Final exam Flashcards
Abstract Ideas
words describe things that exist as ideas, feelings, or qualities, rather than material objects.
Alliteration
What Are 5 Examples of Alliteration?
Clary closed her cluttered clothes closet.
Harry hurried home to watch football on TV.
Rachel ran right until she realized she was running round and round.
Polly’s prancing pony performed perfectly.
The boy buzzed around as busy as a bee.
Allusion
an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text.
Anecdote
a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.
Antagonist
person who is against the main character
Antecedent Action-
the events or actions that come before the main events of a narrative.
Anticlimax
a disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events.
Antithesis
a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.
- Keep your mouth closed and your eyes open.
- “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. …
- “Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.”
Assonance
repetition of vowels without repetition of consonants
ex.crying time; hop-scotch; great flakes; between trees; and, the kind knight rides by.
Atmosphere
Atmosphere is another word for mood
Blank Verse-
poetry written in unrhymed but metered lines, almost always iambic pentameter.
Cacophony-
: harsh or jarring sound
Characterization-
the description of a character’s physical traits (how a character looks), point of view, personality, private thoughts, and actions.
Chorus-
a part of a song that is repeated after each verse,
Cliché-
is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect,
Climax-
the most important or exciting point in a story or situation, especially when this happens near the end:
Deus Ex Machina
a term used to describe the entry of a coincidence or implausible event that comes just in time to solve a problem in a story. It means “God Out of Machine” in Latin, as God’s would drop baskets to solve the problems in Roman and Greek Mythology.
Concrete Ideas-
an idea, observation, term, or word having an actual or existent thing or instance as its referent, as opposed to its being abstract
Conflict-
a problem
Consonance-
agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions
Contrast-
the difference(s) between two or more entities.
Couplet-
two successive lines of verse forming a unit marked usually by rhythmic correspondence, rhyme, or the inclusion of a self-contained utterance
Crisis-
an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending.
Denouement-
the final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work.
Developing/Dynamic-
a character that undergoes a change/changes.
Consistent character-
always behaves in the same way, has the same attitudes towards people or things, or achieves the same level of success in something.
Complication-
a circumstance that complicates something; a difficulty.
Conclusion-
the last part of something, its end or result.
Soliloquy-
the act of talking to oneself.
Sonnet-
a poem that has 14 lines and a particular pattern of rhyme and word arrangement.
Stanza-
a well-defined group of several lines of poetry having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme
Static Character-
a type of character who remains largely the same throughout the course of the storyline.
Stock Character-
ones who represent specific stereotypes.
Stream of Consciousness-
a narrative style that tries to capture a character’s thought process in a realistic way.
Diction-
a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group.
Dialogue
Shows two characters in conversation
Dilemma-
a choice between two undesirable alternatives
Dramatic Irony-
when the audience knows something the character doesn’t
Dramatis Personae-
the characters of a play, novel, or narrative.
Elemental Conflict-
a story about two people caught in an involuntary mental bond
Episode-
a series of actions or events that take place at one time in a work of literature.
Escape Literature-
aims to give readers imaginative entertainment rather than to address contemporary issues and provoke serious and critical thoughts
Euphony-
pleasing or sweet sound
Evaluative Question
asks the reader to decide whether he or she agrees with the author’s ideas or point of view in light of his or her own knowledge, values, and experience.
Exposition-
the passages which explain where events take place, what happened before the story begins, and the background of the characters.
Falling Action-
is the period of time in a story that follows the climax and leads to the resolution.
Figurative Language-
anytime you stretch the actual meaning of words for effect,
Figures of Speech-
Simile.
Metaphor.
Personification.
Apostrophe.
Alliteration.
Assonance.
Hyperbole.
Euphemism.
Flashback-
a scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story.
Flat character-
two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work
Foil-
prevent (something considered wrong or undesirable) from succeeding.
Foreground-
the part of a scene or representation that is nearest to and in front of the spectator.
Foreshadowing-
a plot element that hints at something to come later in the story.
Frame-
a narrative that frames or surrounds another story or set of stories
Genre-
a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.
Hyperbole-
a rhetorical and literary technique where an author or speaker intentionally uses exaggeration and overstatement for emphasis and effect.
Iambic Pentameter-
a line of verse composed of ten syllables arranged in five metrical feet (iambs), each of which consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Imagery-
a literary device used in poetry, novels, and other writing that uses vivid description that appeals to a readers’ senses to create an image or idea in their head.
Inciting/Initial Incident-
the event that sets the main character or characters on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative.
Indeterminate Ending-
An ending that is inconclusive , and leaves the reader having to predict the conclusion.
Inferential Question-
answered by interpreting clues from part of the text to figure something out.
In Media Res-
In the middle of things
Technical term for the epic convention of beginning “in the middle of things,” rather than at the very start of the story.
Innocent Eye-
ex: Ted from How I Met Your Mother
a narrator that is unreliable.
Interpretive Literature-
seeks to help readers understand deeper questions of life, death, hate, love, sorrow and other elements of human existence.
Irony-
situational, dramatic, verbal
when a moment of dialogue or plot contradicts what the audience expects from a character or story.
Juxtaposition-
placing two unrelated things next to each other to highlight their differences.
Malapropism-
the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in, for example, “dance a flamingo ” (instead of flamenco ).
Mental Conflict-
the conflict the protagonist faces within themself
Style
the way in which a writer writes.
Surprise Ending-
plot twist
When it happens near the end of a story
Suspense-
the audience’s excited anticipation about the plot or conflict
Symbol/ism-
Symbolism is the use of words or images to symbolize specific concepts, people, objects, or events.
A symbol is an object, a person, a situation, or an action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or represents other meanings.
Synonym
a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word.
Theme-
the underlying message, or ‘big idea.
Metaphor-
is a comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated
Metonymy-
figure of speech in which the name of an object or concept is replaced with a word closely related to or suggested by the original,
Monologue
is a lengthy speech given by one character in theatrical work, movie, or literary work.
Mood
the general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader.
Motif-
a repeated pattern—an image, sound, word, or symbol that comes back again and again within a particular story.
Character Motivation-
means knowing the purpose for why a character does something in the story.
Narration/Narrator-
the fictional construct the author has created to tell the story through.
Non-fiction-
Novel-
A novel is a piece of long narrative in literary prose. Narrative prose is meant to entertain and tell a story.
Objective Narrator-
one who relates the events of the story and characters’ actions without directly telling the reader the characters’ inner thoughts or feelings. This provides the reader with an unbiased view of the story’s events.
Omniscient/limited omniscient
third person omniscient point of view has full access to the thoughts and feelings of all characters, limited third person omniscient is restricted to a single character.
Onomatopoeia-
a literary device that uses the letter sounds of a word to imitate the natural sound emitted from an object or action.
Oxymoron-
a figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings, like “old news,” “deafening silence,” or “organized chaos.” “Jumbo shrimp.”
Paradox-
a statement that appears to contradict itself, but upon further rumination, either reveals a deeper meaning or actually makes sense.
Parody-
an imitation of the style and manner of a particular writer or school of writers.
Personification-
giving an object human-like qualities
Physical Conflict-
a conflict caused by a clash between the character, and the natural environment.
Plausible Character-
that which has the appearance of truth but might be deceptive
Plot-
the sequence of events in which each event affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect.
Point of view-
who is telling a story, or who is narrating it.
Prologue-
a separate introductory section of a literary work that comes before the main narrative.
Prose-
a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language’s ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing.
Protagonist-
the character who drives the action–the character whose fate matters most.
Pun-
a play on words
Quatrain-
a series of four-lines that make one verse of a poem, known as a stanza.
Resolution-
the conclusion of a story’s plot.
Rising action-
all the events that happen in a story on the way to the climax.
Round Character-
a character in a fictional work with depth or a complex personality.
Sarcasm/Irony-
Verbal irony is a figure of speech that communicates the opposite of what is said, while sarcasm is a form of irony that is directed at a person, with the intent to criticise.
Satire-
making fun of something serious
Satire in literature is a type of social commentary.
Scene-
part of it in which a series of events happen in the same place.
Setting-
where the story takes place
Short story-
a work of prose fiction that can be read in one sitting—usually between 20 minutes to an hour.
Simile-
comparing two things using like or as
Situational irony-
when the opposite of what is expected actually happens.
Thesis-
the sentence that introduces the main argument or point of view of a composition
Tone-
the attitude that a character or narrator or author takes towards a given subject.
Tragedy-
a genre that focuses around a noble character who struggles against strong external challenges.
Understatement-
a literary device by which a particular quality of a person, object, emotion, or situation is downplayed or presented as being less than what is true to the situation.
Verbal irony-
a statement in which the speaker’s words are incongruous with the speaker’s intent.
Verse-
a single metrical line in a poetic composition.
