英文文学术语例析.docx

文学术语例析 (Literary terms)Allegory:The term loosely describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning. This narrative acts as an extended metaphor in which persons, abstract ideas, or events represent not only themselves on the literal level, but they also stand for something else on the symbolic level. An allegorical reading usually involves moral or spiritual concepts that may be more significant than the actual, literal events described in a narrative. Typically, an allegory involves the interaction of multiple symbols, which together create a moral, spiritual, or even political meaning. Probably the most famous allegory in English literature is John Bunyans Pilgrims Progress (1678), in which the hero named Christian flees the City of Destruction and travels through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair, Doubting Castle, and finally arrives at the Celestial City. The entire narrative is a representation of the human souls pilgrimage through temptation and doubt to reach salvation in heaven.Alliteration: Repeating a consonant sound in close proximity to others, or beginning several words with the same vowel sound. For instance, the phrase buckets of big blue berries alliterates with the consonant b. Allusion: A casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate in mythology, biblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier literary works. (Also see OG P663 line11)Analogy: Analogy is also a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor, which usually concentrates on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance. Analogy is chiefly used for the purpose of persuasion or for the explanation or exposition of an idea. For example, “Think of menhaden as the liver of a bay. Just as your body needs its liver to filter out toxins, ecos