Terms and Definitions
Paradox - a statementthat is self-contradictoryon its surface,yet makes a point through the
ju.xtapositionof the ideas and words within the paradox. Examples: "Noon finally
dawnedfor the remaining,weary soldiers";"He that hath no money; comeye, buy and
eat..."-Isaiah 55:1
ScienceFiction - a genreof literaturethat dealswith the combinationof scientific knowledgeand
imagination.Examples: Warof the Worlds;Star Wars.
Objective correlative - The external manifestation of a person's state of mind, which
reemphasizes
the internal,allowing the readerto view it from more than one perspective.
Example:Winston Smith, in 1984, has an ulcer on his leg, which representsboth his
suffering,becauseof the State,andhis internal infections,asviewedby the State.
Parable - a brief story or tale that illustrates a moral or life lesson.Example:Jesus' story of the
loavesandfishes.
Verisimilitude- the use of realistic elementsto make literature appear truthful or accurate.
Example: The creaturein Frankensteinmeetsand converseswith a blind man.
Satire - using humor to exposesomethingor someoneto ridicule. Examples: Animal Farm;
Gulliver's Travels.
Irony - a perception of inconsistency,sometimeshumorous, in which the significanceand
understandingof a statementor eventis changedby its context. Example: The firehouse
burneddown.
.
.
.
Dramatic Irony - the audience or reader knows more about a character's situation
thanthe characterdoesand knows that the character'sunderstandingis incorrect.
Example: In Medea,Creonasks,"What atrocitiescould she commit in one day?"
The reader,however,knows Medeawill destroyher family and Creon's by day's
end.
StrncturalIrony - the useof a naIvehero,whoseincorrectperceptionsdiffer from
the reader'scorrectones.Example: Huck Finn.
Verbal Irony
- a discrepancy between
what is said and what is really meant;
sarcasm.
Example: A largemanwhosenicknameis "Tiny."
Narrator - the one who tells the story. The narratormust not be confusedwith "author," the one
who writes the story. If the narrator is a characterin the book, the proper term is "firstperson narration." Example: Moby Dick is narratedby Ishmael,a crewmember.If the
narrator is not a characterin the book, the correct term is "third-person narration."
Example: Senseand Sensibility.
OmniscientNarrator - third-personnarrationthat allows the author to relate the thoughts and
feelingsof any of the charactersin an all-knowingmanner.Examples: Johnny Tremain,
1984.
Point of View - the position or vantagepoint, deteffilinedby the author, from which the story
seemsto cometo the reader.The two most commonpoints of view areFirst-person and
Third-person. Examples: First-person point of view .occursin The Adventures of
Hucklebeny Finn; the readerreceivesall infoffilation throughHuck's eyes.An exampleof
third-person point of view is Dickens' Hard Times, in which the narrator is not a
characterin the book.
Terms and Definitions from the Novel
Doublethink - the ideaof holding two contradictory opinions knowing they are contradictory,
yet believingin both.
Hate Week - a week in which Oceaniacitizens attend rallies and paradesto inflametheir hatred
of Party enemiesandheightenefforts on behalf of Oceania.
INGSOC - the nameof the Partythat rules Oceania.The nameis takenfrom English Socialism,a
fonn of governmentin England.
Newspeak - Oceania's official language.
Proles - short for "proletarians,"the uneducatedmassesof commonpeople,
Telescreen- a giant screenin everypublic place and a smallerone in private places;telescreens
both transmitParty propagandaand entertainmentand spy on Party members.
Thoughtcrime - any thinking not approvedby the Party. Anyone arrestedfor Thoughtcrimeis
eventuallyvaporized.
Thought Police - the police responsiblefor arrestingpeopleguilty of crimes.
Unperson - a criminal who has beenpurgedof anti-Party ideas.The person has beenremoved
from the Party and perhapsevenvaporized and removedfrom history through changesin
written records.
Vaporized - a methodof silencingenemiesof the Party. The person disappears,and nobody
knows why or how.
The Principles of Newspeak
Newspeak - is the official languageof this governmentand is designedto limit the way
people think by removing abstract concepts from the languageand/or by changingthe
definition of thoseconcepts.Therearethreelevelsof vocabularyto Newspeak.
The "A" vocabularyincludeswords for everydayactivities such as eating,drinking,
and working. It containssimplenounsandverbs,like "tree" and "hit," and the shades
of meaninghavebeeneliminated.In addition,wordsaredesignedso that the one word
can be used as a verb, noun, adjective,or adverb.By addingprefixes and suffixes,
userscanchangea word's meaning.Uncoldis warm; doubleplus cold meansextremely
cold. Insteadof describingsomethingas"evil," it issbe describedas"ungood."
2
The "B" vocabularyincludeswords deliberatelyconstructedfor political purposes.
These words are designedto promote correct thought. Words such as 'justice,"
"democracy,"and"religion" havebeenabolishedor reducedto either "crimethink" or
"oldthink." Names of governmentorganizations,like "Thinkpol" (Thought Police),
fall into this group. Becausephraseslike "Communist International"evoke thoughts
of humanbrotherhoodand revolution, the word "Comintern" is used to suggesta
tightly-knit organizationwith a precise doctrine. The purpose of Newspeak is to
makespeechasnearly automaticandthoughtlessaspossible.
3.
The "C" vocabularyincludesscientific andtechnicalterms,which havebeenpurgedof
any ideological meaning. The aim is to keep knowledge specialized and
compartmentalizedso no oneknows too much.