English Vocab Flashcards
Onomatopoeia
Words that resemble the actual sound.
Euphony
The quality of being pleasing to the ear.
Rhythm
The recurring pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem.
Speaker
The voice behind the poem-equivalent to the “narrator” in prose.
Oxymoron
Two words put together that contradict each other.
Protagonist
The main character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work.
Asyndeton
Commas used without a conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally: X,Y,Z
Allusion
A reference to something or someone well known-usually an event, place, or character from another book or from history.
Epiphany
A sudden and powerful life-changing realization (that changes the way one looks at the world).
Mood
The atmosphere created by the writer to elicit feelings from the reader or viewer.
Tone
Author’s attitude towards the subject of the work
Point of view
The narrator’s position in relation to a story being told.
Motif
A repeated pattern-an image, sound, word, or symbol that recurs and contributes to the theme.
Hyperbole
Excessive exaggeration or overstatement for the sake of emphasis.
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds/similar sounds in phrases and sentences.
Elision
To leave out a scene-so it must be imagined by the reader or viewer instead.
Soliloquy
The act of speaking one’s thoughts and feelings aloud when by oneself-especially by a character in a play.
Cacophony
Harsh or discordant sound, often the result of repetition and combination of consonants within a group of words.
Rhyme Scheme
The pattern of rhymes at the end of each line.
Flashback
Taking the reader back in time-usually to provide background information.
Foreshadowing
Hinting at future events in the narrative.
Setting
Time and place of a story
Imagery
The use of descriptive words and phrases that appeal to the five senses.
Metaphor
Compares two unlike things not using like or as. Tends to have a deeper abstract or more symbolic meaning.
