General literature

General literature

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General literature

pun

Literature; General literature

A play on words that relies on a word’s having more than one meaning or sounding like another word. Shakespeare and other writers use puns extensively, for serious and comic purposes; in Romeo and ...

psychological criticism

Literature; General literature

An approach to literature that draws upon psychoanalytic theories, especially those of Sigmund Freud or Jacques Lacan to understand more fully the text, the writer, and the reader. The basis of this ...

prosody

Literature; General literature

The overall metrical structure of a poem. See also meter.

protagonist

Literature; General literature

The main character of a narrative; its central character who engages the reader’s interest and empathy. See also character.

prose poem

Literature; General literature

A kind of open form poetry that is printed as prose and represents the most clear opposite of fixed form poetry. Prose poems are densely compact and often make use of striking imagery and figures of ...

prologue

Literature; General literature

The opening speech or dialogue of a play, especially a classic Greek play, that usually gives the exposition necessary to follow the subsequent action. Today the term also refers to the introduction ...

problem play

Literature; General literature

Popularized by Henrik Ibsen, a problem play is a type of drama that presents a social issue in order to awaken the audience to it. These plays usually reject romantic plots in favor of holding up a ...