All Prose Flashcards
A story or poem in which characters and events represent abstract concepts or qualities; a systemic metaphor throughout a literary work.
Allegory
Lord of the Flies
Animal Farm
The Crucible
Allegory
Sally Sells Sea shells by the Sea shore
“… the sunlight came through the Leaves in Light patches on the grass.” (Hemingway 122)
Alliteration
2 or more words in close proximity with the same initial sound to produce a particular effect.
Alliteration
An indirect reference to something with which the reader is expected to be familiar. Usually biblical, historical, mythological, or literary references.
Allusion
Reference to God(s)
Or
Biblical reference in The Sun Also Rises
Allusion
“Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (Hemingway 251)
End of Inception
End of Lord of the Flies
Ambiguity
An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way.
Ambiguity
Assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence.
Anachronism
Rose’s clothes in Doctor Who (in 1879 Scotland).
Anachronism
Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.
Anaphora
“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” - Winston Churchill
Anaphora
A term used to describe both the individual and the collective anxiety-neurosis of the period following WWII.
Angst
Post WWII only!
Suffering, anxiety
Camus
Angst
A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses.
Antithesis
“To be or not to be.”
“Goodbye because I love you.”
Antithesis
An address to the dead as if living; to the inanimate as if animate; to the absent as if present; to the unborn as if alive.
Apostrophe
“O Julius Caesar thou are mighty yet; thy spirit walks abroad.”
“Roll on, though deep and dark blue ocean, roll.”
Apostrophe
A term formed by repeated experiences in the lives of our ancestors, expressed in myths, religion, fantasies, and literature; recurring in literature and evoke profound emotional responses in the reader.
Archetype
Evil stepmother
MPDG (manic pixie dream girl) - bubbly, shallow, Peter pan syndrome, and help men without pursuing own happiness.
christ figure,
evil twin,
Archetype
A dramatic convention by which an action directly addresses the audience but it is not supposed to be heard by the other actors on the stage.
Aside
Macbeth to Banquo’s murderersat the banquet.
Romeo-“he jests at scars that never felt the wound”
Aside
Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity.
Assonance
“The voice of the sea speaks to the soul.” (Chopin 56)
Assonance
A series of words separated by commas (with no conjunction). The parts of a sentence are emphasized equally; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence.
Asyndeton
“I came, I saw, I conquered”
“As they went in under the light, I saw white hands, wavy hair, white faces, grimacing, gesturing, talking. With them was Brett” (Hemingway 28).
Asyndeton
Construction in which both halves of the sentence are about the same length and importance.
Balance
I waited patiently for the taxi; he drove nonchalantly by me.
Balance
Process by which an unhealthy emotional state produced by an imbalance of feelings is corrected and emotional health is restored.
*Peacefulness
Catharsis
“Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (Hemingway)
Catharsis
The method an author uses to develop characters in a work. In direct characterization, the author straightforwardly states the character’s traits. With indirect characterization, those traits are implied through what the character says, does, how the character dresses, interacts with other characters, etc.
Characterization
“He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton.” (Hemingway)
Characterization
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Chiasmus
Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern X Y Y X.
Chiasmus
Deals with the relations and intrigues of gentlemen and ladies living in a polished and sophisticated society; it evokes laughter mainly at the violations of social conventions and decorum and relies on the wit and humor of the dialogue for its effect.
Comedy of Manners
“Dinner for Schmucks”
“Pride and Prejudice”
Comedy of Manners
Literary device that cuts tension in the middle of tragedy. Not just to be funny.
Comic Relief
Drunken Porter in Macbeth
Comic Relief
The drunken porter speech from Macbeth when he compares things such as Drinking and peeing, drinking and sleeping, and drinking and nose painting.
Conceit
Unusual or surprising comparison between two very different things. (a special kind of metaphor or complicated analogy.)
Conceit
Language that describes specific, observable things, people or places, rather than ideas or qualities.
Concrete Language
“After a while we came out of the mountains, and there were trees along both sides of the road, and a stream and ripe fields of grain, and the road went on, very white and straight ahead, and then lifted to a little rise, and off on the left was a hill with an old castle, with buildings close around it and a field Of grain going right up to the walls and shifting in the wind.” (Hemingway)
Concrete Language
“What’s the matter? You sick?”
“Yes.”
Connotation
- Rather than the dictionary definition, the associations associated with a word
- Implied meaning
Connotation
Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.
Consonance
“Isn’T iT preTTy To think so?” (Hemingway)
Consonance
“Lechery, sir, it provokes and unprovokes; it provokes the desire but takes away the performance: therefore, much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him, and it mars him; it sets him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him, and disheartens him; makes him stand to and not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him in a sleep, and giving him the lie, leaves him.” (Shakespeare)
Cumulative
Sentence which begins with the main idea and then expands on that idea with a series of details or other particulars.
Cumulative
Word choice, particularly as an element of style.
Diction
Hemingway’s simple word choice: light, dark, hot, nice, pleasant
Diction
Teaches a specific lesson; the lesson is explicitly stated
Didactic
“Slow and steady wins the race”
“Count no mortal happy till he had passed the final limit of his life secure from pain” (Sophocles)
Didactic
Oedipus before he knows the truth
TSAR - Robert is called the steer when we know Jake is really the steer
Dramatic Irony
The reader is aware of something that the characters do not know
Dramatic Irony
A poem lamenting the death of a particular person
Elegy
“O Captain my captain…”
“The Death of the Toad”
Elegy
Sentence structure which leaves out something in the second half
Elliptical
“If a plant cannot live according to nature, it dies, and so does man.” (Thoreau)
Elliptical
Existential boredom, Post WWII, pointless life
Ennui
Weariness of existence
Ennui
A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work that suggests a theme.
Epigraph
“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever… The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose…”– Ecclesiastes
Epigraph
A major character’s moment of realization or awareness
Epiphany
“How easy it is! To think of all the time I have lost splashing about like a baby!” (Chopin)
Epiphany
A single term used to modify the name of a person or thing
Epithet
“The Great” in Catherine the Great
“O Captain my captain”
Epithet
Words used for sensitive topics
Euphemism
Bits, tushie, rump, behind, pass away, tight
Euphemism
Act of interpreting the meaning of a text
Explication
Edna’s first swim is symbolic of her realization that she has the power to move her life according to her desires, and she wishes to push the boundaries of what society finds acceptable.
Explication
Background information, often early on in a narrative, sets up information about characters/conflicts
Exposition
“‘You are burnt beyond recognition,’ he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage. She held up her hands, strong, shapely hands, and surveyed them critically, drawing up her fawn sleeves above the wrists. Looking at them reminded her of her rings, which she had given to her husband before leaving for the beach.” (Chopin)
Exposition
A type of comedy in which one-dimensional characters are put into ludicrous situations; ordinary standards of probability and motivation are freely violated in order to evoke laughter.
Farce
Monty Python and Don Quixote
Farce
A product of a writers imagination, usually made up of characters, plot, setting, point of view, and theme
Fiction
Harry Potter, Hunger Games, The Sun Also Rises, The Awakening
Fiction
Similes and Metaphors (other things too)
Mme. Resiz and Edna’s wings
Robert/Jake and a “steer”
Figurative Language
“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.” (Chopin)
Figurative Language
A word or words that are inaccurate literally, but describe by calling to mind sensations or responses that the thing described evokes. This may be in the form of metaphors or similes, both non-literal comparison.
Figurative Language
A form of expression in which words are used out of the usual sense in order to make the meaning more specific.-put his foot down-kick the bucket-“people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”
Figure of Speech
Point of View:
“When I got up to go I found I had taken off my shoes. I hunted for them and found them and carried them down-stairs. I found my room and went inside and undressed and got into bed.” (Hemingway 199)
First Person Point of View
A character constructed around a single idea or quality; immediately recognizable.
Flat Character
Bill Gordon - TSAR
Madame Ratignolle - The Awakening
Creon - Oedipus the King
Flat Character
A character whose traits are the opposite of another and who thus emphasized the strengths and weaknesses of the other character.
Foil
Adele Ratignolle to Edna Pontellier
Foil
a literary form or type; classification. e.g. tragedy, comedy, novel, essay, poetry.
Genre
Drama Fiction Science-Fiction/Speculative Fiction Tragedy Comedy Graphic Novel Farce
Genre
Overwhelming pride or insolence that results in the misfortune of the protagonist of a tragedy.
Hubris
“I, Oedipus, whom all men call the Great”
Hubris
Conscious exaggeration used to heighten effect. Not intended literally, often humorous.
Hyperbole
“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”
“He is older than dirt.”
“I could sleep for 100 years!”
Hyperbole
A word or group of words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the senses. This is always a concrete representation.
Image
“The Jabberwock with eyes of flame,Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,And burbled as it came!” (14-16)
Victor’s description of Edna’s dinner party to Mariequita:“The flowers were in tubs, he said. The champagne was quaffed from huge golden goblets.” (Chopin 173)
Image
The use of images, especially in a pattern of related images, often figurative, to create a strong unified sensory impression.
Imagery
FIGURATIVE – the ‘effect’
Victor, of Edna’s dinner party:“Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board…” (Chopin 173)
Imagery
Variation of the normal word order (subject first, then verb, then complement) which puts a modifier or the verb as the first in the sentence. The element that appears first is emphasized more than the subject.
Inversion
“Jabberwocky”
“Long time the manxome foe he sought”“So rested he by the Tumtum tree,” (10-11)
Inversion
A discrepancy between expectation and reality.
Irony
That Gregor is more concerned about making it to work than the fact that he is now a ‘monstrous vermin’That Edna yearns for independence, but allows herself to be taken in by Alcee Arobin.
Irony
Opposite of hyperbole; it intensifies an idea understatement by stating through the opposite.
Litotes
Saying “It wasn’t my best day” instead of “It was my worst day.”
“I’ll open up immediately, this instant. A mild indisposition – an attack of dizziness – has kept me from getting up.” (Kafka 398)
“There are periods of despondency and suffering which take possession of me.” (Chopin 171)
Litotes
X is Y. A comparison of two things, often unrelated. A figurative verbal equation results where both “parts” illuminate one another. May occur in a single sentence, as a controlling image of the entire work, as obvious, or be implied.
Metaphor
“Talent is a cistern; genius is a fountain.”Pilgrim at Sea by Par F. Lagerkvist
“But O beware the middle mind that purrs and never shows a tooth”
“Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board, while the other women were all of them youthful houris, possessed of incomparable charms.” (Chopin 173)
Metaphor
Designation of one thing with something closely associated with it. E. g. calling the head of a committee a CHAIR, a king the CROWN, etc.
Metonym
Thing associated = The whole White House = the President Press = newspaper/media/journalists “Mr. Pontellier finally lit a cigar and began to smoke… He fixed his gaze upon a white sunshade that was advancing at snail’s pace from the beach.” (Chopin 44) sunshade = woman Tongue = language drinking = consuming alcohol
Metonym
An atmosphere created by a writer’s word choice (diction) and the details selected. Syntax is also a determiner because sentence strength, length, and complexity affect pacing.
Mood
describe on the quiz through diction and syntax:“Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board, while the other women were all of them youthful houris, possessed of incomparable charms.” (Chopin 173)
Mood
The lesson drawn from a fictional or nonfictional story. A heavily didactic story.
Moral
“The Tortoise and the Hare”
Slow and steady wins the race.
Oedipus the King
“Count no mortal happy till he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain.” (Sophocles 671)
Moral
A frequently recurrent character, incident, or concept in literature.
Motif
It has a PURPOSE
Water in The Awakening
Drinking in The Sun Also Rises
Motif
An extended piece of prose fiction.
Novel
The Awakening
The Sun Also Rises
Novel
The use of a word whose pronunciation suggests its meaning.
Onomatopoeia
POW!
KNOCK!
THUMP!
SNICKER-SNACK!
Onomatopoeia
A rhetorical antithesis. Juxtaposing two contradictory terms, like “wise fool” or “deafening silence”
Oxymoron
jumbo shrimp
old news
alone together
“O heavy lightness! Serious vanity! Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!“ (Romeo and Juliet)
Oxymoron
A short, allegorical story from which a lesson may be drawn.
Parable
Some seeds thrown on rocky soil, so they don’t flourish… some thrown onto rich soil, so they grow (allegory for faith)
Parable
A seemingly contradictory statement or situation which is actually true. This rhetorical device is often used for emphasis or simply to attract attention.
Paradox
Gregor “closing his eyes” to avoid seeing his wriggling legs – no literal eyelids, but he blinds himself to the reality of his situation.
Paradox
Sentence construction which places in close proximity two or more equal grammatical constructions. May be as simple as listing two or three modifiers in a row to describe the same noun or verb; it may take the form of two or more of the same type of phrases (prepositional, participial, gerund, appositive) that modify the same noun or verb.
Parallelism
“When I got up to go I found I had taken off my shoes. I hunted for them and found them and carried them down-stairs.” (Hemingway 199)
Parallelism
Green Eggs and Hamlet
Parody
An exaggerated imitation of a usually more serious work for humorous purposes. The writer of a parody uses the quirks of style of the imitated piece in extreme or ridiculous ways.
Parody
Meant to evoke sorrow or pity
Pathos
Gregor’s death
Pathos
Moment where a hero’s fortunes reverse.
Peripety
Oedipus’ discovery of the truth and the curse.
Peripety
When non-human things (animals, objects, etc.) are given human qualities.
Personification
Gregor: “In spite of his predicament, he couldn’t suppress a smile at the thought.”
Personification
The perspective from which a fictional or nonfictional story is told.
Point of View
“When I got up to go I found I had taken off my shoes. I hunted for them and found them and carried them down-stairs. I found my room and went inside and undressed and got into bed.” (Hemingway 199)
Polysyndeton
Sentence which uses “and” or another conjunction, with no commas, to separate the items in a series, usually appearing in the form X and Y and Z, stressing equally each member of the series. It makes the sentence slower and the items more emphatic than in the asyndeton.
Polysyndeton
The main character in a work of fiction.
Protagonist
Jake in The Sun Also Rises
Gregor in The Metamorphosis
Protagonist
A Freudian slip is when you say one thing and mean a mother.
Two silk worms had a race; they ended up in a tie.
A backwards poet writes inverse.
Pun
A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings.
Pun
Point of View:
“One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.”
Third Person Limited Point of View
For emphasis or effect“’Gregor, Gregor,’ he called, “What’s going on?” And after a short pause he urged again, with a deeper voice: “Gregor! Gregor!” (395)
Repetition
Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity.
Repetition
Opposite of flat, usually protagonistEdna, Gregor, Creon
Round Character
A character drawn with sufficient complexity to be able to surprise the reader without losing credibility.
Round Character
Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”The Daily ShowDoonesbury
Satire
A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. Satire doesn’t simply abuse (as with invective) or get personal (as with sarcasm). Satire usually targets groups or large concepts rather than individuals; its purpose is customarily to inspire change.
Satire
Creon’s treatment of TeiresiasHamlet ALL OVER THE PLACE
Sarcasm
A type of verbal irony in which, under the guise of praise, a caustic and bitter expression of strong and personal disapproval is given. Sarcasm is personal, jeering, and intended to hurt.
Sarcasm
late-19th C. New Orleansancient Thebes, outside of the palaceParis, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Madridan apartment in Prague
Setting
Locale and period in which the action takes place.
Setting
“damnation rises behind each child, Like a wave cresting out of the black northeast,When the long darkness under sea roars upAnd bursts drumming death upon the wind whipped sand.” (Sophocles )“She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known.” (Chopin )
Simile
A figurative comparison of two things, often dissimilar, using the connecting words: “like,” “as,” or “than.”
Simile
“No man of woman born can harm Macbeth!” and then we learn that Macduff was born via caesarian section.Gregor’s father is lazy, yet by the end of the novella, takes pride in his work and appearance.
Situational Irony
Applies to works which contain elaborate expressions of the ironic spirit. Also, irony applies to both Hamlet’s situation and to his famous soliloquy, “To be or nor to be.”
Situational Irony
“Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpableAs this which now I draw.” (Shakespeare II.i.33-41)
Soliloquy
When a character in a play speaks his thoughts aloud —usually by him or herself.
Soliloquy
Teiresias – the blind seer, prophet, fortune tellerIsmene – the weak-willed womanAlcee Arobin – the womanizer
Stock Character
Archetypal characters that recur repeatedly in various literary genres.
Stock Character
James Joyce’s UlyssesJ.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the RyeT.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club
Stream of Consciousness
Technique of writing that undertakes to reproduce the raw flow of consciousness, with the perceptions, thoughts, judgments, feelings, associations, and memories presented just as they occur without being tidied into grammatical sentences or given logical and narrative order.
Stream of Consciousness
Terse, simple sentences, and simple, repetitive diction that makes use of opposing terms.
Style
The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. In combination they create a work’s manner of expression. Conscious and unconscious and may be altered to suit specific occasions. Often habitual and evolves over time.
Style
A thing, event, or person that represents or stands for some idea or event. Symbols also simultaneously retain their own literal meanings. A figure of speech in which a concrete object is used to stand for an abstract idea —e.g. the cross for Christianity.
Symbol
Conch in Lord of the FliesWater/Sea in The AwakeningOzymandias’ expression
Symbol
Part of something is used to stand for the whole —e.g. “threads” for clothes; “wheels” for cars
Synecdoche
“the hand that mocked, the heart that fed”“all hands on deck!”Glasses, when referring to eyeglasses.
Synecdoche
In grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship.
Syntax
Can involve inversion“the sculptor well those passions read”Particular patterns used again and again “I love thee…”
Syntax
A central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction, revealed and developed in the course of a story or explored through argument.
Theme
The MESSAGE, not just the subject.“Ozymandias” – Power is temporary, but art/words lasts forever.Metamorphosis – Our work is pointless, or those who should be grateful for us seldom are.Etc.
Theme
A writer’s attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization of the sentence and global levels.
Tone
Hemingway’s feeling of isolation after WWISophocles’ feelings about moral responsibility to the godsChopin’s issues with women’s traditional roles
Tone
Representations of serious actions which turn out disastrously.
Tragedy
Just about everything we read…The AwakeningThe MetamorphosisAntigoneHamlet
Tragedy
Tragic error in judgment; a mistaken act which changes the fortune of the tragic hero from happiness to misery; also known as hamartia.
Tragic Flaw
Hubris, usually.OedipusCreon
Tragic Flaw
A work of fiction or nonfiction is said to be unified if all the parts are related to one central idea or organizing principle. Thus, unity is dependent upon coherence.
Unity
The Awakening freedom/independence“How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways” repetition, focus on love as a religious experience creates strong unity
Unity
When the reader is aware of a discrepancy between the real meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the writer’s words.
Verbal Irony
“as pleasant and relaxed as a coiled rattlesnake” (Kurt Vonnegut from Breakfast of Champions)“O Tell it! Tell everyone! Think how they’ll hate you when it all comes out if they learn that you knew about it all the time!” Antigone to Ismene (Sophocles 1265)
Verbal Irony
A writer often adopts a fictional voice to tell a story. Voice is usually determined by a combination of subject matter and audience.
Voice
The writer uses one word to govern several successive words are clauses —e.g. She discovered New York and her world.
Zeugma
“You held your breath and the door for me” – Alanis Morissette“She was a thief, you got to believe: she stole my heart and my cat.” - So I Married an Axe Murderer “My teeth and ambitions are bared; be prepared!” - Scar
Zeugma
