Final exam study terms Flashcards
Theme
The meaning or message behind what you are reading
Setting
Time and place
Plot
The series of events
Point of view
How the story is being told / Perspective [1st(I), 2nd(you),3rd(they) person]
Antecedent action
The action before the story(background info)
Exposition
Who, what, when, where, and why
Complication/Initial incident
What starts the conflict
Conflict
The problem the characters are going to face
Rising action
Action that brings us to the climax
Climax
The highest point of emotional intensity
Falling action
Events that lead to the resolution
Denouement/ Resolution
The ending to the story
Antagonist
The force going against the protagonist
Protagonist
The main character
Comparison
Look for similarities
Contrast
Look for differences
Round character
Know a lot about/well-developed characters
Flat character
Not well developed/ Don’t know a lot about
Dynamic character
A character that changes
Static character
A character that stays the same
Stock character
typical/cliche characters
Stereotype
societal views pushed on a person
Dramatic irony
The viewer/reader is aware of something the character is not
Verbal irony
When speech doesn’t match the situation
Situational irony
Character tries to do something but ends up doing the opposite
Simile
A comparison between two unlike things using like or as
Metaphor
Comparing two things without using like or as
Personification
Giving human characteristics to a nonhuman thing
Paradox
A statement that contradicts itself/ at first does not make sense
Understatement
The presentation of something as being less important than it is
Litotes
An ironic understatement
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
Onomatopoeia
Sound words that are spelled the way they sound (“Buzz”)
Alliteration
Multiple words starting with the same letter or sound
Consonance
Repetition of consonant sounds in a sentence
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds in a sentence
Allusion
A reference to another piece of literature
Verisimilitude
Trying to add realism or realistic qualities to something
Foreshadowing
To predict something in the future
Symbol
Something used to represent something else
Prose
Writing without structure
Stanza
A group of words or lines in poetry
Free verse poetry
Poetry that allows you to write freely
Aside
Express thought or emotion to the audience and not the characters
Soliloquy
Thoughts or expressions that are given only by a single character
Monologue
A long uninterrupted speech given by a single character
Inference (n.) / Infer (v.)
An educated guess/conclusion
Characterization (direct and indirect)
Direct: Being told. Indirect: Being shown
Character motivation (internal and external)
Internal: emotion External: money
Juxtaposition
Putting two things together to show the contrast/ emphasize
Parallelism
Similar structure to show similarities
Pun
A joke/ play on word
Satire
to use humor to expose or criticize people’s stupidity
Irony
The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite
