Asselta - Terms - Midterm Flashcards
A reference to history, the Bible, art, or literature.
Allusion
Noun or pronoun, which explains another noun or pronoun.
Appositive
A tale in verse or pros, in which the characters represent an abstract idea or moral quality.
Allegory
Repetition of an initial consonant of a word in a line.
Alliteration
A comparison between two objects for the purpose of showing similarity.
Analogy
A poetic foot of two unstressed, followed by one stressed syllable.
Anapest
The person who opposes the protagonist. Always starts the conflict.
Antagonist
The balance of two contrasting thoughts, words, or phrases.
Antithesis
A poetic device where the author addresses a place or thing as it was present in the room.
Apostrophe
Speech in plays where the comment is intended for the ears of the audience only, not the others on stage. One of the four Shakespearian Conventions.
Aside
A poem that tells a story, usually in a four line stanza, with the 2nd and 4th line rhyming.
Ballad
A poem that tells a story, usually in a four line stanza, with the 2nd and 4th line rhyming. The author is unknown.
Folk Ballad
A poem that tells a story, usually in a four line stanza, with the 2nd and 4th line rhyming. The author is known.
Literary Ballad
Poetic lines of emphasized iambic pentameter .
Blank Verse
A break or pause in a line of poetry.
Cesura
A section or division of a long poem.
Canto
The decisive point in a work. The greatest point of intensity that determines the outcome. Usually near the end of a work.
Climax
Dealing with social intrigues of a polished and sophisticated society. The humor stems from the characters’ violation of social conventions and decorum, and from the witty dialogue. Also known as Drawing Room Comedy or British Humor.
Comedy of Manners
Center of all literature. Clash of viewpoints, Struggle around which the plot revolves. Problem of the protagonist.
Conflict
Repetition of consonant sounds in a word.
Consonance
Poetic foot of one stressed, followed by two unstressed.
Dactyl
Formal poem concerning death of an individual.
Elegy
Sermon at a funeral.
Eulogy
Consisting of three quatrains and a couplet.
- All sonnets are 14 lines.
- Quatrains state problem.
- Couplet solves problem.
Elizabethan Sonnet
A brief, witty pointed covenant.
Epigram
A short poem and memory of someone who has died, written on a tombstone.
Epitaph
A piece of non-fiction pros that express a personal POV:
- Formal - Dignified and impersonal in tone. Seeks to instruct or persuade.
- Informal - Conversational and relaxed. Can deal with any topic.
Essay
Part of a story that helps reader understand the background of a situation.
Exposition
Resolution after climax; denouncement.
Falling Action
Language that departs from the strictly literal. Uses figures of speech.
Figurative Language
Writer can say one things and mean something else.
Figure of Speech
Two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter.
Heroic Couplet
A verse line consisting of six lines.
Hexameter
Exaggeration or overstatement. Used for serious or comedic effect.
Hyperbole
Verse line with five iambs.
- Iambic Pentameter is most common verse in English literature.
- Iamb - Unstressed followed by a stressed consonant.
Iambic Pentameter
Unrhymed line in one stanza simplifies the rhyme in the following stanza.
Interlocking Rhyme
A rhyme that occurs within a line of poetry.
Internal Rhyme
Attitude or way of writing that depends on a discrepancy between what is apparent and what is real.
Irony
Say one thing and mean something else.
Verbal Irony
The audience knows something that the characters do not.
Dramatic Irony
Discrepancy between what happens and what is expected to happen.
Situation Irony
Repetition of vowel sounds in a line of poetry.
Assonance
A story where the hero overcomes his obstacles.
Comedy
Octave and Sestet.
- Raises question and answers it.
Italian Sonnet
When things are desired metaphorically rather than direct.
Kenning
Theatrical entertainment popular among the English Aristocracy in the late 16th and early 17th century; songs, dances, costumes, stage effects, lyric, poetry, play within a play.
Mosque
Two unlike words compared with no word of comparison.
Metaphor
Metaphor that compares to startlingly different things.
Metaphysical Conceit
Regular pattern of rhythm in poetry.
Meter
Work in which something trivial is viewed humorously be approaching in the grand heroic style of the epic.
Mock Epic
First eight lines of an Italian Sonnet.
Octave
Serious, dignified, lyric poem for a special occasion in honor of a person/idea.
Ode
Sound that suggests meaning.
Onomatopoeia
Figure of speech that depends on a paradox between two startling different things.
Oxymoron
Repetition of phrases similar in structure or meaning.
Parallelism
Something non-human is given human qualities.
Personification
Hero (central character) in story who faces the conflict.
Protagonist
Sacred song or lyric.
Psalm
Poetic stanza of four lines.
Quatrain
Action that builds to climax.
Rising Action
Writing that holds human weakness up to ridicule, and seeks to persuade through laughter.
Satire
Two unlike things compared with “like” or “as.”
Simile
Lengthy speech in which a speaker ism alone and reveals his innermost thoughts/feelings.
Soliloquy
Variable poetic meter, one stressed followed by any number of unstressed.
Sprung Rhythm
Imitation of a characters thoughts.
Stream of Consciousness
Authors way of writing
- Word Choice
- Arrangement
- Relationship of Sentences
Style
Metrical line of three feet.
Trimiter
Metrical line of four feet.
Tetrameter
Word used to stand for an idea.
T Symbol
Literary movement when poets worked through symbols.
Symbolsim
Verse form consisting of three line stanzas in which the middle line of each stanza rhymes with the first and third line in the other two stanzas.
Terza Rima
A poetic foot stressed followed by unstressed.
Trochee
Intricately patterned poem with three line stanzas and the final stanza has four lines. First and third lines in the first stanza are used as refrains in succeeding stanzas and form last two lines of poem.
Villanelle
