Definitions

Question 1

Literal meaning

Answer 1

Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory.

Question 2

Figurative meaning

Answer 2

Departing from a literal use of words; metaphorical. Ie) Similes, metaphors, idioms

Question 3

Denotation

Answer 3

The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Ex) She was blue = actually colour blue, not sad.

Question 4

Connotation

Answer 4

A feeling or idea a word has. Opposite of Denotation.
Ex) She was blue = sad, not the colour.

Question 5

Meter

Answer 5

The basic rhythmic structure of a line within a work of poetry.

Question 6

Rhyme

Answer 6

Correspondence of sound between words or the ending of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.

Question 7

Alliteration

Answer 7

Repetition in 2+ nearby words’ initial consonant sounds.
Ex) Peter piper picked a pickle…

Question 8

Anecdotes

Answer 8

A short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

Question 9

Atmosphere

Answer 9

The overall mood of a story or poem.

Question 10

Characterization

Answer 10

Description of the distinctive nature or features of someone or something.

Question 11

Compare

Answer 11

to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences.

Question 12

Conflict

Answer 12

In literature, a conflict is a literary device characterized by a struggle between two opposing forces. Conflict provides crucial tension in any story and is used to drive the narrative forward.

Question 13

Context

Answer 13

Literary context is background information or circumstances you provide to inform why something is taking place.

Question 14

Contrast

Answer 14

In literature, an author uses contrast when they describe the difference(s) between two or more entities.

Question 15

Dash

Answer 15

The dash is used for amplifying or explaining, for setting off information within a sentence, kind of like parentheses or commas can do: “My friends—I mean, my former friends—ganged up on me.”

Question 16

Dialect

Answer 16

In literature, “dialect” means a form of writing that shows the accent and way people talk in a particular region.

Question 17

Dialogue

Answer 17

conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie.

Question 18

Ellipses

Answer 18

is a type of punctuation that represents a pause or that something has been intentionally left out.
“…”

Question 19

Excerpt

Answer 19

a short extract from a film, broadcast, or piece of music or writing.

Question 20

Foreshadowing

Answer 20

be a warning or indication of (a future event).

Question 21

Form

Answer 21

Form is a term that means the style in which a text is written. Some examples of forms include scripts, novels and the various different types of poetry.

Question 22

Hyperbole

Answer 22

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
Ex) It’s so hot, I could fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Question 23

Imagery

Answer 23

Visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work.
Ex) The sky was so blue, and the flowers so fragrant.

Question 24

Irony

Answer 24

whenever a person says something or does something that departs from what they (or we) expect them to say or do.

Question 25

Main idea/theme

Answer 25

The theme in a story is its underlying message, or ‘big idea. ‘ In other words, what critical belief about life is the author trying to convey in the writing of a novel, play, short story or poem?

Question 26

Metaphor

Answer 26

Comparison between 2 things NOT using like or as.
Ex) Ali is a walking dictionary.

Question 27

Mood

Answer 27

While tone signifies an author’s point of view, the mood of a piece of writing is the atmosphere of a piece and the overall feeling it conveys to the reader.

Question 28

Narration

Answer 28

Narration is the act of telling a story, usually in some kind of chronological order. Making up a scary ghost story and relating it around a camp fire is an act of narration.

Question 29

Onomatopoeia

Answer 29

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.
Ex) Boom of fireworks, tick of clock.

Question 30

Parallel

Answer 30

Parallelism is the repetition of grammatical elements in a piece of writing to create a harmonious effect. Sometimes, it involves repeating the exact same words, such as in the common phrases “easy come, easy go” and “veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”).

Question 31

Personification

Answer 31

The attribution of a personal nature/man characteristic to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
Ex) The sun smiled down on us.

Question 32

Phrase

Answer 32

A phrase is a group of words that works together in a sentence but does not contain a subject or a verb. Often phrases are used for descriptions of people, things, or events. Examples: Filled with joy, the girl jumped up and down. The man with the red jacket is my father.

Question 33

Plot

Answer 33

plot, in fiction, the structure of interrelated actions, consciously selected and arranged by the author.

Question 34

Point of View

Answer 34

Point of view is the “eye” or narrative voice through which you tell a story. When you write a story, you must decide who is telling the story.
Ie) First person, second person, third person.

Question 35

Repetition

Answer 35

Repetition refers to the use of the same word or phrase multiple times and is a fundamental poetic technique.
Ex)
I love bugs.
Small bugs.
Big bugs.
All bugs!

Question 36

Setting

Answer 36

Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place.

Question 37

Simile

Answer 37

Comparing two things using like or as.

Question 38

Speaker

Answer 38

The speaker of a poem is the voice of the poem, similar to a narrator in fiction.

Question 39

Stanza

Answer 39

A paragraph in poetry.

Question 40

Style

Answer 40

Style in literature is the literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words — the author’s word choice, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement all work together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text.

Question 41

Suspense

Answer 41

In literature, suspense is an uneasy feeling that a reader gets when they don’t know what is going to happen next.

Question 42

Symbolism

Answer 42

Using ideas/qualities by giving symbolic meaning apart from literal meaning.
Ex) Black = death, evil

Question 43

Tone

Answer 43

In literature, tone is, simply put, the attitude that a character or narrator or author takes towards a given subject.
Ex) Formal.
Informal.
Optimistic.
Pessimistic.
Joyful.
Sad.
Sincere.
Hypocritical.

Question 44

Transition

Answer 44

Transitions are words or phrases that tell readers that a new thought, paragraph, or section is coming.
Ex) first, second, finally, for example, however, although.

Question 45

Apostrophe

Answer 45

When poets direct speech to an abstract concept or a person who is not physically present.
Ex) Mumbling angrily about brother, but he’s not there.

Question 46

Litotes

Answer 46

Ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary. Uses negative words to express positive.
Ex) You won’t be sorry, meaning you’ll be glad.

Question 47

Metonymy

Answer 47

The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant.
Ex) Give me a hand

Question 48

Synecdoche

Answer 48

A figure of speech in which a part is made to present the whole or vice versa.
Ex) Check out my new wheels, or Cleveland (Cleveland’s baseball team) won by six runs.

Question 49

Oxymoron

Answer 49

A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true.
Ex) Pretty ugly or act naturally

Question 50

Paradox

Answer 50

A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true. Less like oxymoron where the two opposite words are right beside each other.
Ex) Everything I say is a lie.
Less is more.

Question 51

Pun

Answer 51

A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings. Also known as a play on words.
Ex) A boiled egg for lunc is hard to beat.
This vacuum sucks.

Question 52

Assonance

Answer 52

The repetition of the sound of a vowel or dipthong in non rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible.
Ex) He eats the sweet treats.

Question 53

Cacophony

Answer 53

A harsh discordant mixture of sounds.
Ex) Busy city, many harsh sounds.

Question 54

Allusion

Answer 54

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
Ex) She felt like she had the golden ticket.
(Reference to Charlie & the Chocolate Factory)