In the arts and literature, the term avant-garde (from French, meaning “advance guard” or “vanguard”) refers to a new or experimental style of art, or the artist who creates it. These works are often creative and different from what was popular before, but they may not be accepted by the art community at first. The idea of an “advance guard” compares artists and writers to soldiers who lead the way, showing new styles, forms, and subjects that challenge the traditional ways of creating art and writing.
Autotelic is a Filipino independent and alternative rock band from Manila, Philippines. The band was created in 2012 and includes members Josh Villena (guitars and vocals), Neil Tin (guitars), EJ Edralin (synth), Timothy “Pabs” Vargas (bass guitars), and Gep Macadaeg (drums). Autotelic is currently signed to the independent record label Nemesis Music Group and the major record label MCA Music.
An autobiography, sometimes called an autobio, is a book someone writes about their own life. It tells a personal story that includes the author’s experiences, memories, and thoughts. This type of writing lets people share their unique views and life events, helping readers learn about the author’s journey and the time or culture they lived in.
An aubade is a type of music or poem that celebrates the morning, often involving lovers saying goodbye at dawn. It can also refer to a song or piece that describes or is inspired by the arrival of daylight. In its most specific meaning, an aubade is a song sung by a person leaving their lover, who is still asleep.
Asyndeton (UK: /æˈsɪndɪtən, ə-/, US: /əˈsɪndətɒn, ˌeɪ-/) is a writing technique where one or more connecting words are intentionally left out in a series of related sentences or phrases. An example is “I came, I saw, I conquered,” which is a translation of the Latin phrase “veni, vidi, vici.” This technique can make a sentence feel faster and help a message stay in the reader’s mind. Asyndeton is different from syndeton and polysyndeton.
Astrophysics is a science that uses the rules and techniques of physics and chemistry to study objects and events in space, such as the universe. James Keeler, one of the early scientists in this field, explained that astrophysics focuses on “finding out what heavenly bodies are, rather than where they are in space,” which is a topic studied in celestial mechanics. Subjects studied in astrophysics include the Sun (solar physics), other stars, galaxies, planets outside our solar system, the material between stars, and the cosmic microwave background.
Assonance is when the same or similar vowel sounds are repeated in words or syllables that are close together. For example, the word “lean green meat” repeats the “ee” sound, and “Kip keeps capes” repeats the “k” sound. In American English, assonance refers only to vowel sounds, while the repetition of consonant sounds is called consonance.
An aside is a way actors use in plays or shows to speak directly to the audience. By rule, the other characters on stage are not supposed to hear what is said. The character might talk to the audience clearly, either while acting normally or while stepping out of character, or it might show a thought the character is keeping secret.
Asemic writing is a type of writing that does not use words. The word “asemic” means “without specific meaning” or “without the smallest unit of meaning.” Asemic writing combines writing and pictures, while using very few gestures, lines, or symbols. Because it is not clearly defined, readers can interpret its meaning in different ways.
In music and prosody, arsis ( / ˈ ɑːr s ɪ s / ; plural arses , / ˈ ɑːr s iː z / ) and thesis ( / ˈ θ iː s ɪ s / ; plural theses , / ˈ θ iː s iː z / ) refer to the stronger and weaker parts of a musical measure or poetic foot. However, because the original definitions are unclear, writers use these terms differently. In music, arsis is an unaccented note ( upbeat ), while thesis is the downbeat.