8th Lit Terms

Question 1

Poetic Justice

Answer 1

Term that describes a character getting “what he deserves” in the end, especially if what it deserves is punishment. The purest form of poetic justice results when one character plots against another but ends up being caught in his or her own trap.

Question 2

Bildungsroman

Answer 2

Novel that deals with the development of a young person, usually from adolescence to maturity, it is frequently autobiographical, also called a “coming of age” novel.

Question 3

Dead Metaphor (Figurative Language)

Answer 3

Phrase that has been overused so that its original impact has been lost.

Question 4

Synecdoche (Figurate Language)

Answer 4

Similar to metonymy; is a form of metaphor. A part of something stands for the whole.

Question 5

Metonymy

Answer 5

The use of the name of one thing for that of another associated with or suggested by it.

Question 6

Motif

Answer 6

Repetition or variation of an image or idea in a work that is used to develop the theme or characters

Question 7

Synesthesia

Answer 7

Description of one kind of sensation in terms of another.

Question 8

Syllepsis

Answer 8

Linking of one work with two other words in two strikingly different ways. EX: It was food for thought and for vultures.

Question 9

Hubris

Answer 9

Excessive pride or insolence that results in the misfortune of the protagonist or a tragedy. Hubris leads the protagonist to break a moral law, attempt vainly to transcend normal limitations, or ignore a divine warning with calamitous results.

Question 10

Anagnorisis

Answer 10

discovery; the revelation of some fact not known before or some person’s true identity.

Question 11

Reversal (Peripety)

Answer 11

the change in fortune for a protagonist. The reversal of fortune for a protagonist is an action that turns out to have the opposite effect from the one its doer had intended.

Question 12

Repetition

Answer 12

The deliberate use of any element of language more than once-sound, word, phrase, sentence, grammatical pattern, or rhythmical pattern.

Question 13

Anaphora

Answer 13

the same words begin successive sentences for emphasis and rhythm. Ex. That never words were music to thine ear/That never object pleasing to thy eye…”

Question 14

Parison

Answer 14

repeating the entire sentence or clause almost exactly

Question 15

Epizeuxis

Answer 15

repeating words in immediate succession. Ex. The horror. The horror. ○ Antanaclasis: putting emphasis on a repeated word to obtain different meanings. Ex. Put out the light, and then put out the light.

Question 16

Anadiplosis

Answer 16

the repetition of a keyword, especially the last one, at the beginning of the next sentence or clause. Ex. He gave his life. Life was all he could give.

Question 17

Antimetabole (Chiasmus in Poetry

Answer 17

Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. Ex. One should eat to live, not live to eat. ○ Epanalepsis: a device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated both at the beginning and at the end of the line, clause, or sentence. Ex. Common sense is not so common.

Question 18

Asyndeton

Answer 18

the practice of leaving out the usual conjunctions between coordinate sentence elements. Ex. Smile, shake hands, part. (removed and)

Question 19

Polysyndeton

Answer 19

the use of more conjunctions than is normal. Ex. and swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or floats (used more “ors” than necessary)

Question 20

Ellipsis

Answer 20

the omission of a word or several words necessary for a complete construction that is still understandable. Ex. If it’s rainy, bring an umbrella. (It is clear even though the words “it is” and “you” have been left out.)