Final Terms

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

A story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts. Allegories thus have two meanings: a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

The repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another.

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

A reference to statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or popular culture

Question 4

Audience

Answer 4

The listener, viewer, or reader of a text. Most texts are likely to have multiple audiences.

Question 5

Claim

Answer 5

Also called an assertion or proposition, a claim states the argument’s main idea or position. A claim differs from a topic or subject in that a claim has to be arguable

Question 6

Comedy

Answer 6

A literary work, especially a play that has a happy ending

Question 7

Conceit

Answer 7

A fanciful and elaborate figure of speech that makes a surprising connection between two seemingly dissimilar things

Question 8

Connotation

Answer 8

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to a word.

Question 9

Context

Answer 9

The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding a text

Question 10

Detail

Answer 10

Detail describes phrases that include literal or factual description. Detail is literal-who, what, when, where

Question 11

Dialect

Answer 11

A way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or group of people

Question 12

Diction

Answer 12

A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words

Question 13

Essay

Answer 13

A short piece of nonfiction prose that examines a single subject from a limited point of view

Question 14

Evidence/Support

Answer 14

material that directly supports the claim. Synonyms include facts, specifics, examples, descriptions, illustrations, support, proof, evidence, quotations, paraphrasing, or plot references

Question 15

Figurative Language

Answer 15

Writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally. It is often used to create vivid impressions by setting up comparisons between dissimilar things

Question 16

Flashback

Answer 16

The means by which authors present material that occurred earlier than the present time of the narrative.

Question 17

Foreshadowing

Answer 17

The use of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur.

Question 18

Hyperbole

Answer 18

A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or create a comic effect

Question 19

Imagery

Answer 19

Language that appeals to the senses

Question 20

Irony

Answer 20

A figure of speech that occurs when a speaker of character says one thing but means something else, or when what is said is the opposite of what is expected, creating a noticeable incongruity

Question 21

Metaphor

Answer 21

Figure of speech in which something is represented by another thing that is related to it or emblematic of it

Question 22

Mood

Answer 22

The feeling or atmosphere created by a text

Question 23

Motif

Answer 23

A word, a character, an object, an image, a metaphor, or an idea that recurs in a work or in several works

Question 24

Occasion

Answer 24

The time and place a speech is given or a piece is written

Question 25

Onomatapeia

Answer 25

The use of words that imitate sounds.

Question 26

Parallel Structure

Answer 26

The repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that restate a similar idea

Question 27

Persona

Answer 27

The face or character that a speaker shows to his or her audience

Question 28

Personification

Answer 28

A kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman or nonliving thing or quality is talked about as if it were human or had life

Question 29

Purpose

Answer 29

The goal the speaker wants to achieve

Question 30

Refrain

Answer 30

A repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines

Question 31

Rhetoric

Answer 31

The art of finding ways of persuading an audience.

Question 32

Rhetorical Question

Answer 32

Figure of speech in the form of a question posed for rhetorical effect rather than for the purpose of getting an answer.

Question 33

Simile

Answer 33

A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing it explicitly to something else, using the words like, as, or as though

Question 34

Speaker

Answer 34

The imaginary voice, or persona, assumed by the author of a poem

Question 35

Stereotype

Answer 35

a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

Question 36

Style

Answer 36

The manner in which writers or speakers say what they wish to say

Question 37

Subject

Answer 37

The topic of a text

Question 38

Suspense

Answer 38

The uncertainty or anxiety we feel about what is going to happen next in a story.

Question 39

Symbol

Answer 39

A person, place, thing, or event that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself

Question 40

Syntax

Answer 40

The arrangement of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences

Question 41

Text

Answer 41

A cultural product that can be consumed, comprehended and/or investigated. This includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, political cartoons, fine art, photography, performances, fashion and cultural trends

Question 42

Theme

Answer 42

The central idea or insight about human experience revealed in a work of literature.

Question 43

Tone

Answer 43

The attitude a writer takes toward the reader, a subject, or a character.

Question 44

Tragedy

Answer 44

A play, novel, or other narrative depicting serious and important events, in which the main character comes to an unhappy end

Question 45

Understatement

Answer 45

A figure of speech that consists of saying less than what is really meant or saying something with less force than is appropriate.