Poetics

Catharsis or katharsis is from the Ancient Greek word , , meaning 'purification' or 'cleansing', commonly used to refer to the purification and purgation of thoughts and emotions by way of expressing them. The desired result is an emotional state of renewal and restoration.

psychological phenomenon

thumb|Leonardo Bruni's translation of Aristotle's Poetics Poetics is the study or theory of poetry, specifically the study or theory of device, structure, form, type, and effect with regards to poetry, though usage of the term can also refer to literature broadly. Poetics is distinguished from hermeneutics by its focus on the synthesis of non-semantic elements in a text rather than its semantic interpretation. Most literary criticism combines poetics and hermeneutics in a single analysis; however, one or the other may predominate given the text and the aims of the one doing the reading.

Mimesis (; , mīmēsis) is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including imitatio, imitation, similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act of expression, the act of resembling, and the presentation of the self.

Diction ( (nom. ), "a saying, expression, word"), in its original meaning, is a writer's or speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a piece of writing such as a poem or story. In its common meaning, it is the distinctiveness of speech: the art of speaking so that each word is clearly heard and understood to its fullest complexity and extremity, and concerns pronunciation and tone, rather than word choice and style. This is more precisely and commonly expressed with the term enunciation or with its synonym, articulation.

thumb|A sculpture representing Ethos outside the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in Canberra, Australia Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of Orpheus exhibit this idea in a compelling way. The word's use in rhetoric is closely based on the Greek terminology used by Aristotle in his concept

An anacoluthon (; from the Greek , from 'not', and 'following') is an unexpected discontinuity in the expression of ideas within a sentence, leading to a form of words in which there is logical or grammatical incoherence of thought. Anacolutha are often sentences interrupted midway, where there is a change in the syntactical structure of the sentence and of intended meaning following the interruption. As rhetorical or literary device, anacoluthon may be used to demonstrate emotion or the natural patterns of spoken discourse.

Anagnorisis (; ) is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery. Anagnorisis originally meant recognition in its Greek context, not only of a person but also of what that person stood for. Anagnorisis was the hero's sudden awareness of a real situation, the realization of things as they stood, and finally, the hero's insight into a relationship with an often antagonistic character in Aristotelian tragedy.

Peripeteia (, peripety, alternative Latin form: Peripetīa, ultimately from ) is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point, within a work of literature.

thumb|The title page of Poetics (Aristotle)|Aristotle's Poetics

doctrine of artistic creativity according to which the creative process should be based on the close imitation of the masterpieces of the preceding authors

The Kavyadarsha (, ) by Dandin is the earliest surviving systematic treatment of poetics in Sanskrit.

In literature and the arts, bathos ( ; ,  "depth") is the use of a lofty, elegant, or elevated style to present silly, vulgar, or trivial subject-matter, or a sudden transition from the former to the latter, thereby creating a ludicrous or comedic effect. Nowadays, bathos can refer to such usage occurring either accidentally (through artistic ineptitude) or intentionally as a rhetorical device (usually for the sake of comedy). Originally, it referred to an amusingly failed attempt at presenting artistic greatness and was first used in this sense in Alexander Pope's 1727 essay "Peri Bathou

school of literary criticism

theoretical treatise on the art of poetry, including the study of the specific characteristics of various types that make up the poetic field, and precepts intended to serve as guides for those who grow poétique

13th-century English linguist and grammarian

by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, the first formulation, in the West, of the doctrine of imitation

literary method, mood, or manner not tied exclusively to a particular form or genre