EOCT Review Flashcards
Genre
A category of composition. Each genre has a particular style, form, and content.
Dialogue
Character’s conversations with other characters
Interior monologue
Internal, unspoken thoughts
Direct characterization
The reader is told what a character is like; a speaker or narrator describes what he or she thinks about a character.
Indirect characterization
Occurs when a reader must infer what a character is like
Setting
When and where a narrative such as a story, drama, or poem takes place
Structure
Specific pattern or plot structure
Chronological
The story is arranged in order of time from the beginning to the end
Epistolary novel
A novel written in the form of letters, diary/journal entries, postcards, or e-mail
Frame narrative
A story is told within a story
In medias res
“In the middle of things.” The novel or story begins with a significant moment.
Types of conflict:
- person vs. person
- person vs. nature
- person vs. self
- person vs. society
- person vs. machine
Point of view
perspective from which a story is told
First person
The events are told by a character in the story using his or her own words. Uses “I” and “me”
Second person
The narrator addresses the reader directly using the word you.
Third person limited
A speaker outside the action narrates the events using third-person pronouns. The narrator tells the events from the perspective of one specific character, focusing on this character’s thoughts and feelings.
Third person omniscient
A speaker outside the action narrates the events. An all-knowing narrator not only tells what happens, but also may interpret events and describe the thoughts and feelings of any character.
Tone
The author’s attitude toward the audience or subject. Established by the author through diction, syntax, and rhetoric
Diction
word choice
Syntax
the order words are placed in a sentence
Rhetoric
language choices and techniques used to communicate perspective and to modify the perspectives of others.
Mood
The overall feeling or emotion the author establishes by the choice of words and language, the actions of the characters, and the setting.
Theme
the deeper message of a text. It refers to a universal statement about life and/or society that can be discerned from the reading of a text.
Tragedy
A serious play that ends in disaster and sorrow
Comedy
A lighthearted play intended to amuse the audience. Comedies usually end happily
Political drama
a drama or play with a political component, advocating a certain point of view or describing an event.
Modern drama
explores themes of alienation and disconnectedness. Strives to let the audience feel as if it is peering in on real-life situations and experiencing real-life emotions.
Theatre of the absurd
Plays written in the 1950s and 1960s with the basic belief that human existence is absurd, or without meaning. The play itself often lacks the usual conventions of plot, character, or setting.
Dramatic conventions
rules the actors and audience follow in play
Dramatic irony
refers to situations in which the audience knows more than the character onstage
Monologue
Long speech by one character in which the character speaks about his or her thoughts and feelings
Rhyme
the repetition of terminal sounds in two or more words
End rhyme
occurs at the ends of lines of poetry. It is the most common type of rhyme
Internal rhyme
rhyme within a line of poetry
Slant rhyme
Occurs when words include similar but not identical sounds. They are also called a near rhyme, half rhyme, or off rhyme.
Alliteration
The repetition of one initial sound, usually a consonant, in more than one word.
Rhyme scheme
the pattern of end rhymes in a poem.
Fixed form
written in traditional verse and generally rhymes. Some fixed form poems have specific requirements on length, rhyme scheme, and number of syllables.
Free form
follows no specific guidelines about rhyme, meter, or length.
Blank verse
is a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, a pattern of five iambic feet per line. An iambic foot is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Informational text
writing that explains or informs
Argumentative or persuasive writing
reasoning to influence people’s ideas or actions
Literary nonfiction
writing that tells a story and often employs the literary devices found in stories and novels
Implicit
An idea that is not stated outright
Infer
to come to a reasonable conclusion based on evidence
Explicit
idea or message is fully expressed or revealed by the writer
Native American period
an oral tradition of song and stories. Any written literature is an account of these songs and stories. Focuses on the natural world and the sacred world and the importance of land and place.
Colonial period
During this period, the newly arrived colonists were creating villages and towns and establishing new governments, while protesting the old regime of the British. Literature of this period reflects the religious influence of the Puritans. Famous writers include William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, and Jonathan Edwards.
Revolutionary Period and Nationalism
American writers focused on explaining and justifying the Revolution. Political writings by Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson belong to this time period. Americans found time to ponder what it really meant to be American. An even greater focus on nationalism, patriotism, and American identity arose
Romanticism and Transcendentalism
Romanticism was a philosophical attitude that developed in reaction to previous decades in which reason and rational thought dominated. Writers celebrated individualism, nature, imagination, creativity, and emotions.
Realism
This period is one of the most turbulent and creative in American history. Hinting at the modern movement yet to come, writers turned to realism in an effort to articulate the tensions and complex events of the time. Authors made it their mission to convey the reality of life, harsh as it might seem.
Naturalism
An extension of realism, writers during this period focused on grim reality, observing characters much as scientists might observe animals. They sought to discover the natural laws that govern human lives. Unlike the Transcendentalists, Naturalists viewed nature as indifferent, not noble.
Modern period
The independent, individualistic spirit that was distinctively American seemed threatened. Writers such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T. S. Eliot explored themes of alienation and change and confronted people’s fears and disillusionment.
Irony
a form of speech intended to convey the opposite of the actual meaning of the words.
Sarcasm
Verbal irony
Situational irony
refers to developments that are far from what is expected or believed to be deserved
Satire
a form of writing that ridicules or scorns people, practices, or institutions in order to expose their failings. Used to make people think critically about a subject, although satires can be written for amusement
Understatement
a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it really is
Simile
Comparison of two unlike things using like, as, or than
Metaphor
Implied comparison between two unrelated things
Personification
Gives human characteristic to an un-human object
Hyperbole
Excessive exaggeration
Idiom
Saying specific to a culture
Denotation
Definition of a word
Connotation
Meaning or idea of a word
Ethos
Uses appeal to ethic and credibility
Pathos
Uses appeal to emotions
Logos
Uses appeal to reason and logic
Credible source
Unbiased information
Thesis
Main message of a piece of writing
Parallelism
The phrases or sentences share the same grammatical structure
Repetition
same word or phrase throughout writing
Analogy
compares two things to each other, but is more extensive than a simile. Continues throughout writing
