Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

english a > glossary of terms > Flashcards

glossary of terms Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

advertorial

A

an advertisement that gives information about a product or service in the form of an editorial or journalistic article

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
1
Q

act

A

a collection of scenes in drama

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

accent

A

the pronunciation of a language

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

dialect

A

a unique and distinguishable combination of vocabulary, pronunciation and syntax

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

actual reader

A

an individual or individuals who actually read or listen to a text

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

actual writer

A

the individual or individuals who actually produce a text

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

adjective

A

a word class used to modify nouns

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

adverb

A

a word class used for a number of functions, including modifying adjectives and verbs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

adverbs of manner

A

adverbs suggesting time, manner, and place

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

adverbs of degree

A

adverbs that suggest the degree of the nouns and verbs they modify

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

allegory

A

a story that reveals a hidden truth, moral, political message

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

alliteration

A

the repetition of sound at the beginning of several words, generally used to express the lyrical qualities of language

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

allusion

A

a form of figurative language in which reference is made to text, event, person or place, thereby the author relies on the reader’s contextual knowledge and makes an implicit comparison between what is presented and what is known

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

ambient advertising

A

advertisements that make use of their physical surroundings in order to construct meaning

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

amplification

A

rhetorical device where the writer embellishes the sentence by adding more information to it, to increase its worth and understandability

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

anadiplosis

A

a form of repetition in which the last word of one clause or sentence is repeated as the first word of the next sentence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

analogy

A

a cognitive process of transferring traits from one thing or idea to another

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

anaphora

A

the repetition of the same word or phrase in a succession of phrases or sentences, often used to establish rhetorical or ‘literary’ effect

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

anecdote

A

a short personal story

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

anti-advertising

A

advertising that draws your attention to and makes you aware of the conventions of advertising

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

antithesis

A

a contrast between ideas (the thesis and antithesis) by placing them together for rhetorical or literary effect

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

appeal

A

a mode of persuasion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

appeal to authority

A

argumentum ad verecundiam = an argumentation technique, in which one refers to a source that claims to have authority, assuming that authorities are right

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

argument

A

a line of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

argument ad hominem

A

attacking the opposition’s character, not their arguments

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

argumentation fallacy

A

the use of invalid or faulty reasoning in an argument

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

assertion

A

a strong declaration or forceful conviction based on belief

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

assonance

A

the repetition of the same sound between syllables of nearby words

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

atmosphere

A

the feeling or mood that a writer creates by describing a setting, objects, characters

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

banner

A

an image-based advertisement

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

biographical criticism

A

literary criticism which uses a writer’s biography in order to show a relationship between the author and his works

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

blank verse

A

verses with regular metrical feet without rhyme

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

audience

A

the reader or listener of a text

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

cacaphony

A

discordant, rugged or hard-sounded effects in prose or verse, usually produced by clusters of consonants arranged so as to make pronunciation difficult

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

caesura

A

a pause within a line of verse, established by the natural organisation of language into phrases, clauses, and sentences, which do not conform to the metric pattern

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

capitalisation

A

the inclusion of capital letters in a word

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

caricature

A

a picture, imitation of a person which exaggerates that person’s features or character traits

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

cartoonification

A

the process of turning an object or person into a cartoon by drawing them

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

catharsis

A

the process of being relieved from strong or repressed feelings

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

characterisation

A

the way in which a writer creates her characters in a narrative so as to attract or repel the sympathy of the reader or audience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

chiasmus

A

a rhetorical device in which words, grammatical constructions or ideas are repeated in reverse order

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

clause

A

a group of words that express a single idea, consisting of a subject and verb

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

cliché

A

a boring phrase, made tedious by frequent repetition

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

coherence

A

the systematic connection of ideas in a written piece achieved through the use of linking words and the integration of illustrations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

colloquialism

A

expression or grammar that is associated with ordinary, everyday speech rather than formal language

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

colonial discourse

A

a way of using language that establishes a relationship between colonial powers and colonised power

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

colonialism

A

a policy or practice of acquiring full/partial political control over another country

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

complex sentence

A

consists of at least two clauses, one of which is subordinate to a main clause

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

compound sentence

A

consists of two or more main clauses linked with one of the conjunctions “or”, “and” and “but”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

condescension

A

a way of talking down to someone in a patronising way

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
50
Q

conjunctions

A

words that are used to connect words, phrases, and clauses

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
51
Q

connotation

A

the aura of emotion that is associated with the word through personal experience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
52
Q

denotation

A

the literal, factual meaning of a word

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
53
Q

consonance

A

repetition of the same sound between syllables of nearby words, caused by the repetition of consonants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
54
Q

context

A

the time, place and people that influence the way a text is interpreted

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
55
Q

context of production

A

the situation or circumstances in which a text is produced with significant factors influencing the writing or speaking of a text

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
56
Q

context of reception

A

the situation or circumstances in which a text is received with significant factors influencing the reading or listening of a text

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
57
Q

contrast ad

A

a political advertisement which includes information about opposing candidates, highlighting their negative traits

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
58
Q

core vocabulary

A

everyday and easily understood words that constitute a significant majority of our vocabulary

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
59
Q

couplet

A

a pair of rhymed lines in any meter in poetry

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
60
Q

crowdsourcing

A

the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated employee and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
61
Q

culture jamming

A

the practice of criticising and subverting advertising or consumerism in the mass media

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
62
Q

deictic

A

words that point in various directions, within a text and beyond it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
63
Q

deontology

A

the study of nature of duty and obligation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
64
Q

diacope

A

the repetition of a word or phrase with one or two intervening words

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
65
Q

diatribe

A

a severely critical type of discourse, often spoken, characterised by anger directed towards something or someone

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
66
Q

diegetic sound

A

any sound that originates from the people or things within the world being filmed, on screen or off screen

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
67
Q

dolly

A

the vehicle on which a camera is placed in order to track its subject while moving

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
68
Q

dramatic irony

A

when the development of the plot allows the audience to possess more information about what is taking place than some of the characters themselves have

69
Q

dramatic aside

A

an instance when a character in drama speaks briefly and directly to the audience without being heard by other characters

70
Q

dysphemism

A

opposite of a euphemism

71
Q

dystopia

A

an unpleasant, bad, totalitarian place, opposite of a utopia

72
Q

ellipsis

A

the omission of part of a language structure

73
Q

end-stopped line of verse

A

the end of the line coincides with a grammatical pause usually signalled by punctuation

74
Q

enjambment

A

a line of poetry that is not end-stopped, meaning the sentence continues into the next line without pause or punctuation

75
Q

equivocation

A

a word is used in two different senses in an argument

76
Q

ethos

A

the character of an audience, nation or community

77
Q

euphemism

A

a word or phrase that makes something sound better than it actually is

78
Q

enumeration

A

a rhetorical device which mentions or numbers items one by one

79
Q

ephemral

A

lasting for only a short period of time

80
Q

expression

A

a turn of phrase or idiom which does not have a literal meaning

81
Q

facetious

A

treating a serious matter with flippant or inappropriate humor

82
Q

freeze-frame

A

the act of stopping action in order to point to a particular moment

83
Q

free-verse

A

verse that is released from the convention of metre, with its regular pattern of stresses and line lengths, printed in broken-up lines like verse frequently rhythmical, sometimes containing metrical regularity, but overall free from regular of repeated feet

84
Q

gatekeeper

A

a person who has access to a particular medium and can disseminate ideas with it

85
Q

genre

def, main kinds

A

a kind or type of literature
the three major genres: poetry, drama, prose

86
Q

graphology

A

the visual aspect of a text, including layout, font, and image

87
Q

haiku

A

a Japanese lyric form, exactly seventeen syllables are used in three lines: 5-7-5; their common method is to describe a natural scene or object as a way of implying feeling

88
Q

hegemony

A

dominance of one social group over another

89
Q

hyperbole

A

a figure of speech; emphasis through exaggeration

90
Q

hypophora

A

a figure of speech in which the speaker raises a question and then answers it immediately

91
Q

icon

A

an image that resembles what it represents

92
Q

inflection

A

a change in pitch or loudness of the voice

93
Q

intonation

A

the rise and fall of the voice in speaking

94
Q

intertextuality

A

the ways in which a text resonates or refers to another text

95
Q

irony

def, forms

A

a literary or stylistic device in which one states something that is in discordance with what is expected, when someone says one thing but means something else
forms of irony: verbal, situational (the opposite of what is expected happens), dramatic

96
Q

jargon

A

the special technical language of any trade, profession, branch, or scholarship

97
Q

juxtaposition

A

the placement of two opposite ideas in close proximity

98
Q

language

A

a system of communication that is mutually intelligible among all members of a community; a dialect with ‘official’ acceptance as the standard to which all other varieties are compared

99
Q

logos

A

the appeal to a reader or listener’s sense of logic

100
Q

long tail marketing

A

a business strategy that allows companies to realize significant profits by selling low volumes of hard-to-find items to many customers, instead of only selling large volumes of a reduced number of popular items

101
Q

literary theory

A

the study of methods used for analysing texts

102
Q

loaded word

A

a word that is charged with emotion

103
Q

male chauvinism

A

a belief that men are better than women in terms of ability and intelligence

104
Q

manifesto

A

a text used to declare policy or aims

105
Q

mash up

A

online texts, usually short films, that copy content from an original source and alter it to some extent to give it new meaning

106
Q

metaphor

A

a figure of speech that directly refers to one thing by mentioning another

107
Q

metonymy

A

the act of referring to a concept not by its name, but by something intimately associated with it

108
Q

metre

A

the basic rhythmic structure in a verse

109
Q

mise en scène

A

arrangement of scenery, props and characters on a stage or set of a film

110
Q

modality

A

the linguistics of judgement, the way in which writers express attitudes towards their subject matter and towards their addresses

111
Q

monologue

A

a long speech by a character

112
Q

mood

A

the emotional connotations that surround the language of a text

113
Q

multivocal

A

meaning is not fixed in a text, however, it is constructed by readers who occupy particular positions, who are informed ideologically, and who exist in particular historical and cultural contexts

114
Q

news satire

A

a type of satire which aims to imitate the conventions of news storytelling for humorous effect

115
Q

newsworthiness

A

the value of a news story in terms of its relevance, negativity, extraordinariness

116
Q

noble savage

A

a representation of a primitive person in an idealised way

117
Q

non-diegetic sound

A

any sound whose source is not present in the world being filmed

118
Q

nominalisation

A

a process in which a verb or verb group is transformed into a noun

119
Q

noun phrase

A

a word or group of words with a noun as the essential word with added information in the form of modifiers (a determiner, premodifier, headword, postmodifier)

120
Q

onomatopeia

A

a stylistic device that refers to words that sound like what they represent

121
Q

othering

A

the process of treating people differently, as though they are intrinsically different from oneself

122
Q

paralanguage

A

aspects of communication functioning in conjunction with verbal language (intonation, pitch and speed of speaking, hesitation noises, gesture, and facial expression)

123
Q

parallelism

A

the repetition and aligning of components of a sentence so that they follow a similar construction or pattern

124
Q

pastiche

A

a text that imitates the style of another text or author

125
Q

pathos

A

speakers appeal to one’s sense of emotion

126
Q

personification

A

a stylistic device where inanimate objects are given human qualities, a form of analogy where one thing is compared to another thing

127
Q

phonological

A

the sound system of a language

128
Q

phoneme

A

a single unit of sound

129
Q

phonological substitution

A

replacing an anticipated sound with an unanticipated sound

130
Q

phrase

A

a unit of language made up of anything from an individual word to several words acting together, but smaller than a sentence

131
Q

problem-solution technique

A

persuasive technique used by advertisers and politicians, in which if an audience can identify with one characteristic of the problem, then they can be persuaded to believe that they must buy into the solution

132
Q

polysyndeton

A

the repetition of coordinating conjunctions such as ‘and’ or ‘or’

133
Q

prosody

A

the patterns of rhythm and sound

134
Q

pun

A

a play on words, often comic, resulting from a word having more than one meaning, or two words with the different meanings having the same sound

135
Q

referendum

A

a general vote by the electorate on a single political issue

136
Q

riddle

A

a question or statement which presents a puzzle for someone to solve

137
Q

semantic field

A

a group of words that are related or analogous in meaning, and are often connected with a particular context of use

138
Q

lexical cluster

A

sets of noun or adjective forms, perhaps multiple or in multiple languages, which have in common that they share a meaning

139
Q

sensationalism

A

language that appeals to emotions — it exaggerates, over-hypes and attracts attention to controversy

140
Q

signifier

A

any form that takes meaning (word, sign, symbol, colour)

141
Q

signpost

A

a connective word that tells the reader where the text is going (‘next’)

142
Q

simile

A

the comparison of two things, using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’

143
Q

slang

A

a deviation in language use, be it vocabulary or expressions, from the standardized form of a particular language

144
Q

slogan

A

a phrase used in a political or commercial campaign repeatedly which is short and express a shared purpose or idea

145
Q

social commentary

A

a message that criticizes society and the ways in which that society is organised

146
Q

social networking

A

a structure of individuals and their interdependence on each other, be it through friendship, economics or interests

147
Q

socialisation

A

the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society

148
Q

soliloquy

A

a speech given by a character to himself so that the audience but no other characters can hear the character’s thoughts

149
Q

speech direction

A

the instructions given in the play script by the playwright to the actors on how to deliver the lines

150
Q

spoof

A

humorous imitation of a text in which its features are exaggerated

151
Q

stereotyping

A

assigning fixed characteristics to individuals on the basis of their group membership

151
Q

surrealism

A

movement which includes unnatural, fantastical or irrational depictions of the world

151
Q

subvertising

A

making spoofs of parodies of corporate and political advertisement

152
Q

supercrunching

A

the phenomenon of how large databases are helping us make decisions everyday, especially on the Internet

153
Q

synecdoche

A

a stylistic device with which we refer to an entity by one of its parts

154
Q

tagline

A

a catchphrase or slogan

155
Q

tautology

A

a phrase that says the same thing twice

156
Q

palindrome

A

a word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards

157
Q

tension

A

the feeling of an unresolved problem or unfulfilled events

158
Q

testimonial

A

the retelling of a personal experience with a product

159
Q

textuality

A

the characteristics that define a text (What makes a speech a speech?)

160
Q

topical

A

current or relevant to current events

161
Q

trompe l’oeil

A

a 2D art-style that creates an illusion of 3D when viewed from a particular perspective

162
Q

truncated sentence

A

a sentence that misses words out

163
Q

visual narrative

A

the storyline that is suggested through an image

164
Q

voice

A

the quality that makes an author’s style unique

165
Q

volta

A

a turning point in argument of thought in poetry

166
Q

emanata

A

= symbols or lines that represent a character’s emotions, thoughts, or states of being (hearts, lightbulb, zzz’s, …)

167
Q

oxymoron

A

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

168
Q

paradox

A

a statement, pair of statements, or even the exploration of an idea that seems contradictory upon first glance

english a (4 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions