English Final Reading Comp. Flashcards
verbal irony:
occurs when a speaker says one thing but means another, often the opposite of what is said. It is a form of expression in which the intended meaning of the words is different from their literal meaning.
denotation:
the precise, literal meaning of a word, without emotional associations or overtone
soliloquy:
A dramatic convention in which a character in a play, alone on stage, speaks his or her thoughts aloud. -
- the art of making someone or something look ridiculous, raising laughter in order to embarrass, humble, or discredit its targets.
cacophony:
Harsh, clashing, or dissonant sounds, often produced by combinations of words that require a clipped, explosive delivery, or words that contain a number of plosive consonants such as b, d, g, k, p, and t; the opposite of EUPHON
ambiguity:
Double or even multiple meaning
antagonist:
the character or force that opposes the protagonist. (It can be a character, an animal, a force, or a weakness of the character
- bad guy
euphony:
A succession of sweetly melodious sounds; the opposite of CACOPHONY. The term is applied to smoothly flowing POETRY or PROS
foil:
a character who provides a striking contrast to another character
Situational Irony:
-occurs when there is an incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens
- it often involves a contrast between expectations and reality.
Juxtaposition:
refers to the placement of two or more characters, ideas, places, or themes side by side to develop comparisons and contrasts.
- highlights differences
parody:
an imitation of a serious work of literature for criticism humorous effect or flattering tribute
- a humorous or mocking imitation of something, using the same form as the original
parallelism:
- using similar words, clauses, phrases, sentence structure, or other grammatical elements to emphasize similar ideas in a sentence
- the use of a similar grammatical form gives items equal weight, as in Lincoln’s line “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Attention to parallelism generally makes both spoken and written expression more concise, clear and powerful
motif:
A unifying element in an artistic work, especially any recurrent image, symbol, theme, character type, subject or narrative detail
- a repeated pattern—an image, sound, word, or symbol that comes back again and again within a particular story
understatement:
a figure of speech where a writer or speaker intentionally makes a situation seem less important or serious than it actually is.
allusion:
a reference to something in literature, history, mythology, religious texts, etc., considered common knowledge
Allegory:
is a narrative in which the characters often stand for abstract concepts. An allegory generally teaches a lesson by means of an interesting story.
-a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
consonance:
the close repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after differing vowel sounds
oxymoron:
a figure of speech in which two contradictory words or phrases are combined in a single expression, giving the effect of a condensed paradox: “wise fool,” “cruel kindness.
protagonist:
the central character in a story; the one upon whom the actions center. The protagonist faces a problem and must undergo some conflict to solve
- generally good guy
Dramatic Irony:
When the audience or reader knows more about a situation, event, or character than the characters within the story do.
- creates a layer of meaning
- leads to tension, humour, or tragedy
denouement:
the final unraveling or outcome of the plot in drama or fiction during which the complications and conflicts of the plot are resolve
conceit:
an elaborate figure of speech comparing two very dissimilar thing
satire:
a literary technique in which foolish ideas or customs are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society.
- the art of making someone or something look ridiculous, raising laughter in order to embarrass, humble, or discredit its targets.
paradox:
a statement or situation containing obvious contradictions, but is nevertheless true
- an idea or statement that seems wrong or impossible, but actually makes sense once given deeper thought and analysis.
