English Midterm 2015-2016 Flashcards
Soliloquy
an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
Aside
A remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play.
Tragedy
A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.
Theme
A sentence describing the subject of a book.
Symbol
An object that represents something bigger, or abstract.
Juxtapose/ Juxtaposition
The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.
Indirect Characterization
The personality of the character is revealed through their actions speech and appearance
Flat Character
A character that does not go through any change through the story; static character.
Consonance
A poetic device characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two or more times in a short succession: “All mammals named Sam are clammy.”
Assonance
A poetic device characterized by the vowel two or more times in a short succession: “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.”
Epithet
An adjective or phrase that is used to express the characteristic of a person or thing, such as Ivan the Terrible.
Satire
A technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule. It intends to improve humanity by criticizing its follies and foibles
Allegory
A story with two levels of meaning; the story has a surface, and a deeper meaning.
Foil
Meaning that a character serves to highlight one or more attributes of another character
Harmartia
Tragic hero’s tragic flaw.
