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american literature > Final Exam and Exam Terms > Flashcards

Final Exam and Exam Terms Flashcards

1
Q

A strongly exaggerated simile or metaphor.

A

Conceit

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2
Q

A compact statement expressing a truth.

A

Aphorism

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3
Q

An implied comparison in which one thing is described in terms of another.

A

Metaphor

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4
Q

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning, usually with a humorous effect.

A

Irony

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5
Q

Two rhyming lines which expresses a complete thought.

A

Couplet

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6
Q

One who tells the story in a work.

A

Narrator

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7
Q

The one with whom the protagonist comes into conflict within a novel or story; the opposing character. (ex: Moby Dick, from Moby Dick; Roger Chillingworth, from The Scarlet Letter)

A

Antagonist

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8
Q

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

A

Blank Verse

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9
Q

The pattern in a line of poetry consisting of one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables.

A

Foot

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10
Q

The repetition of vowel sounds.

A

Assonance

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11
Q

A view of life which emphasizes a detached scientific and photographic accuracy which includes everything and selects nothing.

A

Naturalism

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12
Q

Regional language used by a writer to make his dialogue more realistic.

A

Dialect

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13
Q

The popular poets of the nineteenth century whose works were read by family and friends around the fireside and were learned and memorized in school.

A

Fireside and Schoolroom Poets

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14
Q

The suggested meaning or association of a word.

A

Connotation

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15
Q

A type of realistic, regional writing portraying the life of a particular geographical location by using picturesque details of setting which emphasize the quaint customs and dialect of the region.

A

Local Color

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16
Q

Three writers from New York (Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and William Cullen Bryant) who wrote during the first part of the nineteenth century.

A

Knickerbockers

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17
Q

A group of eight lines.

A

Octave

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18
Q

The imaginary persons who carry out the action of the plot in a story or novel.

A

Characters

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19
Q

An approximate rhyme in which initial consonant sounds are the same.

A

Alliteration

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20
Q

Incorrect spelling often used for humorous effect.

A

Cacography

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21
Q

Poetry having no metrical pattern. It differs from prose only in that it is written in lines.

A

Free Verse

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22
Q

One who undergoes some change and is different at the end of the story. (ex: Candace Whitcomb from “The Village Singer”)

A

Dynamic Character

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23
Q

A prose work of moderate length in which the writer tries to develop his own thoughts on some subject.

A

Essay

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24
Q

The repetition of final consonant sounds.

A

Consonance

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25
Q

A long narrative poem in elevated style which presents characters and action of heroic proportions.

A

Epic

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26
Q

A reference to mythology, history, or literature.

A

Allusion

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27
Q

Words addressed to an inanimate object as if it were alive or to an absent person as if he were there.

A

Apostrophe

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28
Q

A type of extended prose fiction (meaning “new”).

A

Novel

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29
Q

A brief literary piece written as a tribute to a dead person, or an inscription on tombstone or monument in memory in memory of a deceased person.

A

Epitaph

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30
Q

A poem that tells a story.

A

Narrative Poem

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31
Q

A short narrative song written in stanzas.

A

Ballad

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32
Q

Saying the opposite of what is meant.

A

Verbal Irony

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33
Q

The point of highest intensity in a story or a poem.

A

Climax

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34
Q

A struggle between opposing forces.

A

Conflict

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35
Q

A narrative or description in which the characters, places, and other items are symbols. (ex: Pilgrim’s Progress)

A

Allegory

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36
Q

One who remains essentially the same throughout the story. (ex: Captain Ahab from Moby Dick)

A

Static Character

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37
Q

The use of words which appeal to out senses.

A

Imagery

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38
Q

The occurrence of rhythm at regular intervals.

A

Meter

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39
Q

Contrasting what a character says and what a reader or audience knows to by true.

A

Dramatic Irony

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40
Q

An imaginative prose narrative written to give the reader entertainment and insight. It is designed to produce a single impression and is short enough to be read in one sitting.

A

Short Story

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41
Q

The author tells the story from the viewpoint of one character, using either first person or third person.

A

Limited Point of View

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42
Q

The repetition of ideas in slightly differing form; the construction of two or more thoughts in the same pattern

A

Parallelism

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43
Q

A group of repeated lines usually containing the same meter and rhyme scheme.

A

Stanza

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44
Q

Using words which sound like what they mean

A

Onomatopoeia

45
Q

The regular recurrence of a sound.

A

Rhythm

46
Q

The physical background against which the events of the story take place.

A

Setting

47
Q

The ridicule of human folly or vice with a purpose of correction it.

A

Satire

48
Q

A comparison to which human qualities are given to an inanimate object or an animal.

A

Personification

49
Q

The main character in a novel or story; the hero.

A

Protagonist

50
Q

The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward his subject, and in turn, the response whcih the writer intends for his readers.

A

Tone

51
Q

A retelling of a work in one’s own words.

A

Paraphrase

52
Q

The reader’s feeling of uncertainty regarding the action or outcome of a story. (It is an element that keeps the reader’s interest.)

A

Suspense

53
Q

The repeating of words, phrases, sounds, or ideas for emphasis or particular effect.

A

Repetition

54
Q

The correspondence of sounds.

A

Rhyme

55
Q

The controlling idea or insight into life which the author seeks to impart through characters, plot, and all the elements working together.

A

Theme

56
Q

A truth expressed in the form of an apparent contradiction

A

Paradox

57
Q

A group of six lines.

A

Sestet

58
Q

A group of four lines.

A

Quatrain

59
Q

The arrangement of incidents or events in a story or novel; the sequence of related actions. (It can usually be divided into a beginning, a middle, and an end.)

A

Plot

60
Q

A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter with a definite pattern of two basic varieties, English or Italian.

A

Sonnet

61
Q

An expressed comparison of unlike things in which the words like, as, resembles, or similar to are used.

A

Simile

62
Q

Something which has meaning in itself but also represents something beyond itself.

A

Symbol

63
Q

The method of presenting the reader with the material of the story; the perspective from which the story is told.

A

Point of View

64
Q

Authors included in the Colonial Period:

A

• Anne Bradstreet• Benjamin Franklin• Edward Taylor• John Smith• John Winthrop• Michael Wigglesworth• Phillis (“Njambi”) Wheatley• Roger Williams• William Bradford

65
Q

First poet to write verse in America (looks as if the girls win this one)

A

Anne Bradstreet

66
Q

Wrote [Autobiography] and [Poor Richard’s Almanac] (he’s also a character in Assassin’s Creed: Rouge, AC: 3, and AC: Unity 😎)

A

Benjamin Franklin

67
Q

Best Puritan poet, not published until 1939, and used metaphysical conceits

A

Edward Taylor

68
Q

Affiliated with Pocahontas and Jamestown; wrote slightly exaggerated stories of his encounters; kissed Pocahontas in the historically inaccurate Disney movie (no, he wasn’t an ephebophile, and Pocahontas was only around 16 years old when he came to America. Screw Disney 😋)

A

John Smith

69
Q

Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (M to W or W to M if you’re looking upside down)

A

John Winthrop

70
Q

Most widely read Puritan poet (no, he is not affiliated with The WIGGLES in any way. He wrote about the apocolypse, guys. He wasn’t a fun dude)

A

Michael Wigglesworth

71
Q

Second American woman to publish poetry, wrote “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, is Njambi’s ancestor (not really 👩🏿)

A

Philips Wheatley

72
Q

Governor of Rhode Island; worked with Indians (because he wasn’t racist like everyone else 👦🏾)

A

Roger Williams

73
Q

Father of American history; wrote [Of Plymouth Plantation]; the butthole who invented history 😒

A

William Bradford

74
Q

Period characterized by derivations from myths and legends (because people were idiotically superstitious back then)

A

Romantic Era

75
Q

Authors included in Romantic Era:

A

• Herman Melville• Washington Irving (I thought he was black!)• Edgar Allan Poe (the Kung-Fu Panda! No?)• William Cullen Bryant• Harriet Beecher Stowe• James Fenimore Cooper• Emily Dickinson (REALLY IN HER OWN CATEGORY - what Mrs. Ellis said)• Nathaniel Hawthorne

76
Q

Wrote about Moby’s D-…I mean, wrote [Moby Dick]

A

Herman Melville

77
Q

First American author to be international famous; stories were based of Dutch legends (that thieving, racist son of a Baptist preacher!); wrote Rip Van Winkle (he is the dude I thought was black but was white)

A

Washington Irving

78
Q

Wrote “The Pit and the Pendulum” and the criteria for short stories; (got his name from a certain panda who knows Kung-Fu and was extremely depressing and a weirdo)

A

Edgar Allan Poe

79
Q

Wrote “Thanatopsis” (because he was a weirdo who meditated on Death)

A

William Cullen Bryant

80
Q

Wrote the [Leatherstocking Tales] (probably got that name from looking at men wearing leather stockings, I mean, who else comes up with the name Natty BUMPOO?)

A

James Fenimore Cooper

81
Q

Recluse who dressed in white (that’s totally not racist); ahead of her time (also the person that Mrs. Ellis screamed, “REALLY IN HER OWN CATEGORY!!!” like a maniac)

A

Emily Dickinson

82
Q

Wrote the (SECOND CRAPPIEST BOOK IN HUMAN HISTORY aside from [Silas Marner]) [Scarlet Letter]; constantly used themes of sin a guilt (probably because he knew his book sucked and doomed a generation of Rosedale Baptist juniors to suffer)

A

Nathaniel Hawkthorne

83
Q

Period involving the Over-soul (😂) and stems from Unitarianism.

A

Transcendentalist Era

84
Q

Authors of the Transcendentalist Era (because they wanted to be primitive monkeys so bad):

A

• Ralph (“Where’s Waldo?!”) Waldo Emerson• Henry David Thoreau (get it? ‘Cause he’s thorough? OK, shutting up)• Walt (“Disney”) Whitman

85
Q

Era characterized by traditional themes and the Schoolroom Poets (even if they probably never went to school):

A

Fireside

86
Q

Authors of the Fireside Era (should’ve just burned them and their books 😈):

A

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (he was one “long” fellow)• John Greenleaf (really? He couldn’t think of something better like Grayrock or Browntrunk?) Whittier (that has hints of racism…)• Oliver (“Sherlock”) Wendell Holmes • James Russell Lowell (pronounced “LOL”)

87
Q

Wrote “Self-Reliance”; founder of (the brain-dead cult) of Transcendentalism; wrote [Nature] (also the guy we have to look for in “Where’s Waldo?”)

A

Ralph Waldo Emerson

88
Q

Wrote [Walden]; believed in civil disobedience (this system is broke yo!)

A

Henry David Thoreau

89
Q

Said, “I was simmering…” (was probably in a hot tub when thinking this); wrote “Leaves of Grass” (funny, grass doesn’t HAVE leaves); wrote “O Captain, My Captain!” (because he was part of the Lincoln Fanclub for Gay Fanboys)

A

Walt Whitman

90
Q

Wrote “Song of Hiawatha”; only American to have a bust in Westminster Abbey (probably because his bust was bigger than any man ever….probably because he was actually a woman)

A

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

91
Q

Was a Quaker (made oatmeal); wrote “Snowbound”; threw “Leaves of Grass” into the fire (my man!)

A

John Greenleaf Whittier

92
Q

Known as Mr. Boston; wrote “Old Ironsides”

A

Oliver Wendell Holmes

93
Q

Wrote “A Fable for Critics” (name sounds like “LOL”)

A

James Russell Lowell

94
Q

Authors of the Realism Era (my kind of people!):

A

• Hamlin Garland• Mary E. Wilkins Freeman • Bret Harte

95
Q

Author who exposed the land speculation system (down with the system! 👎🏼)

A

Hamlin Garland

96
Q

Wrote about New England spinsters (like Mrs. Ellis)

A

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

97
Q

Wrote of the West

A

Bret Harte

98
Q

Era characterized by drastic experimentalism:

A

Modern Era

99
Q

Authors of the Modern Era:

A

• e. e. cummings (obviously, this guy couldn’t spell• Ernest Hemingway• F. Scott Fitzgerald• Joyce Kilmer• Paul Lawrence Dunbar• Pearl S. Buck• Ray Bradbury• Robert Frost (“cool” LAST name)• Carl Sandburg(er)

100
Q

Experimented with capitalism and punctuation (also couldn’t spell)

A

e. e. cummings

101
Q

Was an ambulance driver in WWII

A

Ernest Hemingway

102
Q

Wrote about the emptiness of the Roaring 20s; wrote [The Great Gatsby] (that was a boring movie)

A

F. Scott Fitzgerald

103
Q

Wrote “Trees” (which I would like to point out to Mrs. Ellis that no one even quotes the stupid thing)

A

Joyce Kilmer

104
Q

First black poet to use black dialect (seriously? No other black poet used “yo dawg” or “but I’m notta rappah”? That’s racist)

A

Paul Lawrence Dunbar

105
Q

Wrote “Missionary Child to China”

A

Pearl S. Buck

106
Q

Wrote “The Pedestrian” (when the government turned into the biggest buttholes in the world)

A

Ray Bradbury

107
Q

Most popular poet in the 20th century

A

Robert Frost

108
Q

Poet from Chicago; wrote “Fog”

A

Carl Sandburg

109
Q

Time period characterized by a simple, plain, and direct style; genres included journals and diaries; theme was God’s providence

A

Colonial Era

american literature (12 decks)

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