F-J Flashcards
Fable
A very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life.
EXP: The tortoise and the hare
Farce
A type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situation.
EXP: The stooges
Figurative language
Words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms.
EXP: That news hit me like a ton of bricks
Flashback
A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.
EXP: Back in my day!
Foil
A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero.
EXP: Woody and Buzz lightyear in toy story.
Foreshadowing
The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.
EXP: oh, I hope that doesn’t melt. (It did in fact melt.)
Free Verse
Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.
EXP: “The Red Wheelbarrow”
Hyperbole
A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect.
EXP: If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times.
Hypotactic
Sentence marked by the use of connecting words between clauses or sentences, explicitly showing the logical or other relationships between them.
EXP: I am tired because it is hot
Imagery
The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.
EXP: The sky was a clear azure, dotted with fluffy, white clouds.
Inversion
The reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.
EXP: On the windowsill were her two cats, Penny and Percival.
Irony
A discrepancy between appearances and reality.
EXP: Cold, rainy gray day “What a beautiful day!”
Verbal Irony
Occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.
EXP: “Just what I needed” After spilling coffee on their shirt
Situational Irony
Takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.
EXP: A police station being robbed
Dramatic Irony
Is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.
EXP: Watching the Titanic and a character leaning on the balcony right before the ship hits the iceberg “It’s so beautiful I could just die.”
