11th ELA

Glossary of Key Terms

Key Term

Defnition

FIRESIDE POETS

The group is typically thought to comprise Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., who were the frst American poets whose popularity rivaled that of British poets A doctrine holding that the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically paramount to those of others and that all values, rights, and duties originate in individuals; a theory maintaining the political and economic independence of the individual and stressing individual initiative, action, and interests.

INDIVIDUALISM

NON-CONFORMITY

Failure or refusal to conform to a prevailing rule or practice.

OPTIMISM

a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome. A statement that seems on its face to be self-‐ contradictory or absurd yet turns out to have valid meaning and to reveal an element of truth.

PARADOX

A cultural attachment to one's homeland or devotion to one's country, although interpretations of the term vary with context, geography and political ideology. It is a set of concepts closely related to those of nationalism.

PATRIOTISM

REALISM

In literature and art, the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life; detailed and precise descriptions; close adherence to what is possible and plausible; the faithful rendition of things, without embellishment. Realism is often found in combination with other styles and modes.

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