What does “narrative” mean?

“narrative” means an account of linked events, or the way those events are told. Pronounced /ˈnærətɪv/. Close synonyms: story, account, telling. For example: The novel's narrative moves backward from the funeral, so we learn the cause last.

What does “narrator” mean?

“narrator” means the person or voice that tells a story inside a work. Pronounced /nəˈreɪtər/. Close synonyms: storyteller, teller, speaker. For example: Critics warn against treating the narrator as the author; the two rarely hold the same views.

What does “unreliable narrator” mean?

“unreliable narrator” means a story's teller whose account the reader learns not to trust. Pronounced /ˌʌnrɪˈlaɪəbəl nəˈreɪtər/. Close synonyms: untrustworthy narrator, deceptive narrator. For example: Using an unreliable narrator lets the writer show us more than the speaker understands about himself.

What does “omniscient” mean?

“omniscient” means knowing everything, including what every character thinks and feels. Pronounced /ɑmˈnɪʃənt/. It is formal. Close synonyms: all-knowing, all-seeing. For example: An omniscient narrator can enter any mind, which is why the technique strikes some readers as godlike.

What does “point of view” mean?

“point of view” means the position a story is told from, and whose eyes we see through. Pronounced /ˌpɔɪnt əv ˈvju/. Close synonyms: perspective, viewpoint, vantage point. For example: Shifting point of view between the sisters lets the reader distrust both accounts equally.

What does “persona” mean?

“persona” means a character or voice a writer speaks through, not the writer's real self. Pronounced /pərˈsoʊnə/. Close synonyms: mask, assumed voice, adopted character. For example: The poems adopt a bitter persona, and readers who take it for the poet miss the joke.

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English C2 — Literature & Ideas Official

The English of criticism, philosophy and intellectual argument at C2, defined in English. Words for reading and writing about texts, ideas and traditions, each with an English definition, IPA, synonyms and a usage note on the scholarly sense the word carries.

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Words in this deck

What does “narrative” mean?: “narrative” means an account of linked events, or the way those events are told. Pronounced /ˈnærətɪv/. Close synonyms: story, account, telling. For example: The novel's narrative moves backward from the funeral, so we learn the cause last.
What does “narrator” mean?: “narrator” means the person or voice that tells a story inside a work. Pronounced /nəˈreɪtər/. Close synonyms: storyteller, teller, speaker. For example: Critics warn against treating the narrator as the author; the two rarely hold the same views.
What does “unreliable narrator” mean?: “unreliable narrator” means a story's teller whose account the reader learns not to trust. Pronounced /ˌʌnrɪˈlaɪəbəl nəˈreɪtər/. Close synonyms: untrustworthy narrator, deceptive narrator. For example: Using an unreliable narrator lets the writer show us more than the speaker understands about himself.
What does “omniscient” mean?: “omniscient” means knowing everything, including what every character thinks and feels. Pronounced /ɑmˈnɪʃənt/. It is formal. Close synonyms: all-knowing, all-seeing. For example: An omniscient narrator can enter any mind, which is why the technique strikes some readers as godlike.
What does “point of view” mean?: “point of view” means the position a story is told from, and whose eyes we see through. Pronounced /ˌpɔɪnt əv ˈvju/. Close synonyms: perspective, viewpoint, vantage point. For example: Shifting point of view between the sisters lets the reader distrust both accounts equally.
What does “persona” mean?: “persona” means a character or voice a writer speaks through, not the writer's real self. Pronounced /pərˈsoʊnə/. Close synonyms: mask, assumed voice, adopted character. For example: The poems adopt a bitter persona, and readers who take it for the poet miss the joke.

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Word List — click grammar notes to expand

Word	Translation	Example
narrativeneutral /ˈnærətɪv/ an account of linked events, or the way those events are told Synonyms: story, account, telling	a story; the telling	The novel's narrative moves backward from the funeral, so we learn the cause last.
Narrative is the story as told; narration is the act of telling it. The word has spread well beyond books, and journalists who write about controlling the narrative mean the version of events a group promotes. Countable: a narrative, two narratives.
narratorneutral /nəˈreɪtər/ the person or voice that tells a story inside a work Synonyms: storyteller, teller, speaker	the voice telling a story	Critics warn against treating the narrator as the author; the two rarely hold the same views.
Keep narrator and author apart: the author writes the book, the narrator speaks inside it. A first-person narrator says I; a third-person narrator says he or she. The verb is narrate and the act is narration.
unreliable narratorneutral /ˌʌnrɪˈlaɪəbəl nəˈreɪtər/ a story's teller whose account the reader learns not to trust Synonyms: untrustworthy narrator, deceptive narrator	a teller we cannot trust	Using an unreliable narrator lets the writer show us more than the speaker understands about himself.
A frozen critical phrase: almost always an unreliable narrator, and a novel either has one or is told by one. Unreliable describes the account, not the morals, so a kind and honest character can still be one if he misunderstands what he reports.
omniscientformal /ɑmˈnɪʃənt/ knowing everything, including what every character thinks and feels Synonyms: all-knowing, all-seeing	all-knowing	An omniscient narrator can enter any mind, which is why the technique strikes some readers as godlike.
The spelling misleads: the sc is one /ʃ/ sound and there is no /k/ in it. In criticism it appears almost only as an omniscient narrator or omniscient narration. The noun is omniscience, /ɑmˈnɪʃəns/.
point of viewneutral /ˌpɔɪnt əv ˈvju/ the position a story is told from, and whose eyes we see through Synonyms: perspective, viewpoint, vantage point	the position a story is told from	Shifting point of view between the sisters lets the reader distrust both accounts equally.
In criticism this is a technical term about narration, not an opinion. For the opinion sense the frame is from my point of view, never in my point of view. Writers and film critics often shorten it to POV before a noun.
personaneutral /pərˈsoʊnə/ a character or voice a writer speaks through, not the writer's real self Synonyms: mask, assumed voice, adopted character	an assumed voice; a mask	The poems adopt a bitter persona, and readers who take it for the poet miss the joke.
In criticism the plural is personae, /pərˈsoʊni/; outside it, as in design and marketing, personas is normal. You adopt or assume a persona. The word claims a gap between speaker and author, so using it already treats the voice as staged.
protagonistneutral /proʊˈtæɡənɪst/ the central character of a story, whose choices drive it Synonyms: main character, lead, central figure	the main character	The novel's protagonist is not its hero; we are meant to find her choices repellent.
The prot- means first, not for, so a protagonist is the leading figure and need not be admirable or even likeable. A work usually has one, and the plural meaning supporters of a cause reads oddly beside the literary sense.
antagonistneutral /ænˈtæɡənɪst/ the character or force that works against the main character Synonyms: opponent, adversary, rival	the opposing character	The antagonist is the town itself rather than any single person, which weakens the ending.
An antagonist need not be wicked, only opposed, and a loving parent can be one. The opposing force can be impersonal, such as a system or a landscape. The adjective antagonistic has drifted to mean simply hostile, so it will not carry this sense.
foilneutral /fɔɪl/ a character whose differences make another character's qualities clearer Synonyms: contrast, counterpart, opposite number	a contrasting character	The cheerful brother works as a foil to the narrator, whose gloom we might otherwise miss.
The frame is a foil to or a foil for someone. Calling a character a foil makes her subordinate, existing to show up someone else, so it is faint praise. The image is the metal leaf set behind a gem to make it shine; the verb foil, meaning to defeat a plan, is a different word.
archetypeformal /ˈɑrkɪˌtaɪp/ an original pattern that later examples follow Synonyms: prototype, model, original pattern	an original model; a type	Reviewers call the wandering detective an archetype, though the figure is barely a century old.
The ch is /k/, as in architect, and the adjective archetypal shifts the stress to /ˌɑrkɪˈtaɪpəl/. An archetype is a first pattern others repeat; a stereotype is a flattened and usually unfair image. Praise and complaint, so not interchangeable.
stock characterneutral /ˈstɑk ˌkærɪktər/ a character type used so often that audiences know it at once Synonyms: standard type, familiar figure	a familiar standard type	The miserly landlord is a stock character, and the novel does nothing new with him.
Stock here means kept ready for reuse, as in a stock phrase and a stock response; nothing to do with shares. The label is usually mild criticism, since it says the writer reached for something ready-made rather than invented.
character arcneutral /ˈkærɪktər ˌɑrk/ the path of change a character follows across a whole work Synonyms: development, trajectory, change	how a character changes	The film gives its villain a character arc but leaves the heroine exactly where she started.
A term from screenwriting that has spread into book reviewing, where it can still sound like craft jargon. An arc implies change over time, so a figure who ends unchanged is said to have no arc, which is normally the complaint being made.
prolepsisformal /proʊˈlɛpsɪs/ telling of a later event early, or answering an objection before it is made Synonyms: flash-forward, anticipation	a flash-forward; anticipating	A brief prolepsis tells us the boy will drown, so suspense gives way to dread.
Plural prolepses, /proʊˈlɛpsiz/; the adjective is proleptic. It carries two senses, one about narrative order and one about argument, so the surrounding sentence must make clear which. Confined to academic writing; flash-forward is the everyday word.
subplotneutral /ˈsʌbˌplɑt/ a smaller story running beside the main one in the same work Synonyms: side story, secondary story line	a secondary story line	The subplot about the missing letters adds little and slows the last hundred pages.
Reviewers reach for a small set of verdicts: a subplot goes nowhere, earns its place, or mirrors the main action. It must belong to the same work, so a companion novel is not one. Stress the first syllable.
expositionformal /ˌɛkspəˈzɪʃən/ the part of a work that gives needed background, or a careful setting out of ideas Synonyms: background, setup, explanation	background information; setting out	The first chapter is pure exposition, and the reader feels the weight of every explained detail.
Two senses: the background a story has to deliver, which is uncountable, and the orderly presentation of an argument, which is countable, as in a lucid exposition of the theory. Clumsy exposition is a standing complaint in reviews; so is the blunter exposition dump.
denouementformal /ˌdeɪnuˈmɑn/ the closing part of a story, where the tangles are sorted out Synonyms: resolution, conclusion, ending	the final unraveling	The denouement explains everything the plot withheld, and explains it far too quickly.
The spelling misleads badly: the ending is not said like English -ment but as a nasal /mɑn/, and the stress falls there. It names the untangling that follows the climax, so a story can reach its climax and still offer no real denouement.
climaxneutral /ˈklaɪmæks/ the moment of greatest tension, where the outcome is decided Synonyms: peak, high point, turning point	the turning point; the peak	The climax arrives eighty pages early, leaving the rest of the novel to explain itself.
The adjective is climactic, /klaɪˈmæktɪk/, not climatic, which belongs to weather; the slip is common in student essays. As a verb it takes in or with: the play climaxes in a trial.
foreshadowingneutral /ˈfɔrˌʃædoʊɪŋ/ early hints in a work about something that will happen later Synonyms: hinting, advance warning, anticipation	hinting at what comes	The broken clock is heavy-handed foreshadowing, announcing the death three chapters before it arrives.
Foreshadowing is planted by the author for the reader, so a character's own guess about the future is not foreshadowing, and heavy-handed is the usual criticism. The verb foreshadow takes a direct object, never a preposition, and the noun is uncountable as a technique.
flashbackneutral /ˈflæʃˌbæk/ a scene that moves back to an earlier time in a story Synonyms: scene from the past, retrospect	a scene from earlier	The flashbacks to the mother's childhood are the strongest writing in an uneven book.
The critical frame goes bare after in: the war is told in flashback. The psychological sense, an unwanted vivid memory, is the same word with no marker on it, so only context separates them. Stress the first syllable.
in medias resformal /ɪn ˌmidiəs ˈreɪz/ starting a story in the middle of the action rather than at the beginning Synonyms: mid-action, in the middle of things	beginning mid-action	The poem opens in medias res, with the fleet already burning and no word of why.
It follows open, begin or start: the novel opens in medias res. Speakers differ over the last word, which is often said /riz/. Written criticism only, never casual speech. The phrase works as an adverb, never changes form, and takes no article.
frame narrativeformal /ˈfreɪm ˌnærətɪv/ an outer story that contains and introduces another story Synonyms: frame story, framing device	a story around a story	The frame narrative of two strangers on a train adds nothing to the tale they exchange.
Frame story and framing device name the same thing and are equally current. The inner story is framed by the outer one, and critics ask whether the frame earns its place. It is a specific structure, not a word for structure in general.
digressionformal /dɪˈɡrɛʃən/ a part of a text that leaves the main subject for a while Synonyms: detour, departure, excursion	a wandering off topic	The essay's long digression on whaling is the passage everybody quotes and nobody defends.
Not automatically a fault, and some essayists are praised chiefly for theirs, but it always marks a departure from the main line, so it cannot describe material that belongs. The verb digress takes from: he digresses from the argument.
episodicformal /ˌɛpɪˈsɑdɪk/ built from loosely joined separate parts rather than one connected story Synonyms: loosely linked, fragmentary	made of separate episodes	The novel is frankly episodic, and readers wanting a single line of plot will be disappointed.
It describes shape rather than quality, though in reviews it usually carries mild complaint. Some forms are episodic by design, so the label alone settles nothing. In medicine the same word means happening in separate bouts, a wholly different sense.
motifformal /moʊˈtif/ an image, idea or phrase that returns through a work Synonyms: recurring image, pattern, thread	a recurring element	Water is the novel's controlling motif, present at every birth and every betrayal.
Stress the second syllable and rhyme it with leaf; it is not said like motive, and shares no meaning with it. A motif has to recur, so one striking image is not one. A motif is the concrete thing; the theme is the idea it serves.
leitmotifformal /ˈlaɪtmoʊˌtif/ a short recurring element tied to one character, place or idea Synonyms: recurring theme, signature motif	a signature recurring theme	Failed fatherhood is the leitmotif of the trilogy, sounded again whenever a son appears.
The first syllable is /laɪt/, not lay or leet. It reached English through music criticism, where it names a tune attached to a character, and literary use keeps that flavor: a leitmotif is tagged to one thing, not just loosely repeated.
tropeneutral /troʊp/ a device or convention used so often that readers expect it Synonyms: convention, device, stock feature	a familiar convention	The dying mentor is such a worn trope that the film's version reads as parody.
One syllable, rhyming with rope. The older sense, a figure of speech, survives in rhetoric, but current reviewing uses trope for a recurring convention. Countable, and rarely neutral: calling something a trope questions its freshness.
verisimilitudeformal /ˌvɛrəsɪˈmɪlɪˌtud/ the quality of seeming real or true to life Synonyms: lifelikeness, plausibility, realness	the look of truth	The dialogue has real verisimilitude; these are sentences people actually say under pressure.
It is about seeming true rather than being true, so a story about dragons can have plenty of it. Realism names a movement as well as a quality, which is why the two are not swappable. A work has, lacks or achieves verisimilitude, and the noun is uncountable.
stream of consciousnessformal /ˌstrim əv ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/ writing that follows a character's thoughts as they come, without ordering them Synonyms: flow of thought, unedited thought	unbroken flow of thought	The middle section abandons punctuation for stream of consciousness, and the effect is exhausting by design.
It names a technique for representing thought, so applying it to merely rambling prose is a misuse. Hyphenated before a noun, as in a stream-of-consciousness passage. Uncountable and usually bare after in: written in stream of consciousness.
interior monologueformal /ɪnˈtɪriər ˈmɑnəˌlɔɡ/ a passage presenting a character's thoughts as if spoken inside the mind Synonyms: inner speech, inner voice	a character's inner speech	The trial is given entirely as interior monologue, so we never hear the judge at all.
Close to stream of consciousness but not identical: an interior monologue can be orderly and fully grammatical, while stream of consciousness deliberately is not, so choose by how broken the prose is. Interior here means inside the mind, never indoors.
free indirect styleformal /ˌfri ˌɪndəˈrɛkt ˈstaɪl/ third-person narration that takes on a character's words and way of thinking Synonyms: free indirect speech, narrated monologue	narration colored by a character	Free indirect style lets the narrator borrow the widow's snobbery without ever endorsing it.
Free indirect speech and free indirect discourse name the same thing; all three are current. Free means released from the reporting frame: not she thought that he was late, but simply he was late, as usual. Academic criticism only.
diegesisformal /ˌdaɪəˈdʒisɪs/ the story world as the telling presents it, with everything in it Synonyms: story world, narrated world	the world of the story	The song exists inside the diegesis: the characters hear it, and one of them sings along.
The first syllable is /daɪ/ and the g is soft. The adjective diegetic, /ˌdaɪəˈdʒɛtɪk/, is far commoner, especially in film writing, where diegetic sound comes from within the scene itself rather than from a score laid over it.
mimesisformal /mɪˈmisɪs/ the imitation of life or action in art Synonyms: imitation, representation	imitation of reality	Critics who prize mimesis will read the novel's flat characters as a failure rather than a choice.
It belongs to classical and philosophical criticism, where art is judged by how it imitates the world, and schools that reject that aim still use the word to name the position rather than to praise it. The adjective is mimetic, /mɪˈmɛtɪk/, and the noun takes no article.
pacingneutral /ˈpeɪsɪŋ/ how fast or slow the events of a work seem to move Synonyms: speed, rhythm, tempo	the speed of the telling	The pacing collapses after the wedding, and two hundred pages pass with nothing decided.
Pacing is the reader's sense of speed, not the amount of time covered, so a well-paced page can swallow a decade. Craft vocabulary rather than theory: editors and reviewers say it constantly, academic critics seldom. Uncountable.
cliffhangerneutral /ˈklɪfˌhæŋər/ an ending that breaks off at a tense moment, leaving the outcome unknown Synonyms: suspenseful break, unresolved ending	an unresolved tense ending	Each chapter closes on a cliffhanger, a habit that starts to feel like a trick.
The frame is end on a cliffhanger, and it fits chapters, episodes and whole seasons. The lightly commercial flavor is the thing to weigh: it reads as mild criticism of literary fiction and as plain description of a thriller.
dramatic ironyformal /drəˈmætɪk ˈaɪrəni/ a situation in which the audience knows something a character does not Synonyms: knowing contrast, audience foreknowledge	audience knows, character doesn't	The dramatic irony is cruel: we have read the letter the husband is still carrying unopened.
This names a structure, not a tone: it needs a gap between what the audience knows and what the character knows, and nobody has to sound sarcastic. Mere coincidence is not irony of any kind. A fixed phrase, uncountable.
deus ex machinaformal /ˌdeɪəs ɛks ˈmɑkɪnə/ a sudden outside event that solves a story's problem too easily Synonyms: contrived rescue, convenient solution	an unearned rescue	The inheritance that arrives on the last page is a deus ex machina and the reader knows it.
Stress the first syllable of machina; it is not said like machine. Almost always disapproving, since naming one accuses the writer of cheating. Used with a, and writers avoid the plural rather than choosing between forms.
codaformal /ˈkoʊdə/ a short final part that comes after a work seems finished Synonyms: closing section, final passage, tailpiece	a closing added section	A twenty-page coda follows the funeral, summarizing lives the novel had already earned.
Borrowed from music, where it names the passage that closes a piece. Countable, and often used in the frame as a coda when a writer adds an afterthought. A coda sits outside the main structure, so it is not simply the last chapter.
prologueneutral /ˈproʊlɔɡ/ a separate section placed before the main work begins Synonyms: introduction, opening, preamble	an opening section	The prologue sets the murder forty years earlier, which spoils the discovery the novel builds toward.
A prologue belongs to the work and speaks in its voice, while a preface speaks as the author about the work, and that is the choice to get right. Spelled prologue in American English too; prolog is rare outside computing.
epilogueneutral /ˈɛpəˌlɔɡ/ a short section after the main work, telling what happened later Synonyms: closing section, final chapter	what happened afterward	The epilogue jumps thirty years ahead to reassure us that the children survived.
An epilogue reports later events from inside the story; an afterword speaks as the author from outside it. Reviewers who call one tidy or unnecessary are not paying a compliment. Stress the first syllable.
epigraphformal /ˈɛpəˌɡræf/ a short quotation placed at the beginning of a work or chapter Synonyms: opening quotation, motto	a quotation at the start	The epigraph from a hymn tells us how to read the bitterness that follows.
Three lookalikes need keeping apart: an epigraph opens a text, an epigram is a short witty saying, and an epitaph is written on a grave. Epigraph also names an inscription cut into stone, which is where the tangle starts. Countable: two epigraphs.
prefaceneutral /ˈprɛfəs/ a short opening section in which the writer explains the book Synonyms: foreword, introduction, opening note	the author's opening note	In a defensive preface the author insists the resemblance to his own family is accidental.
Stress the first syllable and reduce the second, not /prɪˈfeɪs/. Also a verb taking with: she prefaced the argument with an apology. A preface is written by the author, while a foreword is usually written by somebody else.
vignetteformal /vɪnˈjɛt/ a brief, complete piece of writing that captures one scene or person Synonyms: sketch, short scene, miniature	a short descriptive scene	The book is a set of vignettes rather than a novel, and the best run barely two pages.
The gn is said like the ny of canyon, and the stress falls on the second syllable. Countable. A vignette is valued for compression, so calling a chapter one says it is small and finished rather than incomplete.
backstoryneutral /ˈbækˌstɔri/ the history of a character or place from before the work begins Synonyms: past history, prior events	events before the story	We get the detective's backstory in a single efficient paragraph, and the book is better for it.
The backstory lies outside the told events and a flashback is the scene that delivers it, so the two are not interchangeable. Craft vocabulary, at home in reviews and writing classes rather than in theory, and written as one word.
closureneutral /ˈkloʊʒər/ the feeling that a story's questions have been settled Synonyms: resolution, settled ending, finality	a satisfying sense of ending	The last chapter refuses closure, and that refusal is clearly the point.
A work offers, provides, denies or refuses closure, and everyday talk about grief uses the same word for the same feeling applied to a life. The shutting sense, as in the closure of a factory, is countable and unrelated; this sense is uncountable.
soliloquyformal /səˈlɪləkwi/ a speech in which a character alone on stage says thoughts aloud Synonyms: solo speech, spoken thoughts	a speech spoken alone	The soliloquy lets him admit to the audience what he denies to every other character.
The speaker must be alone or believe he is, and that is the whole difference from a monologue, which may be addressed to others. It belongs to drama rather than fiction, so a novel's inner speech is an interior monologue. Plural soliloquies.
asideneutral /əˈsaɪd/ a short remark made for the audience, unheard by others on stage Synonyms: remark, interjection, parenthesis	a remark to the audience	The servant's asides puncture every speech the master makes about honor.
In drama it is a line the other characters cannot hear; in essays it is a passing remark, often set inside dashes. The phrase as an aside introduces one in speech. Countable, and the noun stresses the second syllable.
chorusneutral /ˈkɔrəs/ a group in a play that comments on the action without taking part Synonyms: commenting group, collective voice	a commenting group voice	The neighbors function as a chorus, judging the marriage in language the couple never hears.
In criticism it names the commenting group of classical drama, and by extension any figure who plays that part, as in the frame acts as a chorus. Keep it apart from the repeated part of a song. Countable, with the plural choruses.
dramatis personaeformal /ˌdræmətɪs pərˈsoʊni/ the characters in a play, or the printed list of them Synonyms: cast, character list	the list of characters	The dramatis personae runs to forty names, and the reader consults it constantly.
Found in printed editions of plays and in writing about drama, effectively never in speech, so it is a phrase you read far more often than you write. It is fixed as two words with no singular in use, and writers treat it as either singular or plural.
novellaneutral /noʊˈvɛlə/ a work of fiction longer than a story but shorter than a novel Synonyms: short novel, long story	a short novel	At ninety pages the book is a novella, and its single idea is exactly the right length.
No word count settles the boundary and publishers stretch it, so the label is partly a marketing decision rather than a fact about length. Unrelated to the adjective novel, meaning new. Plural novellas, stressed on the middle syllable.
prosodyformal /ˈprɑsədi/ the study of rhythm, stress and sound patterns in poetry Synonyms: versification, metrics	the study of verse rhythm	Her chapter on prosody explains why the line limps without once using a technical term.
Stress the first syllable, /ˈprɑ/, though the adjective prosodic moves it to the second, /prəˈsɑdɪk/. Uncountable. Linguists use the same word for the pitch and rhythm of ordinary speech, so the field can be about talk rather than verse.
meterformal /ˈmitər/ the regular pattern of strong and weak beats in a line of poetry Synonyms: measure, beat, rhythm	regular rhythm in verse	The meter tightens in the last stanza, and the poem's calm suddenly sounds like control.
The adjective is metrical, and a line either scans or does not; there is no verb for having meter. American spelling is meter for every sense, so the verse term, the unit of length and the gas meter share one form, while British writing keeps metre for the first two.
scansionformal /ˈskænʃən/ the act of working out and marking the rhythm of a line of verse Synonyms: metrical analysis, rhythm analysis	marking a line's rhythm	Careful scansion shows that the stresses fall on the servants' names, never on the master's.
The matching verb is scan and it works both ways: a reader scans a line, and the line itself either scans or does not. Technical vocabulary, confined to writing and teaching about poetry. Uncountable.
iambicformal /aɪˈæmbɪk/ using pairs of beats in which a weak beat is followed by a strong one Synonyms: in iambs, rising rhythm	weak-then-strong rhythm	The speeches are iambic, and the shift to prose marks exactly where the character breaks.
Stress the second syllable; the single unit is an iamb, /ˈaɪæm/, whose b is normally silent. The word is mostly met inside the fixed phrase iambic pentameter, and it describes the rhythm, not the line length.
pentameterformal /pɛnˈtæmɪtər/ a line of verse with five metrical units in it Synonyms: five-foot line, five-beat line	a five-beat line	He writes in pentameter throughout, then drops a single short line to end the poem.
Pentameter names the length and iambic names the rhythm, which is why the two travel together and cannot replace each other. The frames are in pentameter and a pentameter line. Stress the second syllable, not the first.
trocheeformal /ˈtroʊki/ a pair of beats in which a strong beat is followed by a weak one Synonyms: falling foot, strong-weak unit	a strong-then-weak unit	A trochee at the start of the line throws the emphasis onto the verb, which is the whole trick.
Two syllables only, ending in /ki/, and the adjective is trochaic, /troʊˈkeɪɪk/. It is the mirror image of the iamb, so critics describe trochaic rhythm as falling and iambic rhythm as rising.
caesuraformal /sɪˈʒʊrə/ a clear pause in the middle of a line of verse Synonyms: break, pause, mid-line stop	a pause inside a line	The caesura after the second word leaves the rest of the line hanging in embarrassment.
The stress falls on the middle syllable and the plural is caesuras, though caesurae survives in older criticism. A caesura is inside a line, so a pause at the line end is not one; punctuation often marks it but need not.
enjambmentformal /ɛnˈdʒæmmənt/ carrying a sentence past the end of a line of verse without a pause Synonyms: run-on line, continuation	running a line on	The enjambment leaves the word alone at the line's end, and it changes meaning before we reach the next.
Also spelled enjambement, and both are accepted. Countable and also uncountable as a technique. The verb is enjamb, and a line that runs on is enjambed; a line that closes with its sense complete is called end-stopped.
stanzaneutral /ˈstænzə/ a group of lines in a poem, set apart from the groups around it Synonyms: verse group, block of lines	a group of verse lines	Each stanza loses a line, so the poem narrows to a single word on the page.
When you mean the block of lines, stanza is the safer word: verse means either poetry in general or a single line, so it will be read two ways. Plural stanzas, and a poem is divided into stanzas rather than paragraphs.
quatrainformal /ˈkwɑtreɪn/ a group of four lines in a poem, usually with a rhyme pattern Synonyms: four-line stanza, four-line unit	a four-line group	The opening quatrain sets up a question the final couplet answers with a shrug.
Defined only by having four lines, so if the rhyme pattern matters to your point you have to state it separately; a quatrain implies no particular scheme. The stress usually falls on the first syllable in American usage.
coupletformal /ˈkʌplɪt/ two lines of verse next to each other, usually rhyming Synonyms: rhyming pair, two-line unit	a two-line pair	The closing couplet turns the whole argument around in fourteen plain words.
Critics say a poem ends on a couplet, and a couplet is normally rhymed, so an unrhymed pair needs saying. Nothing to do with couple meaning two people. The first vowel is the one in cup, and the stress falls on it.
sonnetneutral /ˈsɑnɪt/ a poem of fourteen lines following one of several set rhyme patterns Synonyms: fourteen-line poem, fixed-form poem	a fourteen-line poem	Writing the complaint as a sonnet lets the form carry the politeness the words withhold.
Several rhyme patterns count as sonnets, so saying merely a sonnet has not yet said which kind; name the pattern if your point depends on it. You write a sonnet, never make one. Stressed on the first syllable.
villanelleformal /ˌvɪləˈnɛl/ a nineteen-line poem in which two lines keep coming back Synonyms: nineteen-line poem, repeating-line poem	a poem with two refrains	The villanelle suits obsession, because its repeated lines refuse to let the subject go.
Because the two returning lines define the form, critics discuss how a poet varies them rather than whether they appear at all. Confined to writing about poetry, with no everyday use. The main stress is on the last syllable.
blank verseformal /ˈblæŋk ˈvɜrs/ verse with a regular five-beat rhythm and no rhyme Synonyms: unrhymed verse, unrhymed pentameter	unrhymed regular verse	The play is in blank verse, and the absence of rhyme makes the speeches sound like thought.
Blank means without rhyme, not without meter, which is the usual confusion: blank verse keeps a strict rhythm, while free verse gives up both rhyme and regular beat. Uncountable and normally after in: written in blank verse.
free verseformal /ˈfri ˈvɜrs/ poetry with no regular rhythm or rhyme pattern Synonyms: open form, unmetered verse	verse without meter or rhyme	Her free verse is tighter than most rhymed poetry, which is the answer to the usual objection.
Free means released from fixed meter and rhyme, not free of shape, so calling a poem free verse is a description and not the criticism that it lacks form. Uncountable, and the frame is in free verse.
rhyme schemeneutral /ˈraɪm ˌskim/ the pattern in which the line endings of a poem rhyme Synonyms: rhyme pattern, pattern of endings	the pattern of rhymes	The rhyme scheme collapses in the last stanza, just as the speaker admits he was lying.
Set out with letters: the scheme is ABAB. A poem with no rhymes has no rhyme scheme rather than an empty one, so do not write that its scheme is none. Note the silent h in rhyme, which returns in rhythm.
half rhymeformal /ˈhæf ˈraɪm/ a rhyme in which the sounds are close but do not quite match Synonyms: slant rhyme, near rhyme	an imperfect rhyme	The half rhyme of stone and stain keeps the couplet from closing too comfortably.
It carries no complaint about the poet's skill: a half rhyme is nearly always treated as a choice, not a failure. Slant rhyme and near rhyme mean the same thing and are commoner in American criticism.
assonanceformal /ˈæsənəns/ the repeating of the same vowel sound in nearby words Synonyms: vowel repetition, vowel echo	repeated vowel sounds	The assonance in the long vowels slows the line to the pace of the funeral it describes.
Assonance repeats vowels, alliteration repeats the sounds words begin with, and consonance repeats consonants elsewhere; readers routinely swap the first two. It depends on sound, not spelling. Uncountable, and stressed on the first syllable.
alliterationformal /əˌlɪtəˈreɪʃən/ the repeating of the same sound at the start of nearby words Synonyms: initial repetition, sound repetition	repeated opening sounds	The alliteration is so insistent that the sentence calls attention to itself instead of the flood.
Defined by sound rather than letters, so city and cat do not alliterate while city and sea do, and the spelling will mislead you. Reviewers call it heavy or insistent once it becomes audible as a device. The verb is alliterate.
onomatopoeiaformal /ˌɑnəˌmætəˈpiə/ the use of words whose sound suggests what they mean Synonyms: sound imitation, echoic words	words that sound like meanings	The onomatopoeia of the hissing kettle is the only sound in an otherwise silent chapter.
Six syllables, with the main stress on the fifth, which is said /pi/. Uncountable, and the adjective is onomatopoeic. The spelling is the real obstacle, so it is worth writing out by hand a few times.
refrainneutral /rɪˈfreɪn/ a line or phrase repeated at intervals through a poem or song Synonyms: repeated line, chorus line	a repeated line	The refrain returns four times, and each repetition means something colder than the last.
A refrain repeats at intervals, so a phrase used once is not one. The identical verb, meaning to hold yourself back, takes from and is unrelated in meaning. Countable as a noun, with the stress on the second syllable.
cadenceformal /ˈkeɪdəns/ the rise and fall of sound in a line or sentence Synonyms: rhythm, lilt, fall	the fall of a rhythm	His prose has the cadence of spoken argument, which is why it survives being read aloud.
Cadence is the felt movement of a sentence, looser than meter, which is a countable pattern of beats, so a critic may praise a writer's cadence without scanning a word. Used of prose as much as verse, and countable or uncountable.
elegyformal /ˈɛlədʒi/ a poem or song written in sorrow, usually for someone who has died Synonyms: lament, mourning poem	a poem of mourning	The book reads as an elegy for a coal town, and it mourns the work more than the people.
The frame is an elegy for someone or something. Keep it apart from eulogy, a speech in praise of the dead, and from allegory, which is a different thing entirely; the three are confused constantly. The adjective is elegiac and the plural is elegies.
odeformal /oʊd/ a formal poem addressed to a person or thing, often in praise Synonyms: poem of praise, tribute poem	a formal poem of praise	The essay is an ode to bad weather, and it praises drizzle for two thousand words.
An ode to something is the frame, and the loose use has taken over: any admiring piece of writing, film or speech can be an ode, which is why an ode to a sandwich raises no eyebrows outside a poetry seminar.
lyricformal /ˈlɪrɪk/ poetry that expresses one speaker's feeling rather than telling a story Synonyms: songlike verse, personal poetry	personal, songlike poetry	The novel breaks into lyric whenever the narrator remembers the coast, and the shift is jarring.
Set against narrative and dramatic verse: a lyric voices one speaker's feeling rather than telling a story. The plural lyrics almost always means the words of a song, so it will not serve for the critical sense. The noun lyricism is the quality, and lyric works as noun and adjective alike.
epicneutral /ˈɛpɪk/ a long poem telling of great deeds, usually about a whole people Synonyms: heroic poem, long narrative poem	a long heroic narrative poem	Calling the trilogy an epic flatters it; the scale is there but the seriousness is not.
In criticism this is a form with countable instances, not a compliment. The everyday adjective meaning huge or excellent, as in an epic mistake, has drifted so far that the critical sense usually needs the noun to stay clear.
balladneutral /ˈbæləd/ a simple poem or song that tells a story, often in short verses Synonyms: narrative song, story poem	a narrative song poem	The poem borrows the ballad form, and the plain repeated lines make the murder sound inevitable.
In criticism a ballad has to tell a story, in plain repeated verses; in popular music it has come to mean any slow song, narrating nothing. Most readers meet the music sense first, so a literary context has to carry the older one.
cantoformal /ˈkæntoʊ/ one of the main parts into which a long poem is divided Synonyms: section, division, part	a section of a long poem	The middle canto is the one anthologies print, which distorts the shape of the whole poem.
The poem's equivalent of a chapter, and numbered rather than named: canto twelve. Only long poems have cantos, so a short lyric has stanzas instead. Plural cantos.
verseneutral /vɜrs/ writing arranged in lines with rhythm, as opposed to ordinary writing Synonyms: poetry, metrical writing	poetry; a metrical line	He wrote verse for thirty years before the essays made him famous.
Verse is often the modest word: light verse and comic verse are called verse rather than poetry on purpose. It is uncountable when it means poetry in general and countable when it means a single line or a numbered part of a holy book.
proseneutral /proʊz/ ordinary writing, without the line breaks and rhythm of poetry Synonyms: ordinary writing, plain writing	ordinary written language	The prose is plainer than his early work, and the argument is much easier to follow.
The adjective prosaic has moved away from the noun and now means dull rather than unrhymed, which is why calling a novelist prosaic is an insult and not a description. The noun is uncountable, so a writer has fine prose, never fine proses.
dictionformal /ˈdɪkʃən/ the kind of words a writer chooses Synonyms: word choice, vocabulary, wording	choice of words	The diction is deliberately flat, so the one ornate word in the chapter lands hard.
In criticism it means which words a writer chose, not how clearly they are said, which is the separate speech-training sense and the one most readers meet first. Common pairings are poetic diction, elevated diction and plain diction.
syntaxformal /ˈsɪntæks/ the way words are arranged into sentences Synonyms: sentence structure, arrangement	sentence arrangement	The syntax keeps delaying the main verb, so each sentence arrives late and slightly out of breath.
Critics use it for how a writer builds sentences, so broken syntax can be praise. Syntax is arrangement and diction is word choice; the two travel together and are not the same. The adjective is syntactic or syntactical.
vernacularformal /vərˈnækjələr/ the ordinary language of a place, as spoken rather than written formally Synonyms: everyday speech, local language	everyday local speech	Writing the sermon in the vernacular was the scandal; the doctrine in it was entirely ordinary.
Usually in the frozen phrase in the vernacular, with the. Also an adjective: vernacular architecture, vernacular prose. It contrasts with a learned or official language, so the word carries a history of who was allowed to write.
demoticformal /dɪˈmɑtɪk/ belonging to the plain language of ordinary people Synonyms: popular, everyday, colloquial	of ordinary people's speech	His demotic style hides an argument as careful as anything in the academic journals.
Demotic describes language as belonging to ordinary people and is usually approving, whereas vulgar and low pass judgement, so it is the word for plain when you do not mean cheap. Mainly before style, speech and energy. Stress the second syllable.
lexiconformal /ˈlɛksɪˌkɑn/ the whole set of words used by a language, writer or field Synonyms: vocabulary, word stock	a stock of words	Half the lexicon of modern criticism entered English through translations made after the war.
The frame is the lexicon of something: the lexicon of finance, the lexicon of criticism. It can also mean a dictionary of an ancient language. Lexical, the adjective, means to do with words rather than grammar. Plural lexicons or lexica.
periphrasisformal /pəˈrɪfrəsɪs/ saying something in more words than it needs, going around the point Synonyms: circumlocution, roundabout phrasing	roundabout wording	The periphrasis is the point: the official cannot say the word died in any document.
Stress the second syllable; the plural is periphrases, /pəˈrɪfrəsiz/, and the adjective is periphrastic. Grammarians also use it neutrally for multi-word forms, as in the periphrastic future, so it is not always a complaint about padding.
parataxisformal /ˌpærəˈtæksɪs/ putting clauses next to each other without words showing which depends on which Synonyms: coordination, side-by-side clauses	clauses placed side by side	The parataxis flattens everything: the boy eats, the town burns, the train is late.
Critics read parataxis as refusing to explain how events connect, which is why the term often appears in discussions of flat or biblical prose. Its opposite is hypotaxis, where clauses are ranked by subordinating words. The adjective is paratactic and the noun uncountable.
anaphoraformal /əˈnæfərə/ beginning several sentences or clauses with the same words Synonyms: opening repetition, repeated phrase	repeating an opening phrase	The anaphora of we will not builds a rhythm the crowd can hear coming.
Stress the second syllable, /ˈnæ/, not the third. Uncountable in the rhetorical sense. Linguists use the same word for how a pronoun points back to an earlier noun, a technical sense with no connection to repeated openings.
chiasmusformal /kaɪˈæzməs/ a pattern in which the second half reverses the order of the first Synonyms: reversed pattern, mirrored phrasing	a reversed word pattern	The chiasmus of act boldly, boldly act is memorable and, on inspection, says almost nothing.
The ch is /k/ and the first syllable is /kaɪ/. Plural chiasmi or chiasmuses; the adjective is chiastic. The reversal is one of order, so a phrase that merely repeats words in the same sequence is not a chiasmus.
asyndetonformal /əˈsɪndɪˌtɑn/ leaving out the joining words between items in a list or series Synonyms: omitted conjunctions, unjoined list	leaving out conjunctions	The asyndeton hurries the list along: he packed the letters, the ring, the photographs, the money.
Stress the second syllable. Uncountable, and the adjective is asyndetic. Its counterpart is polysyndeton, where the joining word is repeated after every item; the two produce opposite effects, hurry and weight, from the same list.
inversionformal /ɪnˈvɜrʒən/ putting words in an unusual order, often the verb before the subject Synonyms: reversed order, transposition	reversed word order	The inversion at the start of each stanza gives the poem its stiff, ceremonial tone.
In criticism it names a reordering used for effect, and in grammar it names the ordinary rule behind questions and phrases such as never had she seen. The verb is invert and the adjective inverted. Countable for one instance, uncountable for the device.
apostropheformal /əˈpɑstrəfi/ turning aside to speak directly to an absent person or a thing Synonyms: direct address, invocation	addressing someone absent	The apostrophe to the dead sister arrives without warning and the poem never recovers its calm.
The same word and pronunciation as the punctuation mark, which is confusing but true, and the frame is an apostrophe to somebody. Four syllables, stressed on the second, ending /fi/ rather than /foʊ/. The one addressed cannot answer, which is the effect.
manneredformal /ˈmænərd/ written or performed in a style that feels forced and unnatural Synonyms: affected, artificial, studied	artificial in style	The dialogue is mannered to the point of strain; nobody has ever spoken like this.
Always disapproving in criticism: it says the style has become a set of habits and the writer is performing. Unrelated to well-mannered, which is about politeness. Common with prose, dialogue, acting and performances.
ornateformal /ɔrˈneɪt/ full of decoration and elaborate detail Synonyms: elaborate, decorated, fancy	heavily decorated	The ornate opening chapter is a test; readers who survive it are rewarded with plainer pleasures.
Roughly neutral, unlike florid and overwrought, so ornate can describe a style a critic admires and is the safe word when you do not want to condemn. Used of prose, buildings and objects alike, and its opposite in style talk is spare.
floridformal /ˈflɔrɪd/ using too much decoration, so the writing draws attention to itself Synonyms: flowery, overblown, showy	over-decorated; flowery	His florid descriptions of the harbor hold up a story that was moving perfectly well.
Always a complaint about style: ornate describes, florid condemns. Stress the first syllable. Of a face the same word means red, which is why florid complexion and florid prose sit oddly together in the dictionary.
lapidaryformal /ˈlæpəˌdɛri/ short, exact and finished, as if cut into stone Synonyms: terse and polished, finely cut	concise and polished	His lapidary sentences say in nine words what the introduction spends a page arranging.
Nearly always praise, and nearly always with words like style, prose, phrase or sentence. The image is of letters cut in stone, so it suggests weight and finish as well as brevity. The literal sense, to do with cutting gems, survives in lapidary work.
limpidformal /ˈlɪmpɪd/ clear and easy to follow, with nothing cloudy in it Synonyms: clear, lucid, transparent	clear and easy	The translation is limpid where the original is knotted, which is either a gift or a betrayal.
Praise, used of prose, translation and water, and it suggests effortless clarity rather than simplicity of thought. No connection with limp, which means weak; the two words look alike and mean opposite things about a style.
turgidformal /ˈtɜrdʒɪd/ written in a swollen, pompous way that is hard to read Synonyms: pompous, bloated, heavy	swollen and heavy	Two turgid chapters on method stand between the reader and an otherwise generous book.
Always an insult about style, and it charges the writer with both dullness and self-importance. The literal sense is swollen, as of a river, which is the image behind it. Not related to turbid, which means muddy.
purple proseneutral /ˈpɜrpəl ˈproʊz/ writing so richly decorated that it becomes ridiculous Synonyms: overwriting, flowery writing	showy overwritten writing	The sunsets are purple prose of the first order, and the sea is described eleven times.
Always mocking, so it is a verdict and not a description. A single overwritten passage is a purple patch. Purple here means richly colored in the old sense of costly dye, not the modern color word. A fixed uncountable phrase, and it belongs to reviewing rather than theory.
plain styleformal /ˈpleɪn ˈstaɪl/ a way of writing that avoids decoration on purpose Synonyms: spare style, unadorned style	deliberately unadorned writing	The plain style is a choice here, not a limit; every short sentence has been fought for.
In rhetoric it names one of several recognized levels of style, the lowest and clearest of them, so it is a category rather than a judgement about skill. Plain means undecorated, not simple-minded. Usually with the, and treated as uncountable.
metaphorneutral /ˈmɛtəˌfɔr/ calling one thing another to suggest a likeness between them Synonyms: figure of speech, image, comparison	a direct comparison	The novel's central metaphor is the flooded mine, and every family secret is buried in it.
A metaphor states the likeness outright, while a simile signals it with like or as. Critics speak of an extended metaphor carried through a work and a mixed metaphor that combines images which cannot both be true. The adjective is metaphorical.
simileneutral /ˈsɪməli/ a comparison that uses the words like or as to link two things Synonyms: comparison, likeness	a comparison using like	Every simile in the chapter reaches for machinery, which tells us how the narrator sees people.
Three syllables, ending /li/, so it does not rhyme with mile. Countable. The signal words like or as are what separate a simile from a metaphor, and dropping them turns one into the other rather than improving it.
metonymyformal /mɪˈtɑnəmi/ calling something by the name of a thing closely linked with it Synonyms: substitution, associated naming	naming by association	The metonymy of the crown for royal power lets the poem avoid naming any king.
The test against synecdoche: in metonymy the substitute is merely connected with the thing, as the press stands for journalists, while in synecdoche it is actually a part of it. The adjective is metonymic and the stress is on the second syllable.
synecdocheformal /sɪˈnɛkdəki/ using a part of something to mean the whole of it Synonyms: part for whole, substitution	a part for the whole	Hands for workers is a synecdoche the report uses whenever it discusses job losses.
The spelling misleads completely: four syllables, stressed on the second, and the final che is said /ki/, so it ends like hockey. The adjective is synecdochic. It is often treated as a special kind of metonymy rather than a separate device.
personificationformal /pərˌsɑnəfɪˈkeɪʃən/ writing about a thing or idea as if it were a person Synonyms: humanizing, human likeness	giving things human qualities	The personification of the river as a patient witness runs through all three sections.
Six syllables, with the main stress on the fifth. Uncountable as a technique but countable for an instance. The verb is personify, and someone can also be the personification of a quality, meaning a perfect living example of it.
allegoryformal /ˈæləˌɡɔri/ a story whose characters and events stand for something else throughout Synonyms: extended symbol, parable	a story with a hidden meaning	Reading the plague as an allegory of occupation explains the book's odd refusal to name a country.
Calling a work an allegory claims the code runs all the way through: allegory works across a whole story, while a symbol can sit in a single image. The frame is an allegory of or for something. Plural allegories.
symbolismformal /ˈsɪmbəˌlɪzəm/ the use of objects or images to stand for larger ideas Synonyms: symbolic meaning, figurative use	the use of symbols	The symbolism of the locked garden is so heavy that the characters seem to notice it themselves.
Reviewers complain of heavy-handed or obvious symbolism far more often than they praise any, so the bare noun leans negative. With a capital letter it names a nineteenth-century movement in poetry and painting, and only context decides which you mean.
allusionformal /əˈluʒən/ a brief indirect mention of another work, person or event Synonyms: reference, hint, echo	an indirect reference	The allusion to an old hymn in the title prepares a reader who happens to catch it.
An allusion is indirect by definition, so a full quotation is not one. Always an allusion to something, and the verb allude takes to as well, never a direct object. Do not confuse it with illusion, a false impression, which sounds almost identical.
conceitformal /kənˈsit/ a clever comparison carried a long way, often surprising or strained Synonyms: extended comparison, elaborate image	an elaborate extended comparison	The whole poem rests on a conceit comparing grief to an unpaid bill, and it holds.
Two very different senses share the word: the literary device, countable, and vanity, uncountable, as in insufferable conceit. In criticism the device sense is neutral to admiring, and a conceit is said to hold, work or collapse.
litotesformal /ˈlaɪtəˌtiz/ saying something mildly by denying its opposite Synonyms: understatement, negative phrasing	understating by denying	The litotes of not a negligible achievement is the highest praise the reviewer permits himself.
The s is part of the word, not a plural, so litotes takes a singular verb; some speakers say /laɪˈtoʊtiz/ instead. The classic frames are not bad and no small matter. It is understatement of a particular shape, achieved by negation.
understatementneutral /ˈʌndərˌsteɪtmənt/ describing something as smaller or less important than it really is Synonyms: restraint, playing down	saying less than meant	Calling the collapse regrettable is understatement of a kind the report uses on every page.
It is not the same as lying, since the hearer is expected to see the gap. The standing frame is a masterpiece of understatement, and the verb understate takes an object: he understates the danger. Countable and uncountable both.
ironyneutral /ˈaɪrəni/ a gap between what is said or expected and what is really meant or happens Synonyms: double meaning, reversal of sense	a gap between said and meant	The irony is structural rather than verbal: every promise in the book is kept too well.
Coincidence is not irony, however often the two are confused: irony needs a gap between what is said or expected and what is the case. Sarcasm is one harsh spoken form of it. The adjective ironic describes the gap, while ironically often just introduces a surprise.
sardonicformal /sɑrˈdɑnɪk/ mocking in a bitter way that shows no respect or warmth Synonyms: scornful, mocking, bitter	bitterly mocking	A sardonic footnote thanks the committee for the decades it spent considering the proposal.
Sardonic carries real bitterness where wry is gentle and dry, so the two cannot be swapped when describing a writer's manner; choose sardonic only when you mean there is no warmth in it. Common with smile, laugh, humor and tone.
satireneutral /ˈsætaɪər/ writing that attacks people or ideas by making them look ridiculous Synonyms: mockery, ridicule, send-up	mockery with a target	As satire the book fails, because it is fonder of its bankers than it admits.
Satire needs a target and some corrective intent, so a merely funny book is comedy and not satire. The verb is satirize and the adjective satirical; satiric also exists. Uncountable as a mode, countable for a single work.
parodyneutral /ˈpærədi/ an imitation of someone's style done to make it look ridiculous Synonyms: send-up, spoof, mocking imitation	mocking imitation	The chapter is a parody of committee minutes, and every dull phrase has been earned.
Parody mocks the thing it copies while pastiche copies without mocking, so the two labels make opposite claims about a writer's attitude. Always a parody of something, and it is a verb too: he parodies the style.
pasticheformal /pæˈstiʃ/ a work that copies another style, without trying to make fun of it Synonyms: imitation, homage	imitation without mockery	The middle section is pastiche rather than parody; the imitation is affectionate and very skilled.
Because pastiche implies no mockery, choosing it instead of parody withdraws the charge that the writer is laughing, so the swap is a real change of verdict. It can also mean a work assembled from borrowed pieces. Stress the second syllable.
burlesqueformal /bərˈlɛsk/ treating a serious subject in a low, comic way to mock it Synonyms: travesty, comic mockery	mocking a lofty subject	The funeral scene tips into burlesque, and the grief the novel needs is lost.
In American usage the commoner meaning by far is a stage show with striptease, so the critical sense will be misread without a literary context around it. As a mode it lowers a high subject, where mock-heroic does the reverse.
lampoonformal /læmˈpun/ a piece of writing that attacks someone by making them look foolish Synonyms: satirical attack, send-up	a harsh mocking attack	The lampoon of the governor cost the paper its advertisers and made its reputation.
Both a noun and a verb, stressed on the second syllable, and the target is a person or institution rather than a style. A lampoon is personal and cruel, where parody is about manner and satire about ideas.
invectiveformal /ɪnˈvɛktɪv/ fierce, insulting language used to attack someone Synonyms: abuse, vituperation, tirade	violent abusive language	Page after page of invective buries an argument that could have been made calmly.
Uncountable, so a writer produces pages of invective and not an invective. Common with streams of, a torrent of and a stream of. It names the language itself, and critics can admire the skill of invective while deploring its use.
polemicformal /pəˈlɛmɪk/ a strong piece of writing that attacks a belief or a person's views Synonyms: attack, diatribe, argument	a forceful attacking argument	The book is a polemic against school testing and makes no pretense of weighing both sides.
Calling a book a polemic is not automatically hostile, but it says the work argues one side: it excuses the author from balance and denies him neutrality. Always a polemic against something, and the adjective polemical describes a tone.
bathosformal /ˈbeɪθɑs/ a sudden fall from a serious tone to something trivial or silly Synonyms: anticlimax, ridiculous descent	a ridiculous sudden drop	The last line lurches into bathos, and the reader laughs where tears were plainly intended.
Bathos is a descent into the trivial; pathos is genuine feeling that moves us, and the two are constantly swapped. The adjective bathetic, /bəˈθɛtɪk/, is easily mistaken for pathetic. Uncountable, stressed on the first syllable, and always a fault unless the drop is deliberate.
pathosformal /ˈpeɪθɑs/ the quality in a work that makes people feel pity or sadness Synonyms: poignancy, sadness, feeling	the power to move pity	The pathos of the final scene is earned, because nothing before it asked for sympathy.
Pathos is a quality in the work; pathetic has drifted to mean feeble, so it cannot serve as the adjective. In rhetoric pathos names the appeal to the audience's feelings. Uncountable, with the first syllable said /peɪ/.
ethosformal /ˈiθɑs/ the character or guiding beliefs of a person, group or piece of writing Synonyms: spirit, character, guiding beliefs	guiding spirit; speaker's character	The magazine's ethos of amateur enthusiasm survives in every unpaid contribution it prints.
The first syllable is /i/, as in even. Uncountable. In rhetoric it names persuasion through the speaker's apparent character, which sits beside pathos and logos; outside rhetoric it just means the spirit of an institution.
rhetoricformal /ˈrɛtərɪk/ the art of persuasive speech and writing, or language that persuades without substance Synonyms: persuasion, oratory, fine words	persuasive language; empty talk	Her rhetoric is superb, which is exactly why the weakness of the evidence goes unnoticed.
Two senses pull opposite ways: the neutral discipline of persuasion, and a dismissal, as in mere rhetoric or empty rhetoric. Uncountable in both. Stress the first syllable, but the adjective rhetorical moves it to the second, /rɪˈtɔrɪkəl/.
oratoryformal /ˈɔrəˌtɔri/ skilled and impressive public speaking Synonyms: public speaking, eloquence	the art of public speaking	The oratory carried the hall, though on the page the same speech looks thin.
It describes speech that is heard rather than writing, so a fine essay is not oratory. An orator is the speaker and oratorical is the adjective. A separate sense, a small chapel, is unrelated and rare in modern writing. Uncountable.
bombastformal /ˈbɑmbæst/ language that sounds grand but says very little Synonyms: pomposity, grand talk, inflation	inflated empty language	The preface is bombast, and the careful scholarship that follows deserved a quieter introduction.
It charges the writing with being inflated rather than merely formal, so it says the grandness is hollow, not that it is old-fashioned. The adjective bombastic is far commoner than the noun. Uncountable, and always a criticism.
grandiloquentformal /ɡrænˈdɪləkwənt/ using long impressive words to sound more important than the subject Synonyms: pompous, high-sounding, inflated	pompous in language	A grandiloquent dedication promises a history of civilization and delivers a study of one street.
Always disapproving, and it faults the choice of words specifically, where bombastic faults the whole manner. Keep it well apart from eloquent, which is praise, since the shared ending invites the slip. The noun is grandiloquence.
sententiousformal /sɛnˈtɛnʃəs/ fond of making short solemn statements about right and wrong Synonyms: moralizing, preachy, self-important	pompously moralizing	The narrator grows sententious in the last chapter and starts telling us what to think.
A trap: it does not mean full of meaning, and its resemblance to sentence and sentient is no guide to the modern sense. It is always disapproving, and the fault named is solemn moralizing delivered in neat sayings. Common with tone, narrator and prose.
didacticformal /daɪˈdæktɪk/ intended to teach a lesson, often too obviously Synonyms: instructive, preachy, teaching	meant to teach	The play is frankly didactic, and the audience is told its moral twice before the interval.
The first syllable is /daɪ/ and the stress falls on the second. In criticism it is usually a complaint, since art that instructs is felt to be bossy, but in education the same word is a neutral description of teaching method.
tendentiousformal /tɛnˈdɛnʃəs/ written to push one point of view, especially by slanting the evidence Synonyms: biased, slanted, loaded	biased toward a conclusion	The tendentious summary of the debate quotes one side at length and the other in fragments.
Always an accusation, and a serious one: it says the writer is steering the reader rather than laying out the evidence. Common with account, summary, reading and question. A polemic argues one side openly; calling a piece tendentious says the slant has got into the facts.
archformal /ɑrtʃ/ playfully hinting that you know more than you are saying Synonyms: knowing, teasing, sly	knowing and teasing	The arch footnotes wink at the reader, and after fifty pages the winking grows tiresome.
As a tone word it is an adjective before nouns like tone, smile, remark and footnote, and the adverb is archly. Nothing to do with the arch of a building, which is a different word entirely. Mildly critical: it implies self-satisfaction rather than real mischief.
wryneutral /raɪ/ showing quiet humor about something unpleasant Synonyms: dry, ironic, quietly amused	dryly amused	A wry aside about hospital coffee is the only joke in eighty pages of illness.
The w is silent, so it sounds exactly like rye. Common with smile, humor, aside and observation. Wry humor is gentle and accepting, unlike sardonic, which is bitter, so the word is usually a compliment.
mordantformal /ˈmɔrdənt/ criticizing in a sharp, clever and often funny way Synonyms: biting, sharp, cutting	sharply critical and funny	His mordant portrait of the faculty is funny until you notice how few escape it.
Usually admiring, since it credits the writer with wit as well as sharpness, unlike caustic, which is closer to cruelty, so it is the compliment of the two. Common with wit, humor, portrait and observation. Not connected with mundane or morbid.
causticformal /ˈkɔstɪk/ saying sharp, bitter things that are meant to hurt Synonyms: cutting, scathing, biting	bitterly cutting	The caustic review ended three friendships and is still the best thing written about the novel.
From the literal sense of a chemical that burns, which is the image still behind it. Common with review, remark, wit and tone. Caustic is harsher than mordant and carries no promise of humor.
deadpanneutral /ˈdɛdpæn/ saying something funny or strange while showing no feeling at all Synonyms: expressionless, straight-faced	expressionless delivery	The deadpan narration reports the murder in the same voice it uses for the weather.
It names a manner of delivery, not an attitude, so deadpan prose can be warm or cruel underneath. Pan here is old slang for the face. Comfortable in reviewing, rare in theory, and the same form serves as adjective and adverb: delivered deadpan.
tongue-in-cheekneutral /ˌtʌŋ ɪn ˈtʃik/ said as a joke while appearing to be serious Synonyms: joking, half-serious, ironic	not entirely serious	The subtitle is tongue-in-cheek, and half the early reviewers took it at face value.
Hyphenated before a noun and often left open after a verb: the remark was tongue in cheek. It signals that the speaker expects to be seen through, which separates it from sarcasm, where the mockery is meant to sting.
elegiacformal /ˌɛləˈdʒaɪək/ sad in tone, mourning something that has been lost Synonyms: mournful, sorrowful, wistful	mournful; looking back sadly	The elegiac last chapters mourn a landscape the book has spent three hundred pages criticizing.
Four syllables with the main stress on the third, /ˈdʒaɪ/, which surprises readers who expect the pattern of elegy. It can describe a tone in any form, not only poems, and it implies loss rather than mere sadness.
plaintiveformal /ˈpleɪntɪv/ sounding sad, as if quietly complaining about something Synonyms: mournful, sorrowful, querulous	sounding sad and complaining	A plaintive note runs through the letters, as though the writer expected to be pitied.
Related to complaint rather than to plain, and the first syllable is said /pleɪn/. Common with cry, note, voice and appeal. It carries a faint suggestion of weakness, so it is not a safe synonym for elegiac, which is dignified.
figurativeformal /ˈfɪɡjərətɪv/ using words to mean something other than their plain sense Synonyms: metaphorical, non-literal	not literal	The drowning is figurative, which several early reviewers managed not to notice at all.
Its paired opposite is literal, and figurative language is the standing phrase that covers metaphor, simile and the rest together. In art history the same word means representing recognizable figures, which is a separate sense.
connotationformal /ˌkɑnəˈteɪʃən/ the ideas and feelings a word suggests beyond its plain meaning Synonyms: overtone, association, suggestion	the feeling a word carries	Every connotation of the word cheap is working against the argument the advertisement wants to make.
The verb is connote: a word connotes something, while a person implies something, which is why the two are not interchangeable. Its paired term is denotation, the plain thing a word points to. Countable, and a word has connotations of something.
denotationformal /ˌdinoʊˈteɪʃən/ the plain thing a word refers to, apart from any feelings attached Synonyms: literal meaning, plain sense	a word's plain meaning	The denotation of the word is simply a house, but the poem is not talking about houses.
The verb is denote, and the pair denotation and connotation is fixed enough that using one invites the other. Chiefly academic vocabulary. Countable but usually singular, since a word has one denotation and many connotations.
paradoxformal /ˈpærəˌdɑks/ a statement that seems to contradict itself but may still be true Synonyms: apparent contradiction, puzzle	a contradiction that may be true	The essay rests on a paradox: the more freely the form is broken, the stricter the poet becomes.
A paradox only seems to contradict itself and may turn out to be true, while a contradiction is simply false, so calling something a paradox is not yet a criticism. The adjective paradoxical has slipped, and often just means strangely opposite.
oxymoronformal /ˌɑksɪˈmɔrɑn/ a phrase that puts two opposite words together on purpose Synonyms: contradictory phrase, joined opposites	two opposite words joined	The title is an oxymoron, pairing two words that cancel each other in a single breath.
A paradox is a statement; an oxymoron is a phrase. Strictly it needs two words placed together, so a whole argument that contradicts itself is not one, though the word is loosely used that way. Countable, with the plural oxymorons or oxymora.
aphorismformal /ˈæfəˌrɪzəm/ a short sentence that states a general truth in a memorable way Synonyms: maxim, saying, adage	a memorable general truth	The book is a string of aphorisms, brilliant one at a time and exhausting in a row.
An aphorism claims a general truth where an epigram only has to be witty, so a joke can be an epigram without being an aphorism. The adjective aphoristic describes a style built of such sentences. Stress the first syllable.
epigramformal /ˈɛpɪˌɡræm/ a very short piece of writing or remark that is clever and surprising Synonyms: witticism, quip, short verse	a short witty remark	He can write an epigram but not a paragraph, and the essays feel like lists of them.
Distinguish epigram from epigraph, the quotation at the head of a text, and from epitaph, the words on a grave; the three are constantly confused. The adjective epigrammatic describes a style built of short sharp sentences.
platitudeformal /ˈplætɪˌtud/ a remark that is dull and obvious but offered as if it were wise Synonyms: cliche, truism, banality	a dull obvious remark	The closing platitude about hope undoes the honesty of everything that comes before it.
What it condemns is not falseness but emptiness offered as insight, so a platitude is usually perfectly true. Common with the verbs offer, utter and deliver. Countable and always disapproving; the adjective platitudinous is heavy but real.
hackneyedformal /ˈhæknid/ used so often that it has lost all force Synonyms: overused, stale, tired	worn out by overuse	The hackneyed comparison of the city to a machine arrives on the second page and stays.
Two syllables, ending /nid/, and it never has the sense of a person being tired. Used of phrases, images, plots and themes, and always a criticism. The image behind it is a hired horse, worn out by too many riders.
overwroughtformal /ˌoʊvərˈrɔt/ written with too much feeling or too much decoration Synonyms: overdone, strained, excessive	too emotional; too elaborate	The overwrought account of the storm makes the quiet death that follows almost impossible to feel.
The second part is the old past form of work, so the literal sense is worked too much. Always a criticism. Of a person it means extremely upset, and of prose it means overworked, and both senses appear in reviews of the same book.
derivativeformal /dɪˈrɪvətɪv/ clearly copied from other people's work and adding nothing new Synonyms: unoriginal, imitative, secondhand	copied from others	The first collection is derivative, and the borrowings are too recent to pass as tradition.
As a judgement it is severe, close to the charge of having nothing of one's own, which is why influence is the polite word for exactly the same fact and worth choosing unless you mean the attack. The noun senses in finance and grammar are neutral.
genreneutral /ˈʒɑnrə/ a type of writing, film or music with its own rules and habits Synonyms: category, type, kind	a kind of writing	The book belongs to no genre the bookshops recognize, which is why it took nine years to sell.
The first sound is the /ʒ/ of measure, not a hard g. Countable. Before a noun it carries a hint of the commercial, so genre fiction is quietly set against literary fiction, and writers argue about which side of that line they are placed on.
canonformal /ˈkænən/ the set of works a culture treats as the most important Synonyms: accepted list, established works	the accepted body of works	Entering the canon took two centuries, and the poems now appear in every school anthology.
One n in the middle: a cannon is a gun. Usually with the, as in the canon, and the phrase is now nearly always used with an awareness that somebody chose what went in. Also the accepted works of one author, as in the Shakespeare canon.
canonicalformal /kəˈnɑnɪkəl/ treated as one of the most important and accepted works or versions Synonyms: accepted, authoritative, standard	accepted as central	The canonical text is the second edition, though the first is livelier and much stranger.
It reports a consensus rather than giving your own verdict: calling a text canonical says others have settled it, so it is not a way to praise. Mathematics and computing use it for the standard form of something. The stress moves off the first syllable.
oeuvreformal /ˈuvrə/ everything an artist or writer has produced, taken together Synonyms: body of work, complete works	a writer's whole body of work	Placed in the oeuvre, the late stories look less like a break than a return.
The spelling gives no help: two syllables, beginning like the oo of moon, and some speakers end it with almost nothing at all. Countable but effectively singular per artist. It covers the whole output, so an oeuvre of one book sounds absurd.
anthologyneutral /ænˈθɑlədʒi/ a book containing chosen poems or stories by different writers Synonyms: collection, selection, reader	a collection of selected works	The anthology decides what a generation reads, which makes its editor quietly powerful.
Strictly it gathers several authors, so a single writer's collected pieces is a collection, not an anthology. The verb is anthologize: a poem that gets anthologized is one that gets read. Countable, with the plural anthologies.
palimpsestformal /ˈpælɪmpˌsɛst/ something written or built over, with traces of its earlier state still showing Synonyms: layered text, overwritten surface	a text with earlier layers	The city is read here as a palimpsest, every demolition leaving a scar the next street repeats.
The literal sense carries the metaphor: a manuscript scraped clean and written on again, the old writing still faintly visible. Criticism borrows it for cities, memory and texts, so it needs layers that still show. Stress the first syllable.
tragedyneutral /ˈtrædʒədi/ a serious play or story in which the main figure is brought down Synonyms: serious drama, downfall play	a serious dramatic form	Read as tragedy the novel makes sense, since the hero's ruin is prepared from the first page.
In criticism this names a form, so it is not a sad event: a road accident is a tragedy in the newspaper sense only. The critical sense needs a downfall with some shape or cause. Countable, and the adjective is tragic.
mock-heroicformal /ˌmɑk hɪˈroʊɪk/ treating a small subject in the grand manner of great heroic poetry Synonyms: mock-epic, comically grand	grand style, trivial subject	The mock-heroic account of the faculty meeting borrows its armor and its similes from epic.
Hyphenated and used before nouns like poem, style and manner; mock-epic means the same thing. The joke runs the opposite way from burlesque, which drags a high subject down, while this lifts a low one up.
tragicomedyformal /ˌtrædʒɪˈkɑmədi/ a work that mixes serious sorrow with comic scenes and endings Synonyms: mixed drama, bittersweet form	mixed sad and comic form	The result is tragicomedy: the funeral is played for laughs and the wedding for dread.
It names a deliberate mixing of two forms, so it is a description, not a complaint that the writer could not choose. The adjective is tragicomic. Written as one countable word with no hyphen in current American usage.
farceneutral /fɑrs/ a comic work built on unlikely situations, mistakes and hurried entrances Synonyms: broad comedy, slapstick	comedy of absurd situations	The second act is pure farce, with three lovers, one closet and a series of near misses.
In wider use a farce is any process so badly handled that it becomes ridiculous, as in the trial was a farce, and that sense is always scornful. The adjective is farcical. Countable as a work and uncountable as a mode.
melodramaneutral /ˈmɛləˌdrɑmə/ a work with strong simple feelings and clear villains and victims Synonyms: overblown drama, sensational story	exaggerated emotional drama	The courtroom scene slips into melodrama, and a careful film suddenly asks us to hiss.
As a historical form it is a neutral label; applied to a modern novel it accuses the writer of making feelings too easy. The adjective melodramatic is usually a criticism of real behavior too. Countable for a work, uncountable for the manner.
catharsisformal /kəˈθɑrsɪs/ the release of strong feeling that comes from watching or reading something painful Synonyms: emotional release, purging	release of strong feeling	There is no catharsis at the end, only the sense that the family will do this again.
Careful critics use it for the effect on an audience and leave the ancient quarrel about what it first described alone; that is the safe way to use the word. The adjective is cathartic. Uncountable.
hamartiaformal /ˌhɑmɑrˈtiə/ the error or misjudgement that brings about a tragic figure's downfall Synonyms: fatal error, tragic mistake	the fatal mistake	His hamartia is not pride but trust, and the play punishes it as thoroughly as any sin.
It is often glossed as the tragic flaw, but that translation is disputed, since the older sense is closer to a mistake than to a defect of character. Academic criticism only. Uncountable in practice, and used with a possessive: her hamartia.
mythneutral /mɪθ/ a traditional story about gods or origins that carries a culture's beliefs Synonyms: traditional story, sacred story	a traditional explanatory story	The novel treats the flood as myth rather than history, and is careful never to date it.
In criticism a myth is a traditional story that carries meaning, and calling something a myth says nothing about whether it happened. The everyday sense, a widely believed falsehood, as in the myth that we use ten percent of the brain, is a separate use.
mythosformal /ˈmaɪθɑs/ the whole set of stories and beliefs belonging to a people or a work Synonyms: body of myth, story world	a body of connected myths	Three novels have built a mythos dense enough that new readers need a family tree.
The first syllable is /maɪ/, unlike the single word myth. Uncountable or singular. It names a whole connected body of stories, and fantasy criticism and fan writing now use it more than literary theory does.
fableneutral /ˈfeɪbəl/ a short story, often with animals, that teaches a lesson Synonyms: moral tale, short parable	a moral story with animals	The chapter reads as a fable, and the talking crow states the moral in case we missed it.
A fable usually ends with its moral stated, while a parable leaves the lesson to be drawn, and fables are the ones with animals. The adjective fabled has gone its own way and means famous in story.
parableformal /ˈpærəbəl/ a short story about ordinary people that teaches a moral or spiritual point Synonyms: moral tale, teaching story	a story with a lesson	Told as a parable, the strike becomes a lesson about patience rather than a piece of history.
A parable leaves its lesson unstated, so readers can disagree about it, and the form is strongly associated with religious teaching. Allegory codes a whole story; a parable is short and usually has one point. Stress the first syllable.
romanceformal /roʊˈmæns/ a story of adventure and ideal figures, set in a world freer than ours Synonyms: adventure narrative, idealized story	an idealized adventure narrative	Treated as romance rather than realism, the improbable rescues stop being a weakness.
Some speakers stress the first syllable instead. In criticism romance is a form set against the novel, dealing in ideal figures and marvels, so the critical use says nothing about love. The modern publishing sense, a love story, is the commoner one.
gothicneutral /ˈɡɑθɪk/ using ruins, darkness and threat to create fear in a story Synonyms: dark, eerie, macabre	dark and dread-filled	The gothic machinery is all here: the locked wing, the portrait, the servant who will not speak.
Lowercase for the literary mode, which took shape in the late eighteenth century; capitalized for the medieval architecture and for the historical people. American writing also uses Southern gothic, so the label travels with a region attached.
bildungsromanformal /ˈbɪldʊŋzroʊˌmɑn/ a novel that follows one person's growth from youth into adulthood Synonyms: coming-of-age novel, novel of formation	a novel of growing up	As a bildungsroman it disappoints, because the narrator learns nothing between sixteen and forty.
The stress falls on the first syllable and the final syllable is /mɑn/, not like the English word man. Countable, plural bildungsromans. Coming-of-age novel means the same thing and is much easier to say.
picaresqueformal /ˌpɪkəˈrɛsk/ telling the loosely linked adventures of a likeable rogue Synonyms: episodic, roguish, wandering	episodic rogue's adventures	The picaresque structure suits the subject: the narrator is a thief and cannot stay anywhere.
A picaresque work is episodic by design, so calling one episodic describes it rather than complaining about it. Used as an adjective and as a noun for the form, which came into European fiction from Spanish. Stress the last syllable.
epistolaryformal /ɪˈpɪstəˌlɛri/ made up of letters written by the characters Synonyms: in letters, letter-based	told in letters	The epistolary form lets the reader see both sisters lying in the same week.
Almost always before novel, form or fiction, and it has survived the disappearance of the letter: books built from messages and emails are still called epistolary. Stress the second syllable.
pastoralformal /ˈpæstərəl/ presenting country life as simple, peaceful and better than the city Synonyms: rural, idyllic, country	idealizing country life	The pastoral opening is a trap, and the second chapter shows us what the fields actually cost.
The point is the idealizing, so a harsh account of farm work is rural but not pastoral. A separate sense concerns the care of a congregation, as in pastoral duties. It works as adjective and noun alike, stressed on the first syllable.
memoirneutral /ˈmɛmwɑr/ a book in which someone writes about part of their own life Synonyms: personal account, life writing	a personal account of a life	The memoir covers eighteen months and tells us more than most lifelong autobiographies manage.
Two syllables, said /ˈmɛmwɑr/, with no sound of more in it. Countable. A memoir takes a part or a theme of a life, while an autobiography attempts the whole of it, which is why the two words are not interchangeable in reviews.
treatiseformal /ˈtritɪs/ a long serious piece of writing that examines one subject carefully Synonyms: formal study, monograph	a long formal study	What began as a review has grown into a treatise on the ethics of biography.
Two syllables ending in an s sound, not /tiz/. Countable, and the frame is a treatise on something. Often used half-mockingly of writing that has become too long and solemn for its occasion.
tractformal /trækt/ a short piece of writing that argues for a religious or political position Synonyms: pamphlet, leaflet, polemic	a short persuasive pamphlet	The pamphlet is a tract, and its author is not interested in what the other side thinks.
Usually slightly dismissive, since a tract preaches rather than argues. A tract is short, which is what separates it from a treatise. The identical word for an area of land or a part of the body is unrelated. Countable.
hagiographyformal /ˌhæɡiˈɑɡrəfi/ writing about someone that praises them and hides every fault Synonyms: idealized biography, whitewash	uncritical admiring biography	The authorized biography is hagiography, and the two divorces occupy a single careful sentence.
Always an accusation in this sense, and the original meaning, writing about the lives of saints, is neutral and still used by historians, so the same word can be a technical label or a sharp insult depending on the subject. Uncountable when it is the charge.
realismformal /ˈriəˌlɪzəm/ writing that tries to show ordinary life as it actually is Synonyms: truth to life, naturalness	writing faithful to ordinary life	Her realism extends to the paperwork, and three pages are spent on a housing application.
Critics usually add a narrowing word, as in social realism or psychological realism, because the bare noun names both a general aim and a nineteenth-century movement at once. Philosophy uses the same term for an unrelated set of positions. Uncountable.
naturalismformal /ˈnætʃərəˌlɪzəm/ writing that shows people as shaped by their surroundings and their inheritance Synonyms: strict realism, documentary realism	realism stressing circumstance	The naturalism is unrelenting: nobody in the mill town escapes what the first chapter promises.
In literary history it names a late nineteenth-century development of realism that puts environment and inheritance above choice, so it is a narrower claim than realism and not a synonym for it. Philosophy uses the word for something else again. Uncountable.
modernismformal /ˈmɑdərˌnɪzəm/ an early twentieth-century movement that broke with older forms on purpose Synonyms: experimental movement, formal experiment	the early twentieth-century break	Modernism is the wrong frame here; the novel's difficulty is accidental rather than designed.
Modern simply means recent, so a modern novel need not be modernist at all, and that slip is the one to avoid. Capitalize the noun when you mean the movement rather than a habit of mind; a modernist is a person or a work belonging to it.
postmodernformal /ˌpoʊstˈmɑdərn/ playing openly with form and doubting that any account is the true one Synonyms: self-conscious, ironic, self-referential	self-aware and skeptical	Calling the novel postmodern explains its footnotes but not its sincerity about grief.
What the word covers is genuinely contested, and it is used both as neutral description and as a dismissal, so it is worth saying which features you mean. Written without a hyphen in American usage; the noun is postmodernism.
avant-gardeformal /ˌævɑnˈɡɑrd/ using new and difficult methods well before others accept them Synonyms: experimental, pioneering, radical	experimental and ahead	The theater was avant-garde for a decade and is now on the syllabus at every college.
It names position rather than quality, so avant-garde work can be admired or dismissed while keeping the label. As a noun it takes the: the avant-garde. Hyphenated, stressed on the last syllable, and it serves as both adjective and noun.
Romanticismformal /roʊˈmæntɪˌsɪzəm/ a movement that valued feeling, imagination and nature above rules and reason Synonyms: the Romantic movement, the Romantic period	the movement valuing feeling	The poem's debt to Romanticism shows in its trust that a landscape can teach us something.
Capitalized for the movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; a lowercase romantic is simply someone in love or a dreamer. A Romantic with a capital letter is a writer of that period, which is why the capital carries real information.
neoclassicalformal /ˌnioʊˈklæsɪkəl/ following the forms and rules of ancient Greek and Roman art Synonyms: classically modeled, formally strict	imitating ancient models	The neoclassical insistence on the unities makes the play feel older than its date.
Written as one word, with the main stress on the third syllable. Neo- means new, so the term marks a later revival rather than the ancient work itself. In literary history it is associated chiefly with the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe.
baroqueformal /bəˈroʊk/ full of bold movement and heavy decoration, in art or in style Synonyms: ornate, elaborate, extravagant	extravagantly elaborate	The sentences are baroque, piling clause on clause until the subject reappears three lines later.
Applied to prose it can be admiring, unlike florid, which never is, so it is the word for elaborate writing you actually like. Capitalized for the seventeenth-century European period, lowercase for the general sense. The second syllable rhymes with joke.
the Enlightenmentformal /ði ɪnˈlaɪtənmənt/ an eighteenth-century movement that trusted reason and questioned old authority Synonyms: the age of reason, eighteenth-century rationalism	the age of reason	The essay defends the Enlightenment against the charge that reason was only ever a weapon.
Always with the and a capital E when it names the period, which separates it from ordinary enlightenment meaning understanding. The adjective is Enlightenment: Enlightenment thought, Enlightenment values. Never pluralized.
the Renaissanceformal /ðə ˈrɛnəˌsɑns/ the period in Europe when classical learning and art were revived Synonyms: the rebirth, the revival	the rebirth of classical learning	Writing on the Renaissance still argues about when it began and whether it began at all.
Capitalized with the for the period, lowercase for any revival, as in a renaissance in local publishing. Its dates and even its existence are argued over, so a claim about when it began needs defending. American speakers stress the first syllable.
antiquityformal /ænˈtɪkwɪti/ the ancient world, especially Greece and Rome, and its very distant past Synonyms: the ancient world, ancient times	the ancient world	What antiquity meant by friendship is not what the modern reader brings to the word.
When it means the ancient world it takes no article: in antiquity, never in the antiquity. The separate sense of an old object is countable, as in a shop full of antiquities, and great antiquity means simply great age.
philologyformal /fɪˈlɑlədʒi/ the study of old texts and languages, and of how they changed over time Synonyms: textual scholarship, historical linguistics	the historical study of texts	A century of philology stands behind the footnote explaining which word the scribe misread.
The word now sounds old-fashioned in American universities, where much of the same work goes on under linguistics and textual criticism. A practitioner is a philologist and the adjective is philological. Uncountable, stressed on the second syllable.
Victorianneutral /vɪkˈtɔriən/ belonging to the long reign of Queen Victoria in nineteenth-century Britain Synonyms: nineteenth-century, mid-century British	of nineteenth-century Britain	The Victorian novel had room for the servants, and the modern one mostly does not.
Capitalized, since it comes from a name. As a period label it is neutral, but applied to attitudes it usually means prudish and rigid, as in a Victorian view of marriage. That second sense is a caricature, and historians resist it.
zeitgeistformal /ˈzaɪtˌɡaɪst/ the mood and ideas that mark one particular period Synonyms: spirit of the age, mood of the times	the spirit of an age	The novel caught the zeitgeist so exactly that it is now unreadable without a footnote.
Both syllables rhyme with height. Usually with the and rarely pluralized. A work catches, captures or misses the zeitgeist. It names a mood rather than a cause, so it explains less than it appears to.
milieuformal /milˈju/ the social surroundings in which someone lives or a work was made Synonyms: setting, surroundings, environment	a social setting	The poems are unreadable without the milieu that produced them, which is the book's real subject.
Two syllables with the stress on the second; the plural is milieus or milieux, both pronounced the same. It refers to human and social surroundings, not physical ones, so a milieu has people in it.
magnum opusformal /ˌmæɡnəm ˈoʊpəs/ the largest and best work of an artist's life Synonyms: greatest work, masterwork	an artist's greatest work	He called the unfinished trilogy his magnum opus, and his readers quietly prefer the early stories.
It claims both size and supremacy, so it is not simply a synonym for best-known work, and it often carries a note of irony. The fixed two-word phrase normally takes a possessive: her magnum opus. The plural is avoided in practice.
juveniliaformal /ˌdʒuvəˈnɪliə/ the works an artist produced when very young, usually thought weak Synonyms: early works, youthful writing	early immature works	The collected edition prints the juvenilia, which serves scholarship and damages the poems.
Plural in form and normally takes a plural verb, with no singular in use. It carries a faint apology, since juvenilia are published for the record rather than for their merits. Stress the third syllable.
posthumousformal /ˈpɑstʃəməs/ published or given after the writer or artist has died Synonyms: after death, published later	happening after death	The posthumous novel was assembled from notebooks, and the editor's choices are now the scandal.
Stress the first syllable and leave the h silent, so it does not sound like post plus humus. The adverb is posthumously. Used of publication, fame, awards and children, and always about events after a death rather than about death itself.
laureateformal /ˈlɔriət/ a poet or other figure given an official honor for their work Synonyms: honored poet, prizewinner	an officially honored poet	As laureate she wrote three official poems and spent the rest of the appointment visiting schools.
Three syllables, stressed on the first. It follows its noun in titles: poet laureate, Nobel laureate. The image behind it is a crown of leaves given for victory, which is why the word suggests public honor rather than private merit.
manifestoneutral /ˌmænəˈfɛstoʊ/ a public written statement of what a group believes and intends to do Synonyms: declaration, statement of aims	a public statement of aims	The manifesto promised to abolish the sentence, and the movement lasted four issues.
It belongs to political parties and to artistic movements equally, and in art writing it implies the group announced itself before producing much. Related to the verb manifest only at the root. Countable, with the plural manifestos in American usage.
apocryphalformal /əˈpɑkrəfəl/ widely told but probably not true Synonyms: probably untrue, unverified, legendary	probably untrue but repeated	The story of the rejected manuscript is apocryphal, and every biography repeats it anyway.
A polite way of saying a tale is too good to check, so it is used of stories, anecdotes and quotations rather than of documents. It does not mean secret, though the root has to do with writings of doubtful authority.
epistemologyformal /ɪˌpɪstɪˈmɑlədʒi/ the branch of philosophy asking what knowledge is and how we get it Synonyms: theory of knowledge, study of knowing	the study of knowledge	The quarrel is really about epistemology: the two sides disagree about what would count as proof.
Six syllables, with the main stress on the fourth. Uncountable, though writers speak of a thinker's epistemology, meaning the particular account they hold. The adjective is epistemological, and epistemic is the shorter form used before nouns.
ontologyformal /ɑnˈtɑlədʒi/ the branch of philosophy asking what kinds of things exist Synonyms: theory of being, study of existence	the study of what exists	The essay shifts from ontology to ethics without noticing that the question has changed.
Stress the second syllable. Uncountable in the philosophical sense, but countable in computing, where an ontology is a formal list of the things in a domain. The adjective is ontological, and an ontological claim says what there is.
metaphysicsformal /ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks/ the part of philosophy that asks what reality is like at the deepest level Synonyms: first philosophy, theory of reality	the study of ultimate reality	There is more metaphysics in the novel than in the essays, and none of it is announced.
Plural in form but takes a singular verb: metaphysics is difficult. The adjective metaphysical is used both for the field and, loosely, for anything abstract. Popular use for crystals and spirits has made careful writers cautious about the plain word.
phenomenologyformal /fɪˌnɑmɪˈnɑlədʒi/ the study of how things appear in experience, described without explaining them away Synonyms: study of experience, description of appearances	the study of lived experience	The book offers a phenomenology of waiting, and the chapter on airports is genuinely new.
Six syllables, stressed on the fourth. Uncountable as the field, countable in the frame a phenomenology of something, which is now a common way to title a careful description. The adjective is phenomenological.
dialecticformal /ˌdaɪəˈlɛktɪk/ a way of reasoning in which opposed positions are set against each other Synonyms: argument by opposites, reasoned debate	reasoning through opposition	The chapters work as a dialectic, and the third only makes sense against the first two.
Different traditions use the word for quite different procedures, so what it means is genuinely contested and worth specifying. Countable and uncountable; also dialectics, with a singular verb. The adjective dialectical often just means involving tension.
empiricismformal /ɛmˈpɪrɪˌsɪzəm/ the view that knowledge comes from what we observe rather than from pure thought Synonyms: reliance on observation, experience-based view	knowledge from experience	His empiricism is impatient with any claim that cannot be checked against a measurement.
The adjective has escaped the philosophy: empirical evidence just means evidence gathered by observation, and using it commits you to no position at all. The noun still names the position, so keep the two apart. Uncountable, stressed on the second syllable.
rationalismformal /ˈræʃənəˌlɪzəm/ the view that reason rather than experience is the main source of knowledge Synonyms: reliance on reason, reason-based view	knowledge from reason	The rationalism of the argument is its weakness: nothing in it could be tested by anyone.
Two readers will hear two different words: in philosophy it is the technical position paired against empiricism, in everyday argument it is simply a refusal of superstition. Say which you mean or the sentence will be read both ways. Uncountable.
idealismformal /aɪˈdiəˌlɪzəm/ the philosophical view that what exists depends on mind rather than matter Synonyms: mind-first philosophy, mind-based view	the view that reality is mental	The idealism of the tradition explains why these writers treat the world as a kind of reading.
In philosophy this is a claim about what reality is, and it has nothing to do with the everyday sense of having high hopes for the world. The two senses share one spelling, so a philosophical context has to be made clear.
materialismformal /məˈtɪriəˌlɪzəm/ the view that only physical things exist, and mind depends on them Synonyms: physicalism, matter-first view	the view that all is matter	The materialism here is strict: every idea in the book is traced back to somebody's wages.
The everyday sense, caring too much about possessions, is an insult; the philosophical sense is a neutral position, and in historical writing it names an approach that explains ideas by material conditions. Without a clear context readers default to the insult.
determinismformal /dɪˈtɜrmɪˌnɪzəm/ the view that every event is fixed by what came before it Synonyms: causal necessity, universal causation	everything is caused	The determinism of the plot is the problem: no character is ever free to choose otherwise.
Nearly always narrowed by a word in front, as in economic determinism or biological determinism, and those compounds are accusations: they charge the writer with leaving people no room to act. The bare noun is the neutral one. Uncountable.
existentialismformal /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃəˌlɪzəm/ a set of views holding that people must make their own meaning through choices Synonyms: philosophy of freedom, philosophy of choice	philosophy of choice and meaning	The label existentialism has been stretched so far that it now means little more than gloom.
Safer to describe the ideas than to assign writers to them, since several of the people grouped under the label rejected it. Capitalize the noun only when it names the mid-twentieth-century movement. The adjective is existential. Uncountable.
nihilismformal /ˈnaɪəˌlɪzəm/ the view that nothing has real value or meaning Synonyms: denial of value, total skepticism	belief in no values	Calling the novel nihilism mistakes exhaustion for a position; its narrator wants to believe something.
The first syllable is /naɪ/, though some speakers say /ˈniə/. Uncountable, and almost always used as an accusation rather than a self-description. The related noun for a person is nihilist and the adjective is nihilistic.
utilitarianismformal /juˌtɪlɪˈtɛriəˌnɪzəm/ the view that the right action is the one producing the most good overall Synonyms: greatest-good ethics, consequence-based ethics	the greatest good principle	The doctor's reasoning is utilitarianism at its coldest, and the novel refuses to say he is wrong.
Seven syllables, with the main stress on the fourth. Uncountable. A utilitarian is someone who holds the view, but the adjective utilitarian has drifted to mean plain and merely useful, as in utilitarian furniture, with no ethics in it.
positivismformal /ˈpɑzɪtɪˌvɪzəm/ the view that real knowledge comes only from observable facts and testing Synonyms: scientific empiricism, fact-only view	only observable facts count	The reviewer's positivism will not allow the possibility that a poem knows anything.
In the humanities it now arrives as a charge: it accuses someone of a narrow trust in measurement. Nothing to do with being positive in outlook, which is the reading the spelling invites. Uncountable, and stressed on the first syllable.
structuralismformal /ˈstrʌktʃərəˌlɪzəm/ an approach that explains meaning by the system of relations behind it Synonyms: systems approach, relational analysis	meaning from systems	Structuralism taught critics to look for the system, and the habit outlived the theory itself.
A structuralist reading looks for the pattern, not the author, and that is the test of whether the word fits. It was widely influential in mid-twentieth-century linguistics, anthropology and literary study, and the movement that pushed back is poststructuralism.
deconstructionformal /ˌdikənˈstrʌkʃən/ a way of reading that shows a text undermining its own settled meaning Synonyms: critical unreading, undoing of meaning	reading against fixed meaning	What passes for deconstruction in the essay is just a list of things the poem fails to settle.
Constantly misused to mean simply taking something apart, which is why careful writers say analyze when that is what they mean. The verb deconstruct takes a text as its object, and the claim is that the text undoes itself, not that you dismantled it.
semioticsformal /ˌsimiˈɑtɪks/ the study of signs and how they come to carry meaning Synonyms: sign theory, study of signs	the study of signs	A chapter of semiotics explains why the uniform in the photograph does so much of the work.
Plural in form with a singular verb: semiotics is useful here. The adjective is semiotic and a practitioner is a semiotician. It covers signs of every kind, not only words, which is why it travels into writing about clothes, film and advertising.
hermeneuticsformal /ˌhɜrməˈnutɪks/ the study of how texts are interpreted and what makes a reading good Synonyms: theory of interpretation, interpretive method	the theory of interpretation	Her hermeneutics is generous: she assumes the writer meant something before deciding he failed.
Plural in form, singular verb. The adjective is hermeneutic. It began as the interpretation of sacred texts and spread to all interpretation, so the word still carries a sense of patient reading rather than quick judgement.
relativismformal /ˈrɛlətɪˌvɪzəm/ the view that truth or right depends entirely on the group holding it Synonyms: no-absolutes view, cultural relativity	no absolute standards	The charge of relativism is easy to make and almost nobody in the debate actually holds it.
Far commoner as an accusation than as a self-description, so when you meet it, ask who is actually claiming it. Usually narrowed: moral relativism, cultural relativism. Nothing to do with relativity in physics. Uncountable.
solipsismformal /ˈsɑləpˌsɪzəm/ the view that only your own mind can be known to exist Synonyms: self-enclosure, radical self-centeredness	only my mind exists	The diary shades into solipsism, and after fifty pages no other person is fully real.
Criticism mostly uses the looser sense, a writer so absorbed in himself that other people go thin, and there it is always disapproving rather than a neutral report of a position. The adjective is solipsistic. Uncountable, stressed on the first syllable.
teleologyformal /ˌtɛliˈɑlədʒi/ explaining something by the end or purpose it moves toward Synonyms: purpose-based explanation, goal-directedness	explanation by purpose	The teleology of the history is plain: everything before 1789 exists only to prepare it.
In historical and critical writing it is usually a complaint, since a teleological account reads the past as aiming at the present. In biology the same word names a real and much-debated question about function, with no blame attached. Uncountable.
praxisformal /ˈpræksɪs/ practice, especially action guided by and testing a theory Synonyms: practice, applied action	theory put into action	The group's praxis never matched its statements, and the reading list outlasted the organizing.
Said /ˈpræksɪs/, with the a of practice; the plural praxes is rare. Uncountable. It belongs to traditions in which the test of a theory is what it changes, so outside those it can sound like a grand way of saying practice.
immanentformal /ˈɪmənənt/ existing inside something rather than coming from outside it Synonyms: inherent, indwelling, internal	present within	The meaning is immanent in the form, and no biography of the poet will add to it.
Three lookalikes to keep apart: immanent means present within, imminent means about to happen, and eminent means distinguished. Usually with in. Its paired term is transcendent, and an immanent critique judges something by its own standards.
transcendentformal /trænˈsɛndənt/ going beyond the ordinary world or the usual limits of experience Synonyms: beyond the ordinary, otherworldly	beyond ordinary limits	The claim that art is transcendent is doing heavy work in an argument that never defends it.
Set against immanent: what is transcendent lies beyond the thing, what is immanent lies within it. In loose praise it means merely wonderful, as in a transcendent performance, and that use empties the philosophical sense.
the sublimeformal /ðə səˈblaɪm/ greatness so large that it overwhelms us, mixing fear with awe Synonyms: awe-inspiring grandeur, the overwhelming	overwhelming greatness	The mountain passages reach for the sublime and land somewhere closer to bad weather.
It names a category set against the beautiful: the sublime frightens as well as pleases. The plain adjective sublime now means simply excellent, which is a much weaker use. As a critical term it is a noun and always takes the.
exegesisformal /ˌɛksɪˈdʒisɪs/ careful detailed explanation of what a text means Synonyms: close interpretation, commentary	detailed textual interpretation	Forty pages of exegesis follow a poem of nine lines, and the poem survives it.
Stress the third syllable, which is said /dʒi/; the plural is exegeses, /ˌɛksɪˈdʒisiz/. Uncountable in practice. It began with sacred texts and still suggests reverence, so it is sometimes used mockingly of over-solemn reading.
close readingformal /ˌkloʊs ˈridɪŋ/ studying a short passage in detail, paying attention to every word Synonyms: detailed analysis, textual analysis	detailed line-by-line analysis	A close reading of the opening sentence shows that the narrator has already decided to lie.
Close here is the adjective, ending in the /s/ of dose, not the /z/ of the verb. Countable, and the frame is a close reading of something. It is also a method with a history, so calling your work close reading places it in a tradition.
intertextualityformal /ˌɪntərˌtɛkstʃuˈælɪti/ the way texts carry traces of other texts inside them Synonyms: textual borrowing, links between texts	relations between texts	The intertextuality is dense, and half the jokes require a reader who knows the older novel.
Seven syllables, with the main stress on the fifth. Uncountable; the adjective is intertextual. It is wider than allusion, since it covers echoes the writer never planned, so it does not claim any intention at all.
authorial intentformal /ɔˈθɔriəl ɪnˈtɛnt/ what the writer meant a work to mean, used as a guide to reading it Synonyms: the writer's intention, authorial purpose	what the writer meant	Appeals to authorial intent settle nothing here, since the letters contradict the published preface.
Whether it should govern interpretation is one of the long quarrels of criticism, so the phrase usually appears in an argument rather than a description. The frames are appeal to and rely on authorial intent, and the phrase is uncountable.
axiomformal /ˈæksiəm/ a statement taken as true from the start, without proof Synonyms: first principle, given, assumption	an unproved starting point	The axiom that readers want stories is never argued for, and the whole book rests on it.
In mathematics an axiom is openly chosen; in ordinary argument it usually means an assumption the writer has not noticed making, which is why naming one is a criticism. The adjective axiomatic has weakened to mean simply obvious.
chimeraformal /kaɪˈmɪrə/ something hoped for that could never exist, or a creature made of mixed parts Synonyms: illusion, impossible dream, fantasy	an impossible hope	A complete edition is a chimera; too many of the notebooks were burned in 1948.
The ch is /k/ and the first syllable is /kaɪ/, so it begins like kite, not like chimney. Countable. The adjective chimerical, /kaɪˈmɛrɪkəl/, means wildly unrealistic, and biology uses chimera for an organism with two sets of cells.
syllogismformal /ˈsɪləˌdʒɪzəm/ an argument in which a conclusion follows from two given statements Synonyms: formal argument, deduction	a three-step argument	The chapter is a long syllogism, and the reader can see the conclusion coming from the first page.
In a valid syllogism the conclusion follows whether or not the starting statements are true, which is the distinction between being valid and being sound. The adjective is syllogistic. Countable, and stressed on the first syllable.
tautologyformal /tɔˈtɑlədʒi/ a statement that repeats itself, or that must be true by its own wording Synonyms: needless repetition, circular statement	saying the same thing twice	The definition is a tautology: good writing is writing that is good.
Two senses run side by side: a pointless repetition of words, and a statement true by definition and therefore empty. Both are criticisms in ordinary argument. The adjective is tautological. Countable, and stressed on the second syllable.
to beg the questionformal /ˈbɛɡ ðə ˈkwɛstʃən/ to argue in a way that already assumes the very point being argued for Synonyms: argue in a circle, assume the conclusion	assume what you must prove	To call the tradition great and then explain its survival by its greatness begs the question.
The logical sense is to assume what you set out to prove, and in philosophy and criticism that is the term of art. It is now widely used to mean raise the question, as in that begs the question of who pays; outside a discussion of logic, saying assumes the conclusion avoids the ambiguity.
speciousformal /ˈspiʃəs/ looking right at first but actually wrong Synonyms: misleading, false, hollow	plausible but false	The comparison is specious, and it survives only because both examples happen to involve prisons.
Two syllables, beginning like speech. Common with argument, reasoning, comparison and claim. It says the reasoning looks attractive and is not, so it charges the writer with surface appeal rather than with honest error.
sophistryformal /ˈsɑfɪstri/ clever reasoning that is meant to deceive rather than to find the truth Synonyms: false reasoning, casuistry, trickery	clever false reasoning	What looks like argument is sophistry: each step is reasonable and the sequence proves nothing.
Harsher than specious, because it implies the writer knows the reasoning is bad, so use it only when you mean to charge dishonesty. A single instance is a sophism. Not connected with sophisticated, which took the same root elsewhere. Uncountable.
reductiveformal /rɪˈdʌktɪv/ explaining something complicated in a way that leaves out too much Synonyms: oversimplifying, crude, flattening	simplifying too far	It is reductive to read the whole novel as a comment on the author's marriage.
Always an attack, never a neutral description: to call a reading reductive is to say it has lost what mattered. Common frames are it is reductive to and a reductive account of. In science reductionist can be a neutral label for a method.
essentialistformal /ɪˈsɛnʃəlɪst/ treating a group or thing as having one fixed unchanging nature Synonyms: fixed-nature, generalizing	treating a group as fixed	The argument is essentialist, assuming that all readers of a country share one way of feeling.
In current critical writing this is an accusation, not a description: it says the writer has assumed a fixed nature where there is variety. The noun is essentialism. In older philosophy the term is technical and carries no blame.
problematicneutral /ˌprɑbləˈmætɪk/ raising difficulties, or open to serious objection on moral grounds Synonyms: troubling, questionable, objectionable	open to objection	The chapter's treatment of the servants is problematic, and the author appears not to have noticed.
Two uses now sit on one word: the older neutral sense, presenting difficulties, and a newer one that objects on moral grounds while sounding mild. Because the second is heard first by many readers, the word rarely reads as neutral any more.
normativeformal /ˈnɔrmətɪv/ concerned with how things ought to be rather than how they are Synonyms: prescriptive, evaluative, ought-based	about how things should be	The claim is normative, not descriptive: he is telling us what the novel should have done.
Its paired opposite is descriptive, and marking a claim as normative says it carries a standard rather than a report. In some critical writing it also implies imposing a norm on people, which is a criticism, so the two uses are worth keeping apart.
orthodoxyformal /ˈɔrθəˌdɑksi/ the view accepted as correct by most people in a field or group Synonyms: received view, accepted opinion	the accepted view	The orthodoxy held for a generation, mostly because the people who doubted it were not hired.
In secular use it carries a faint charge of unexamined agreement, so it is rarely a compliment. Usually with the: the orthodoxy, the new orthodoxy, and the received view means much the same. Capitalized it names a branch of Christianity.
heterodoxformal /ˈhɛtərəˌdɑks/ not agreeing with the views most people in a field accept Synonyms: unorthodox, dissenting, nonconforming	departing from accepted views	His heterodox account was ignored for decades and is now printed in the standard textbook.
Stress the first syllable; the noun is heterodoxy. It is close to unorthodox but more formal and more precise, since it implies a body of accepted doctrine to depart from. Neutral in tone, and sometimes quietly admiring.
tenetformal /ˈtɛnɪt/ one of the main principles held by a group or a theory Synonyms: principle, doctrine, belief	a principle of a belief	A central tenet of the school is that no reading can be settled by the writer's own account.
Two syllables, stressed on the first, and it is not tenant, which means someone who rents. Countable, usually plural, and common with central, basic and founding. A tenet is held by a group, so a personal opinion is not one.
bourgeoisformal /bʊrˈʒwɑ/ belonging to the property-owning middle class, or narrowly conventional Synonyms: middle-class, conventional, respectable	middle-class; conventional	The novel's bourgeois interiors are described with a hatred the plot never quite explains.
Two syllables, and the middle sound is the /ʒ/ of measure. In social history it is a plain class label; in criticism it is usually a charge of narrow respectability, so it is rarely neutral. The class as a whole is the bourgeoisie, /ˌbʊrʒwɑˈzi/.
trenchantformal /ˈtrɛntʃənt/ expressed in a sharp, clear way that goes straight to the weak point Synonyms: incisive, penetrating, sharp	sharp and effective	Her trenchant essay on prizes is still quoted whenever a shortlist embarrasses its judges.
Praise, and it credits both sharpness and accuracy, so it is stronger than merely critical. Common with criticism, analysis, essay and observation. Unlike caustic and sardonic it says nothing about cruelty or tone.
magisterialformal /ˌmædʒɪˈstɪriəl/ showing great learning and confidence, so that others accept it Synonyms: authoritative, commanding, masterly	authoritative and commanding	The magisterial first volume settled the field; the second was thirty years late and thinner.
High praise when used of a book, study or biography, and it usually implies length as well as authority. Of a person or a manner the same word can mean domineering, so the compliment depends on what is being described.

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