Craig White's Literature Courses

Terms / Themes

Convention (literary use)
 

If genres are types, classes, or kinds of literature (or art, music, etc.) . .  .

What do you call the marks or signs that identify a genre?

The literary-critical term is "conventions" (see below).

More common, everyday speech might describe conventions as

  • formulas
  • elements
  • expectations

Definitions of convention on the Web:

  • a large formal assembly; "political convention"
  • something regarded as a normative example; "the convention of not naming the main character"; "violence is the rule not the exception"; "his formula for impressing visitors"
  • (diplomacy) an international agreement
  • conventionality: orthodoxy as a consequence of being conventional
  • the act of convening
    wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn 

     

  • A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_(norm) 

     

  • that lowest common denominator of truth and right to which society as a whole adheres, and which is the point of departure for (and is often scorned by), those with creative aspirations. antonym: creativity.
    ninthstreetcenter.org/Glossary.htm 

     

  • Any widely accepted literary device, style, or form. A soliloquy, in which a character reveals to the audience his or her private thoughts, is an ...
    www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/glossary/glossary_bc.htm 

     

  • A device of style or subject matter so often used that it becomes a recognized means of expression. For example, a lover observing the literary love conventions cannot eat or sleep and grows pale and lean. ...
    www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/Literary-Terms-Poetry-Glossary.id-305499,articleId-30165.html 

adjective form: "conventional"

Definitions of conventional on the Web: