Unanswered Questions
22 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
6
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Is Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five an allegory of what would now be called PTSD?
Is Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five an allegory of what would now be called PTSD? Would ‘allegory’ be the correct terminology here?
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6
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0
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153
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Understanding the technique of "lightening" in Calvino's writing
I'm reading the paper "Erasing the Invisible Cities: Italo Calvino and the
Violence of Representation" by John Welsh (which you can read for free online). I've read and enjoyed Calvino's Invisible ...
- 51.8k
5
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answers
107
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Are there different formats of haikus?
This is similar to this question but not exactly the same. I have seen haikus in the following formats:
The traditional / which is in five-seven-five / and is most common
But I have also read that ...
- 201
5
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0
answers
58
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Name for genre of stories where the characters are narrative-aware
I've come across several fantasy books and stories where the characters recognize a divine/supernatural force in their world which often referred to as "the narrative" or "the story". In such stories, ...
- 79.6k
5
votes
1
answer
114
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Is there any technical term for a type of reading that focuses on minor characters in a literary work?
Is there any technical term for a type of reading that focuses on minor characters in a literary work? For example, a type of reading that focuses on the character of Polonius in William Shakespeare's ...
CommunityBot
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4
votes
0
answers
123
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Name for a fictional or mythological character who doesn't suffer personally, but whose family and friends all do?
I feel like this must be a character archetype or mythological figure, but can't find any references to it. In my mind, it's something like Cassandra knowing the future but not being believed; this ...
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4
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43
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Is there a name for poems where each verse is a time period?
I'm having a hard time finding examples of this, but I found one by a man named Darryl Davis, called Almanac of a man, that goes like this:
When I was five,
I was supreme ruler
of a boundless ...
- 141
4
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0
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58
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The proper way to count "edition" numbering
Let's assume there is some John Doe, who is an author of Some Book.
This book was published by Some Publisher in 1800, in 2 volumes. Then, it was published again in 1805, by the same publisher, with ...
- 79.6k
4
votes
0
answers
99
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Is there a word for a literary technique that allows a short passage to be read aloud in more than one way?
I recently started reading Sam Logan's Sam and Fuzzy online, and am greatly enjoying it.
In the fifth volume of the NMS Series (Sam and Fuzzy Missing Inaction, "Boundaries, Pt. 9") there's a cute ...
- 10.2k
3
votes
0
answers
44
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Setting in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" - background or integral?
I've been having a debate with a colleague whether the setting in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" is backdrop or integral.
These terms, as far as I know and as far as the debate ...
- 131
3
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0
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292
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How and when did the term "spoilers" originate?
Nowadays, the word "spoilers" is frequently used to describe a twist, major plot point, or anything which, if known beforehand, might spoil the experience of reading a story. This whole ...
CommunityBot
- 1
3
votes
0
answers
85
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Name for stories which do not contain names of the characters
Perhaps this is against the canons of literary construction but, is there a name for the style of tales, novels, and books which do not contain names for any of the characters?
I can only think of ...
- 79.6k
3
votes
0
answers
101
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Forms of foregrounding: are recurrence / equivalence the same?
I'm struggling to grasp the difference between the literary devices of recurrence and equivalence. I'm preparing for an exam where we are asked to define these terms. In German, they are referred to ...
- 35k
3
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0
answers
128
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How does the Nobel committee define literature?
As you probably know, Bob Dylan, a musician, was awarded the Nobel prize. He was the first musician to receive the Nobel prize.
The Nobel committee, notably, seemed to avoid the word music when ...
CommunityBot
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2
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0
answers
93
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Is there a name for the rhetorical device used in Acts 5:4?
In Acts 5:4 Peter says "...thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."
Is there a name for when one says a true fact is false in order to emphasize a more important truth?
It is true Ananias ...
- 68.9k