A melodrama is a play which contains the characters that show stronger emotions than real people do. This kind of drama has a musical accompaniment to intensify the effects of certain scenes. Therefore, melodrama is an exaggerated drama as it ...

A tragicomedy is a drama that combines the elements of a tragedy and a comedy.  It can be a tragedy with a happy ending or a tragedy with enough comic elements.  This kind of drama may use humour while addressing ...

The word “drama” comes from late Latin drāma, “play, drama,” from Greek drâma (dramatos) “action, deed; play, spectacle,” from drāo“to do, make, act, perform, achieve” especially some great deed, whether good or bad. Drama refers to literature that is written ...

Tragedy refers to a kind of drama with tragic events and having an unhappy ending especially the downfall of the main character. It is a serious play that discusses matters of great importance and that affect human beings. Tragedies are ...

A comedy is a light and funny or humorous play with a happy ending. It is a work of drama which is written in order to provide the audience with amusement or entertainment. The main aim or purpose of comedies ...

Oral literature refers to literature which is disseminated/transmitted or spread by word of mouth. It refers to any form of verbal art which is spread by speaking. This unwritten literature is carried in the memories of members of different communities ...

Written literature refers literature which is written down. It includes all written works. Written literature is used in contrast to oral literature. This form of literature is transmitted by writing. Written literature which is the human expression through writing; started ...

The word “prose” comes from the Latin “prosa oratio” meaning “straightforward discourse.” Prose is the usual or the normal form of written, or spoken language. It is a form of writing that is natural and uses grammatical structure. Most forms ...

Character refers to traits or manners and at the same time to the fictional human being, animal or thing in a story. For instance, Okonkwo is a character in Things Fall Apart, Snowball is a character in Animal Farm, and ...

Poetry is derived from the Greek “poiesis”, which means “making”. It is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the understandable meaning. It is ...

Antithesis means “opposite”. As a literary device, it is used to put two contrasting ideas together. Antithesis is a figure of speech that refers to the juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas. This figure of speech juxtaposes two contrasting or ...

An aphorism is a short witty saying which expresses a general truth or comment in a terse manner. It is a brief saying or phrase that expresses an opinion or makes a statement of wisdom. Aphorism can also be defined ...

A literary tradition refers to some common features or characteristics which define the literature of a group of people at a certain period of time. These characteristics relate to the form and meaning of the literature of the particular place ...

A literary tradition refers to some common features or characteristics that define literature of a group of people at a certain period of time. These features relate to form and meaning of the literature of the given place or time ...

Literary critics divide prose into fiction and non-fiction. Fiction refers to literature which is created out of imagination. In a fictional work; the places do not necessarily exist in the real life as they are imagined or originate in the ...

Context refers to the whole situation, background or environment relevant to a particular event. It also refers to the social, cultural, and historical circumstances and setting at which the author is writing. Therefore, context refers to the background information surrounding ...

In composition, the term purpose refers to a person’s reason for writing, such as to inform, entertain, explain, educate or persuade. In literature, purpose refers to the reasons/motives that make the author write a fictional work. It is the objective ...

Atmosphere/mood is the feeling that a story evokes. This is how you feel after reading a story. Atmosphere refers to the emotions invoked/applied in the reader as he/she reads a piece of writing. It is also the feeling, emotion, or ...

Tone is the attitude or feelings of a writer towards the subject matter or the audience. It is also the manner of writing about the subject, characters and theme by careful choice of words. Tone is expressed by diction, sentence ...

Audience is the number of people or particular group of people who watch, read or listen to the same thing. This could be the group of people who have gathered to watch or listen to something (a play, a concert, ...

     SUBJECT A subject or subject matter is a topic which acts as a foundation for a literary work. It is the subject which makes a writer write something, or what something is about. Subject is also the inspiration ...

Point of view is the narrator’s position in relation to the story being told. It refers to the angle an author uses to tell the reader about the happenings in a literary text. It is also the method the author ...

All prose texts contain characters. A character refers to the person, animal, or an object that the writer of a story or a play uses to advance the plot or theme. He/she is a fictional human being, animal or thing ...

Setting refers to the place, time and social environment in which a novel, novella, or short story is represented as happening. It is the historical period, geographical place and social-cultural context in which the events of a story occur. Setting ...

Plot is how a novella, short story or novel progresses. It is also the succession/order/sequence or arrangement of events in a story. Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story, or the main ...

Ambiguity is when a word, phrase, or statement contains more than one meaning. It occurs when something can have more than one interpretation, explanation or meaning. Ambiguity is when the meaning of a word, phrase, or sentence is uncertain.               Examples ...

Anaphora is a figure of speech in which words repeat at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences. It is a literary device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginning of neighbouring clauses. This deliberate ...