English Lit Terms

Question 1

a style in writing that is complex, discusses intangible qualities like good and evil, and seldom uses examples to support its points

Answer 1

Abstract

Question 2

means dry and theoretical writing

Answer 2

Academic

Question 3

the stress portion of the word in poetry

Answer 3

Accent

Question 4

“appealing to the senses”;

Answer 4

Aesthetic

Question 5

a story in which each aspect has symbolic meaning outside of the tale itself

Answer 5

Allegory

Question 6

repetition of initial sounds

Answer 6

alliteration

Question 7

a reference to another work or famous figure. ie: reference to Greek or Roman mythology

Answer 7

Allusion

Question 8

poetic device where something is misplaced in time

Answer 8

anachronism

Question 9

a comparison, usually two symbolic parts

Answer 9

Analogy

Question 10

a short narrative

Answer 10

Anecdote

Question 11

the character that opposes the protagonist

Answer 11

Antagonist

Question 12

the word, phrase or clause that a pronoun refers to or replaces

Answer 12

Antecedent

Question 13

in literature when inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena are given human characteristics, behaviour or motivation

Answer 13

anthropomorphism

Question 14

when an action produces far smaller results than one had been led to expect

Answer 14

Anti-climax

Question 15

a short usually witty saying

Answer 15

aphorism

Question 16

an address to someone not present or to a personified object or idea

Answer 16

apostrophe

Question 17

the use of deliberately old-fashioned language

Answer 17

archaism

Question 18

standard or cliched character type

Answer 18

archetype

Question 19

the act or process of analysing evidence, drawing conclusions, and developing claims

Answer 19

argumentation

Question 20

a speech or comment usually made by an actor to the audience as though momentarily stepping outside of the action on stage

Answer 20

aside

Question 21

a trait or characteristic

Answer 21

aspect

Question 22

the emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene

Answer 22

atmosphere

Question 23

a speaker’s, author’s, or character’s nature toward an opinion of a subject

Answer 23

attitude

Question 24

a long narrative poem usually in very regular meter and rhyme

Answer 24

ballad

Question 25

when writing strains for grandeur it can’t support and tries to elicit tears from every little hiccup

Answer 25

bathos

Question 26

the use of disturbing themes in comedy

Answer 26

black humor

Question 27

pretentious, exaggeratedly learned language

Answer 27

bombast

Question 28

a broad parody that takes a style or form such as a tragic drama and exaggerates it into ridiculousness

Answer 28

burlesque

Question 29

the use of deliberate harsh and awkward sounds

Answer 29

cacophony

Question 30

the beat or rhythm of poetry in a general sense

Answer 30

cadence

Question 31

a section division in a long work of poetry

Answer 31

canto

Question 32

a portrait that exaggerates a facet of personality

Answer 32

caricature

Question 33

cleansing of emotion an audience member experiences having lived through the experiences presented on stage

Answer 33

catharsis

Question 34

descriptions, representations, or discussions of the features that make up an individual and represent who they are

Answer 34

character

Question 35

a group of people who stand outside of the main action on stage and comment on it

Answer 35

chorus

Question 36

a new word, usually invented on the spot

Answer 36

coinage/ neologism

Question 37

a word or phrase used in everyday conversational English that isn’t a part of accepted “schoolbook” English

Answer 37

colloquialism

Question 38

multiple layers of interpretation

Answer 38

complex

Question 39

startling or unusual metaphor developed over a few lines

Answer 39

extended metaphor/ conceit/ controlling image

Question 40

everything a word implies

Answer 40

connotation

Question 41

the repetition of consonant sounds within words

Answer 41

consonance

Question 42

a pair of lines that end in rhyme

Answer 42

couplet

Question 43

style according to social station, or occasion

Answer 43

decorum

Question 44

a song for the dead

Answer 44

dirge

Question 45

the grating of incompatible sounds

Answer 45

dissonance

Question 46

crude, simplistic verse often in sing song rhyme

Answer 46

doggerel

Question 47

when an audience knows something before the characters do

Answer 47

dramatic irony

Question 48

when a single speaker says something to a silent audience

Answer 48

dramatic monologue

Question 49

a seemingly ideal world where the actual implementation of perfection is unsuccessful and destructive

Answer 49

dystopia

Question 50

a type of poem that mediates on death and mortality in a serious, thoughtful, manner

Answer 50

elegy