English Literature Terms Flashcards
What is allegory?
A narrative where characters and events represent broader concepts or moral qualities.
What is alliteration?
The repetition of initial consonant sounds in closely placed words.
What is allusion?
An indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work.
What is anachronism?
A detail or event placed outside its correct historical time.
What is anaphora?
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
What is antagonist?
A character or force that opposes the protagonist.
What is apostrophe?
A direct address to an absent person, abstract idea, or inanimate object.
What is assonance?
The repetition of vowel sounds in closely placed words.
What is ballad?
A narrative poem, often set to music, that tells a story.
What is blank verse?
Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter.
What is cacophony?
The use of harsh and discordant sounds in language.
What is catharsis?
The emotional release experienced by the audience of a tragedy.
What is characterization?
The process of creating and developing characters in a story.
What is climax?
The point of highest tension or conflict in a story.
What is conflict?
The struggle between opposing forces in a story, such as man vs. man or man vs. nature.
What is connotation?
The implied or associated meaning of a word beyond its literal definition.
What is couplet?
Two successive lines of poetry that rhyme and have the same meter.
What is denotation?
The literal or dictionary definition of a word.
What is denouement?
The final resolution or conclusion of a story’s plot.
What is diction?
The choice of words and style of expression in a literary work.
What is enjambment?
The continuation of a sentence or phrase across a line break in poetry.
What is epiphany?
A sudden realization or insight by a character.
What is epitaph?
A brief inscription on a tombstone or commemorative poem for someone deceased.
What is euphemism?
A polite or mild expression used to avoid harsh or unpleasant realities.
What is euphony?
The use of pleasant, harmonious sounds in language.
What is figurative language?
Language that uses figures of speech, such as metaphors and similes.
What is flashback?
A scene set in a time earlier than the main story.
What is foil?
A character who contrasts with another character, often the protagonist.
What is foreshadowing?
Hints or clues about what will happen later in a story.
What is free verse?
Poetry without a regular meter or rhyme scheme.
What is genre?
A category of literature, such as fiction, poetry, or drama.
What is hyperbole?
Exaggeration for emphasis or dramatic effect.
What is imagery?
Descriptive language that appeals to the senses.
What is irony?
A contrast between expectations and reality.
What is juxtaposition?
Placing two elements side by side to highlight their differences.
What is metaphor?
A comparison between two unrelated things without using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
What is metonymy?
A figure of speech where one term is substituted with another closely associated term.
What is mood?
The emotional atmosphere or feeling of a literary work.
What is motif?
A recurring element or theme in a literary work.
What is onomatopoeia?
Words that imitate natural sounds, like ‘buzz’ or ‘whisper’.
What is oxymoron?
A figure of speech combining contradictory terms, like ‘jumbo shrimp’.
What is paradox?
A statement that seems contradictory but reveals a deeper truth.
What is personification?
Attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
What is plot?
The sequence of events in a story.
What is point of view?
The perspective from which a story is told (e.g., first person, third person).
What is protagonist?
The main character or hero of a story.
What is quatrain?
A stanza of four lines, often with a specific rhyme scheme.
What is satire?
The use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize or mock.
What is setting?
The time and place in which a story occurs.
What is simile?
A comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
What is soliloquy?
A speech in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud, often alone on stage.
What is sonnet?
A 14-line poem, typically written in iambic pentameter.
What is symbolism?
The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.
What is synecdoche?
A figure of speech where a part represents the whole, or vice versa.
What is theme?
The central idea or message of a literary work.
What is tone?
The author’s attitude toward the subject or audience.
What is tragedy?
A serious play with a sad or disastrous ending.
What is understatement?
A figure of speech that makes something seem less important than it is.
What is verse?
A single line of poetry or a specific type of metrical writing.
What is verisimilitude?
The appearance of being true or real in a literary work.
What is vignette?
A short, descriptive scene or story.
What is voice?
The unique style and perspective of a writer or character.
What is archetype?
A typical example of a person, theme, or symbol in literature.
What is asyndeton?
The omission of conjunctions between parts of a sentence.
What is Bildungsroman?
A coming-of-age story focusing on a character’s growth.
What is caesura?
A pause in the middle of a line of poetry.
What is colloquialism?
Informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing.
What is conceit?
An extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage.
What is deus ex machina?
A plot device where a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly resolved.
What is dialect?
A regional or social variety of a language with distinct pronunciation or vocabulary.
What is didactic literature?
Literature intended to instruct or educate.
What is elegy?
A poem of serious reflection, often lamenting the dead.
What is epistolary novel?
A novel written as a series of documents, like letters or diary entries.
What is hubris?
Excessive pride or self-confidence leading to a character’s downfall.
What is inversion?
The reversal of normal word order in a sentence.
What is litotes?
A figure of speech using understatement, often by negating the opposite.
What is magical realism?
A literary style blending magical elements with realistic settings.
What is nemesis?
A character or force that serves as a strong opponent or rival.
What is omniscient narrator?
A narrator who knows all the thoughts and feelings of all characters.
What is parody?
A humorous imitation of a serious work or genre.
What is pathetic fallacy?
Attributing human emotions to nature or inanimate objects.
What is prose?
Ordinary written or spoken language, not in verse form.
What is red herring?
A misleading clue meant to distract from the real issue.
What is refrain?
A repeated line or phrase in poetry or song.
What is stream of consciousness?
A literary technique portraying a character’s thoughts in a continuous flow.
What is utopia?
An imagined place of ideal perfection.
What is wit?
The use of clever and humorous expression in writing or speech.
