C-?

Question 1

diction

Answer 1

The choice of words in oral and written discourse

Question 2

elegy

Answer 2

A poem or prose selection that laments or meditates on the passing or death of something or someone of value

Question 3

end-stopped

Answer 3

A term that describes a line of poetry that ends with a natural pause often indicated by a mark of punctuation

Question 4

enjambment

Answer 4

In poetry, the use of the successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them

Question 5

epic

Answer 5

An extended narrative poem that tells of the adventures and exploits of a hero that in generally larger than life and is often considered a legendary figure.

Question 6

epigram

Answer 6

A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement

Question 7

euphony

Answer 7

Pleasing, harmonious sounds

Question 8

epithet

Answer 8

An adjective or phrase that expresses a striking quality of a person or thing

Question 9

euphemism

Answer 9

A mild or less negative usage for a harsh or blunt term

Question 10

exposition

Answer 10

The background and events that lead to the presentation of the main idea or purpose of a work of literature

Question 11

extended metaphor

Answer 11

A series of comparisons between two unlike objects

Question 12

fable

Answer 12

A short tale often featuring nonhuman characters that act as people whose actions enable the author to make observations or draw useful lessons about human behavior

Question 13

farce

Answer 13

A comedy that contains an extravagant and nonsensical disregard of seriousness, although it may have a serious, scornful purpose

Question 14

figurative language

Answer 14

In contrast to literal language, _____________ implies meanings. It includes metaphors, similes, and personification, among many others

Question 15

first-person narrative

Answer 15

A narrative told by a character involved in the story, using pronouns such as I and we

Question 16

flashback

Answer 16

A return to an earlier time in a story or play in order to clarify present action or circumstances. It might also be a character’s account of the past, a dream, or a sudden association with past events

Question 17

foil

Answer 17

A minor character whose personality or attitude contrasts with that of the main character. Juxtaposing one character against another intensifies the qualities of both, to advantage or sometimes to disadvantage

Question 18

foot

Answer 18

A unit of stressed and unstressed syllables used to determine the meter of a poetic line

Question 19

free verse

Answer 19

A kind of poetry without rhymed lines, rhythm, or fixed metrical feet

Question 20

genre

Answer 20

A term used to describe literary forms, such as a novel, play, and essay.

Question 21

gothic novel

Answer 21

A novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terrors pervades the action

Question 22

hubris

Answer 22

The excessive pride that often leads tragic heroes to their death

Question 23

hyperbole

Answer 23

Overstatement; gross exaggeration for rhetorical effect

Question 24

deuteragonist

Answer 24

the second most important character, after the protagonist

Question 25

dialect

Answer 25

A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation

Question 26

denotation

Answer 26

the dictionary definition of a word

Question 27

didactic

Answer 27

term used to describe literature that is designed to teach a lesson or instruct

Question 28

dynamic character

Answer 28

A character who grows, learns, or changes as a result of the story’s action

Question 29

end rhyme

Answer 29

Rhyme that occurs at the end of two or more lines of poetry

Question 30

epigraph

Answer 30

A brief quotation found at the beginning of a literary work, reflective of theme

Question 31

epistrophe

Answer 31

the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences

Question 32

feminine rhyme

Answer 32

A rhyme in which the stress is on the second from last syllable of the words

Question 33

grotesque

Answer 33

focuses on physically or mentally impaired characters

Question 34

half rhyme

Answer 34

imperfect, approximate rhyme

Question 35

hamartia

Answer 35

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

Question 36

homily

Answer 36

Serious talk involving moral or spiritual advice

Question 37

dactyl

Answer 37

A metrical foot consisting of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables (for example, merrily).

Question 38

dactyllic meter

Answer 38

dactylic meter - A meter in which a majority of the feet are dactyls. (Out of the cradle, endlessly rocking)

Question 39

deus ex machina

Answer 39

an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot

Question 40

epistolary novel

Answer 40

a novel written as a series of documents or letters

Question 41

flat character

Answer 41

A character (sense 1) whose character (sense 2) is summed up in one or two traits

Question 42

heroic couplet

Answer 42

two rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter and used widely in eighteenth-century verse

Question 43

iamb

Answer 43

A metrical foot consisting of one unaccented syllable followed by one accented syllable (for example, rehearse)

Question 44

iambic meter

Answer 44

A meter in which the majority of feet are iambs, the most common English meter

Question 45

idiom

Answer 45

expressions that do not translate exactly into what a speaker means; idioms are culturally relevant; when a person uses an idiomatic expression, he or she truly “thinks” in the language

Question 46

imagery

Answer 46

The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, it uses terms related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, and olfactory

Question 47

in media res

Answer 47

a piece of writing that begins in the middle of the action

Question 48

internal rhyme

Answer 48

A rhyme in which one or both of the rhyme-words occur within the line

Question 49

verbal irony

Answer 49

when the words literally state the opposite of the writer’s (or speaker’s) meaning

Question 50

situational irony

Answer 50

when events turn out the opposite of what was expected; when what the characters and readers think ought to happen is not what does happen.

Question 51

dramatic irony

Answer 51

when facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work

Question 52

italian sonnet

Answer 52

A sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba and of a sestet using any arrangement of two or three additional rhymes, such as cdcdcd or cdecde. (Also called a Petrarchan sonnet)

Question 53

juxtaposition

Answer 53

the positioning of ideas or images side by side for emphasis or to show contrast

Question 54

limited POV (3rd person)

Answer 54

the author tells the story, using the third person, but is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story and tells us only what that one character thinks, feels, sees, or hears

Question 55

litote

Answer 55

a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. It is the opposite of hyperbole. Examples: “Not a bad idea,” “Not many,” “It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain” (Salinger, Catcher in the Rye)

Question 56

local color

Answer 56

the descriptions of the setting, people, and dialect, etc., of a particular region

Question 57

loose sentence

Answer 57

A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. They create a conversational and informal tone

Question 58

lyric poem

Answer 58

a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker. (Different from a ballad as a ballad tells a story with feeling)