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Terms for subject Literature (1001 entries)

Orientalism	a term that refers to a fascination with the East, by the West. Orientalism grew out of the Renaissance and increased during the18th century. Romantics such as Coleridge often used orientalist imagery. The rise of orientalism naturally coincided with the escalation of the British Empire. Now the term often has pejorative connotations.
original sin	A theological doctrine, stemming from the Bible, arguing that all humans at the moment of conception inherit collective responsibility and guilt for the sins of Adam and Eve, along with an innate tendency towards evil.
originality	the employment of inventive or pioneering writing, whilst rejecting conventional or imitative writing. Originality can be in form or subject matter. In modern day literature originality appears to be more important than in the past.
orthoepy	A study of how words are pronounced.
orthography	A study of how language utilises letters and accepted spelling.
overgeneralisation	In linguistics, this refers to applying a rule to aspects of the language to which it does not apply. (An example of this is the adding of an "s" to make a plural form - "cat" and "cats" yet it is not a constant rule as it does not work with 'child')
Owens Corning Speak Easy Toastmasters Club	OCSE
oxymoron	The use of contradiction in a manner that oddly makes sense on a deeper level. For instance, "without laws, we can have no freedom". See paradox or antithesis.
pace	Also called rhythm or tempo, is a term used to describe the flow of events in a text.
palindrone	A word, line, phrase or sentence which can be read the same backwards as forwards. The famous example of this is "Madam, I'm Adam."
pamphlet	A brief booklet, typically discussing an issue of the time and about which the writer feels strongly. In the past the benefit of a pamphlet was that it was fairly simple to generate: it was therefore particularly favoured by underground writers and revolutionaries as a mode of communication. Jonathan Swift’s A modest Proposal is a well-known example of a pamphlet.
parable	A short narrative intended to disclose allegorically some religious principle, moral lesson or general truth. Rather than using abstract discussion, a parable always teaches by comparison with real or literal occurrences.
parados	Found in Greek drama and sung by the chorus as they enter.
paradox	Using contradiction in a way that oddly, and wittily, makes sense on a deeper level. See oxymoron, antithesis.
paraphrase	To restate a text or speech in one’s own words.
pararhyme	In poetry, a partial or imperfect rhyme, where the consonants rhyme but not the vowels. This is also known by the phrases "double consonance".
parataxis	The placing side by side of phrases or clauses while omitting conjunctions. A famous example of this in English is "I came, I saw, I conquered."
pardoner	In the Middle Ages, a member of the religious community with permission to sell Papal indulgences. Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales features a Pardoner.
parody	The utilisation of serious manner and the characteristic features of a literary work to mock those same features.
paronomasia	Is a form of word play that deliberately exploits ambiguity between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect.