descriptive

• definition: language appealing to senses
• elements:   visual, auditory, olfactory, kinesthetic images
• interest:  transportation, clear imagining
• examples:  painting, photographs
  • related words and terms: mimesis, metaphor, metonymy, concreteness, specificity, unexpectedness, particularity, vivid/rich/colorful/graphic detail, theatrical detail, realistic detail, visual imagery, auditory imagery, olfactory imagery, tactile imagery, kinesthetic imagery, gustatory imagery, “telling detail,” setting, landscape, city scale, built environment, mood, atmosphere, tone, picturesque

narrative

• definition:  telling a story
• element :  narrator, characters, conflict, development, resolution, chronological order
• interest:  finding out what happens next
• examples:  short stories, novels, fairy tales, myths, epic
  • related words and terms: flashback (analepsis), flash-forward (prolepsis), diegesis, setting, focalzation, perspective, narrator, protagonist, antagonist, character, foil, action, decision, event, exposition, narrative arc, plot, setup, conflict, external conflict, internal conflict, climax, resolution, dénouement, frame narrative, in medias res, epic, ballad, parable

dramatic

• definition:  characteristic of drama or theater
• elements: spoken language, use of persona, scenes, dialogue
• interest: way that character is revealed
• examples:  plays, comedy sketches, scenes
  • related words and terms: agon, anagnorisis, chorus, hamartia, peripeteia, personae, scene, scene break, dialogue, soliloquy, interruption, subtext, performance, prop, exit, entrance, exposition, setup, climax, resolution, dénouement, tragedy, comedy.

related to dramatic structure:

• dramatic monologue: a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an imagined person, in which the speaker inadvertently reveals aspects of their character while describing a particular situation or series of events.
• epistolary: a literary genre pertaining to letters, in which writers use letters, journals and diary entries in their works, or they tell their stories or deliver messages through a series of letters

imitative

• definition : copying something else
• elements:  depends on what is being imitated
• interest:  satire, pleasure of recognition
• examples:  mimes, translation, sampling, jazz improvisation
  • related words and terms: mimesis, mimicry, echoing, mirroring, parallel, parroting, impression, impersonation, parody, pastiche, mockery, apery, travesty, ersatz, counterfeit, sham, simulacrum, semblance, resemblance, replica, reproduction, appropriating, expropriating, sampling, lifelike, hyperbole, litotes, hyperbolic, exaggeration, understatement.

discursive

• definition: arguing and reasoning to conclusions
• elements: assertions, points, evidence, comparisons, conclusions
• interest: persuasion, possibility of truth
• examples:  essays, speeches, proverbs
  • related words and terms: contention, claim, assertion, explanation, analogical reasoning, counterargument, fallacy, rhetorical question, allegation, rebuttal, dispute, reduction ad absurdum, persuasion, support, warrant, appeal to reason, appeal to passion, appeal to trust, logos, ethos, pathos, justification, testimony, evidence, stipulate, conclude, call to action

meditative

• definition: serious thoughts without set conclusion
• elements:  contemplation, self-examination, association, episodic
• interest:  self-examination, possibility of truth
• examples:  daydream, prayer, meditation, open-ended discussion
  • related words and terms: aporia, ambiguity, recursive, the sublime, reminisce, rumination, metamorphosis, vacillation, waver, dither, linger, equivocate, fulminate, internal debate, linger, fixate, focus, revise, shift focus, recalibrate, zigzag, apeirophobia, deflection, loop back, speculation, theorize, intuition, judgment, hesitation, speculation, realization, apprehension, perception, rationalization, inference, stream of consciousness

signifyin(g)

• definition: “the rhetorical principle in Afro-American vernacular discourse,” a rhetorical practice that involves
• elements:  repetition and difference, besting, boasting, outlaw heroics
• interest:  competition, drive to eloquence, humor, wit, self-affirmation, self-definition
• examples:  the dozens, the toasts, battle rap
  • related words and terms: signifyin(g), signification, persona, alternative self, contestation, competition, provocation, boastfulness, outdoing, drive towards eloquence, insult, diss, dissing, verbal jabbing, diminishment, wit, braggadocio, ostentatious punning, pugilistic, narcissism, vulnerability, self-exploration, self-expression, self-exaltation, self-recuperation, celebration of self, defensiveness, denigration of others, swagger, confidence, brashness, assuredness, rhetoric, boasting, besting, “the dozens,” “the toasts,” heroics, kenning, claims to artistry/intellect/skill, claims to wealth/strength/sexual prowess, claims to truthfulness/authenticity, etc.

related to signifying

• the dozens: a ritualized game typically engaged in by two persons each of whom attempts to outdo the other in insults directed against members of the other’s family (usually used in the phrase play the dozens).
• the toasts: lengthy, recited narratives or poems describing a series of exploits by a central character, especially an outlaw hero