in wars), a proposition to be ...
Three-act structure
Literature; Fiction
This is a classic plot described as follows: * Act 1. The protagonist's life is knocked ''out of whack.'' He confronts an obstacle which he is locked in to solving or being vanquished by. In great ...
Tom Swifty
Literature; Fiction
A fetish for adverbs, usually in modifying speech. "'We'd better hurry,' said Tom Swifty." As Strunk and White say, an adverb is a leech sucking the strength from a verb. Whenever the tone is clear ...
Toon
Literature; Fiction
A comic relief character generally intended to be recognised as such — Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are toons (most of Shakespeare's comic relief characters are toons). Toons have a limited place in ...
Thematic redundancy
Literature; Fiction
Retelling essentially the same storey without changing any major element.
