Literary Resources and Genres
Phonic Resources
Alliteration
Repetition of syllables or phonemes in several words.
Onomatopoeia
Alliteration that plays a sound of nature.
Paronomasia
Slight phonetic modification with different meanings.
Calambur
Identical sound of words with different meanings.
Morpho-Syntactic Resources
Anaphora
Repetition of one or more words at the beginning of successive verses or sets.
Epiphora
Repetition of a word at the end of several verses or sets.
Anadiplosis
Last element of a group of words repeated at the beginning of the next group.
Epanalepsis
Repetition of a word at the beginning and end of a verse or phrase.
Polysyndeton
Repetition of conjunctions not syntactically required.
Plopton
Repetition of the same word with different grammatical accidents.
Enumeration
Sequence of words with the same syntactic function.
Parallelism
Identical disposition in two or more units or metrics.
Syntactic Correlation
Correspondence of terms in successive syntactic series.
Hyperbaton
Alteration of normal sentence order.
Chiasmus
Symmetric ordering of elements in two groups of words.
Asyndeton
Suppression of coordinating conjunctions between sentence elements.
Ellipsis
Suppression of elements without altering comprehension.
Zeugma
Suppression of an element present in one of two or more sentences.
Semantic Resources
Hyperbole
Implausible exaggeration.
Pleonasm
Use of superfluous or redundant words.
Antithesis
Contraposition of two or more words in a sentence.
Oxymoron
Contraposition of two terms in one phrase.
Paradox
Union of two seemingly contradictory terms.
Understatement
Negation to affirm.
Irony
Affirmation of an idea through the expression of its opposite.
Personification
Attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or animals, or qualities of animate beings to inanimate objects.
Apostrophe
Appeal to an animate or inanimate being, present or absent.
Metaphor
Identification of two real objects or images in a sentence.
Allegory
Succession of metaphors.
Simile
Relationship of a real object to an image object using a comparative link.
Periphrasis
Indirect expression avoiding the direct term.
Metonymy
Designation of an object with the name of another with which it has a relation.
Synesthesia
Intersection of two sensory images from different senses.
Literary Genres
Literary works representing reality are grouped into:
Epic
Works showing a fictitious totality as objective and external to the creator.
Lyric
Works expressing the creator’s inner reality.
Dramatic
Works for representation where the author hides behind characters.
Traditional Literary Genre Divisions
Epic Genre
- Epic Poem: Long poem narrating collective actions, often focusing on war and heroes.
- Epic Poetry: Narrative verse celebrating national feats and heroes.
- Chanson de Geste: Medieval epic poem extolling local heroes’ deeds.
- Romance: Short poem of oral tradition, typical of Hispanic collective creation.
Narrative Genre
- Novel: Extended prose narrative of fictional events, analyzing characters’ behaviors.
- Short Story: Condensed, short narrative action.
Lyric Genre
- Ode: High-toned poem reflecting the poet’s thoughts.
- Eclogue: Poem depicting idealized pastoral love affairs.
- Elegy: Poem expressing sadness over a person’s death.
- Other: Madrigal (love) and epigram (burlesque).
Dramatic Genre
- Tragedy: Play with elevated subject matter, characters driven by fate to a disastrous end.
- Comedy: Play with humor and a happy ending.
- Drama: Play combining characteristics of tragedy and comedy.
- Other: Auto sacramental (religious), step (short cinema scene), appetizer (comedy), and farce (popular characters). Also includes dramatic-musical works like opera, zarzuela, operetta, and vaudeville.
Didactic Genre
- Essay: Work with subjective opinions.
- Epistle: Letter-style work addressing societal themes to instruct, moralize, or satirize.
- Fable: Short narrative anecdote with a moral.
Stages of Literature
Medieval (XI-XIV), Pre-Renaissance (XV), Renaissance (XVI), Baroque (XVII), Neoclassicism (XVIII), Romanticism and Realism (XIX), 20th Century (Modernism, Noucentisme, Avant-Garde, Experimentalism, Existential Realism, Social Realism, Neorealism).