(Poetic Devices of Meaning II)

(i) Define oxymoron.
Ans. Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. The common oxymoron phrase is a combination of an adjective proceeded by a noun with contrasting meanings e.g., "cruel kindness" or "living death". However, the contrasting words/phrases are not always glued together. The contrasting ideas may be spaced out in a sentence e.g., "In order to lead, you must walk behind.
(ii) What is a paradox?
Ans. A paradox is an anomalous juxtaposition of incongruous ides for the sake of striking exposition or unexpected insight. It functions as a method of literary composition - and analysis - which involves examining apparently contradictory statements and drawing conclusions either to reconcile them or the explain their presence. For example, "I must be cruel to be kind" (Hamlet by Shakespeare), "Child is the father of man". (William Wordsworth)
(iii) Define satire.
Ans. Satire is a technique employed to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humour, irony, wit, exaggeration or ridicule.
(iv) What is escapism?
Ans. Escapism is the desire to retreat into imaginative entertainment rather than deal with the stress, tedium, and daily problems of the mundane world. Pitted against its supposedly superior counterpart, realism, escapism is considered inconsequential and superfluous. Genres which can have elements of escapism include; romantic poetry, romance novels, fantasy fiction and thrillers etc.
(v) What is escape literature?
Ans. Escape literature includes books and short stories about desperate protagonists escaping from confinement -- especially from prisoner-of-war camps during the First and Second World Wars. Examples include; The Tunnellers of Holzminden by H.G. Dunford and The Wooden Horse by Eric Williams.
(vi) What is pessimism?
Ans. Pessimism is a state of mind in which one anticipates undesirable outcomes or believes that the evil or hardships in life outweigh the good or luxuries. Pessimism is often described by using the crappy metaphor that a glass of water is half empty rather than half full. Friendrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Hobbes and Charles Baudelaire are some famous pessimists.
(vii) What is mysticism?
Ans. Mysticism is a belief in direct experience of transcendent reality or God, especially by means of contemplation and asceticism instead of rational thought. The poetry of William Blake, Emily Dickinson and Rumi is full of mysticism.
(viii) Define romanticism.
Ans. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 1700s and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure form attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. The major Romantic poets include; Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and Byron.
(ix) What is negative capability?
Ans. Negative capability is a term coined by English poet, John Keats. It is a writer's ability to accept uncertainties, mysteries and doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason. An author possessing negative capability is objective and emotionally detached, as opposed to one who writes for didactic purposes.
(x) What is Hellenism?
Ans. Hellenism was a neoclassical movement which emerged after the European Renaissance in Germany and England. The term Hellenism refers stories, novels, dramas, or poetry that has been inspired by classic Greek literature or makes use of classic Greek style or forms. In English, Keats, Shelley and Byron are considered examplars of Hellenism.
(xi) What do you mean by supernaturalism?
Ans. Supernaturalism is a secular designation for those who believe that there are beings, forces, and phenomena such as the human soul, God, angels, miracles, pixies, faeries, hobbits, magic etc which claim to interact with the physical universe in remarkable and unique ways. The poetry of S.T. Coleridge is full of supernaturalism.
(xii) What do you understand by medievalism?
Ans. Medievalism is the systme of belief and practice characteristic of the Middle Ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various vechicles of popular culture.
(xiii) Define comedy.
Ans. A comedy is a dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict. A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, Every Man in His Humor by Ben Johnson and Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw are examples of comedy.
(xiv) What is a parable?
Ans. A parable is a story or short narrative designed to reveal allegorically some religious principle, moral lesson, psychological reality, or general truth. The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad are examples of parables.
(xv) What is sensuousness?
Ans. Sensuousness is poetry is that quality which appeals to our five senses. In other words, it is a quality which affects our five senses of smell, taste, touch, hear and sight at one. The poetry of Keats is full of sensuousness.