English Lit Terms

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

a reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature. An example is from The Crucible when Elizabeth Proctor alludes to the Bible by saying the crowd parted for Abigail like the Sea of Israel.

Question 2

Allegory

Answer 2

a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor that has both literal and figurative meanings. An example is The Minister’s Black Veil because the veil on its own destroys Mr. Hooper’s relationships, but symbolically, his secret sin keeps him from them as well.

Question 3

Parallelism

Answer 3

Parallel construction that occurs when a writer or speaker expresses ideas of equal worth with the same grammatical form. An example of this is Patrick Henry’s Speech of the Virginia Convention when he shouts “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

Question 4

Gothic Fiction

Answer 4

The genre of literature that combines both horror and romance. An example of this is The Fall of the House of Usher because Poe tells an eerie tale of gothic horror, while he manages to echo the literary past, embody contemporary ideas and imagery, and anticipate the development of modernism

Question 5

Bias

Answer 5

An inclination of temperament or outlook, especially a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment. An example of bias is John Smith’s The General History of Virginia when John Smith uses bias to make himself seem more cool.

Question 6

Theme

Answer 6

A central message or insight revealed throughout a literary work. A generalization about life that is communicated through the work of literature. An example of a theme is The Minister’s Black Veil. The central theme is that people are often unwilling to face the truth of themselves.

Question 7

Emotional Appeal

Answer 7

When a writer appeals to an audience’s emotions to excite and involve them in the argument. Patrick Henry uses much emotional appeal in his speech at the Virginia Convention to sway many people to the side of the colonies. Olaudah Equiano uses emotional appeal to cause the reader to feel sympathetic to him and the slaves and outraged at the slave traders.

Question 8

Oral Tradition

Answer 8

The spoken relation and preservation, from one generation to the next, of a people’s cultural history and ancestry, often by a storyteller in narrative form. An example is the Navajo Origin Legend that was passed on for generations in the Navajo tribe.

Question 9

Simile

Answer 9

A figure of speech that expresses the resemblance of two different things usually introduced by “as” or “like” .

Question 10

Metaphor

Answer 10

A statement of identity between two things.

Question 12

Foot/Meter

Answer 12

The metrical unit of verse consisting of a number of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Question 12

Direct Characterization

Answer 12

The author choosing to directly describe his character.

Question 13

Indirect Characterization

Answer 13

The author using indirect methods to develop his or her character such as describing the character’s actions, manipulating the character’s dialogue, or describing the reactions of other characters to the character.

Question 14

Double

Answer 14

It refers to a character in the story that is actually a counterfeit or a copy of a real/ genuine character. An example of doubles are Roderick and Madeline Usher.

Question 15

Epistle

Answer 15

a composition in prose or poetry written in the form of a letter to a particular person or group.

Question 16

Scansion

Answer 16

The analysis of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem in order to establish its metre.

Question 17

Diction

Answer 17

Diction is the distinctive tone or tenor of an author’s writings. It is also understood as the selection of certain words or phrases that become peculiar to a writer.

Question 18

Imagery

Answer 18

The descriptive and figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader, mainly by creating details of sight, taste, touch, smell, and movement within the text.

Question 19

Motif

Answer 19

A recurrent image, word, phrase, theme, character, or situation.

Question 20

Dramatic Irony

Answer 20

irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in a literary work.

Question 21

Stanza

Answer 21

A group of lines considered as a unit and forming a division of a poem.

Question 22

Symbolism

Answer 22

The use of symbols in a literary work. A symbol can be anything that stands for or represents a meaning or understanding beyond its literal definition.