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70 Literary Terms Flashcards

1
Q

ACT

A

Dramas are divided into large units called…

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2
Q

ALLEGORY

A

story or tale with two or more levels of meaning

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3
Q

ALLITERATION

A

repetition of initial consonant sounds

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4
Q

ALLUSION

A

reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

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5
Q

ANALOGY

A

comparison between two or more things that are similar in some ways but otherwise unalike

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6
Q

ANECDOTE

A

brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event told to entertain

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7
Q

ANTAGONIST

A

a character or force in conflict with a main character

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8
Q

ANTICLIMAX

A

“letdown” turning point in a story

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9
Q

ASIDE

A

short speech delivered by an actor in a play

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10
Q

ASSONANCE

A

repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stresses syllables

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11
Q

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A

a form of nonfiction in which writer tells his/her own story

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12
Q

BALLAD

A

song-like poem that tells a story often dealing with romance and adventure

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13
Q

BLANK VERSE

A

poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines

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14
Q

CHARACTER

A

person or animals who takes part in the action of a literary work

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15
Q

CHARACTERIZATION

A

act of creating and developing a character

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16
Q

CLIMAX

A

high point of interest of suspense

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17
Q

COMEDY

A

a literary work that has a happy ending

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18
Q

COMIC RELIEF

A

technique that is used to interrupt a serious part of a literary work by introducing a humorous character or situation

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19
Q

CONFLICT

A

struggle between opposing forces

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20
Q

CONNOTATION

A

set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning

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21
Q

COUPLET

A

a pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter

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22
Q

DENOTATION

A

its dictionary meaning, independent of other associations that the
word may have

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23
Q

DENOUEMENT

A

resolution, in
which a general insight or change is conveyed

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24
Q

DIALECT

A

the form of language spoken by people in particular region or group

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25
DIALOGUE
conversation between characters
26
DICTION
word choice, including the vocabulary used, the appropriateness of the words, and the vividness of the language
27
DRAMA
story written to be performed by actors
28
DRAMATIC IRONY
a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true
29
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
a poem or speech in which a fictional character addresses the listeners
30
END RHYME
repetition of sounds at the ends of words
31
EPIC
a long narrative poem about the deeds of gods or heroes
32
EXTENDED METAPHOR
a writer speaks or writes of a subject as though it were something else.
33
FANTASY
highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life
34
FICTION
prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events
35
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally
36
FOIL
a character who provides a contrast to another character
37
FORESHADOWING
the use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur
38
FREE VERSE
poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern, or meter
39
GENRE
a category or type of literature
40
HYPERBOLE
a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement
41
IMAGERY
the descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader
42
INTERNAL RHYME
occurs when the rhyming words appear in the same line
43
IRONY
literary techniques that portray differences between appearances and reality, or expectation and result
44
METAPHOR
figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else
45
METER
a poem's rhythmical pattern
46
MONOLOGUE
a speech by one character in a play, story, or poem
47
MOOD
the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage
48
MORAL
a lesson taught by a literary work
49
MYTH
a fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or the causes of natural phenomena
50
ONOMATOPOEIA
the use of words that imitate sound
51
PARADOX
a statement that seems contradictory but that actually may be true
52
PERSONIFICATION
a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics
53
PLOT
the sequence of events in a literary work
54
POETRY
one of the three major types of literature, the others being prose and drama
55
PROSE
the ordinary form of written language
56
PROTAGONIST
the main character in a literary work
57
REPETITION
the use of any element of language----a sound, a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence----more than once
58
RHYME
the repetition of sounds at the ends of words
59
RHYME SCHEME
a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem
60
SETTING
the time and place of the action
61
SIMILE
a figure of speech in which like or as is used to make a comparison between two basically unlike ideas
62
SOLILOQUY
a long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage
63
SONNET
a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter
64
SPEAKER
the imaginary voice assumed by the writer of a poem
65
STANZA
a formal division of lines in a poem, considered as a unit
66
SYMBOL
anything that stands for or represents something else
67
THEME
a central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work
68
TONE
he writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject
69
TRAGEDY
a work of literature that results in a catastrophe for the main character
70
VERBAL IRONY
words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant

English Literary Terms (1 decks)

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