English Final Flashcards
Iambic Pentameter
A line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable. For example: Two households, both alike in dignity
Foreshadowing
When the author implies that something will happen later on in the book by embedding hints in the text.
Monologue
A speech given by an actor on stage, usually when alone
Soliloquy
A speech given by an actor alone on stage–reveals character’s inner thoughts/feelings
Dialogue
A series of sentences spoken between people, a conversation
Rising action
When events build up to a climax, usually act two in plays
Climax
The turning point in a piece of work, usually act three of a play
Falling action
When the action starts to slow and lead to the end of the book, act four in plays
Resolution
The ending of a story where the issues get cleared up, act five of a play
Prose
Written or spoken language in ordinary form, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse
Couplet
Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit
Pun
A play on words
Blank verse
A poem with no rhyme but does have iambic pentameter.
Free verse
Poetry that does not rhyme or have regular meter
Irony
Saying one thing but meaning another, doing something but meaning the opposite, contrast between appearance and actuality
Verbal Irony
When a person says one thing but means the opposite
Dramatic Irony
When the audience knows something that the characters do not
Situational Irony
A situation in which the outcome is different than what is expected
Sonnet
“Little song” a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line
Personification
When a non-human object is given human qualities
Allusion
A brief reference to an event or person from history, literature, or popular culture, which is meant to activate background knowledge
Metaphor
A comparison made without using “like” or “as”
Simile
A comparison made using “like” or “as”
Speaker
The narrative voice of the poem (not necessarily the poet)
