High Frequency Terms To Know

Question 1

Metaphor

Answer 1

• figure of speech
• describes an object or action in a way that is not LITERALY true
• describe something by saying it IS something

ex) Remus IS a pig when he eats
She IS an angel
Life IS a rollercoaster

Question 2

Personification

Answer 2

• non-human things are given human qualities

ex) that pizza is CALLING MY NAME (pizza can’t call someone’s name it is not human, inanimate

Question 3

Contrast

Answer 3

• comparing two strikingly different things than what was mentioned before
• think “opposite”

ex) Unlike his big brother, Kevin didn’t like school

Question 4

Diction

Answer 4

• Choice of words that authors use in order to communicate their ideas

Question 5

Irony

Answer 5

• basically sarcasm but you are saying the opposite of what should be said in a situation

Question 6

Verbal Irony

Answer 6

• when someone says something that is sharply different from the reality of the situation

Question 7

Dramatic Irony

Answer 7

• when the audience knows something that the characters don’t

Question 8

Parody

Answer 8

• imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation

Question 9

Allusion

Answer 9

• Allusion is a figure of speech
• an object or circumstance from an unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly
• It is left to the audience to make a direct connection.

ex) To my dog, our neighborhood park is the Garden of Eden. (alludes to the Christian Bible) I’m Juliet to your Romeo

Question 10

Paradox

Answer 10

• self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one’s expectation

ex) “it was the beginning of the end.”

Question 11

Juxtaposition

Answer 11

• Juxtaposition is an act or instance, of placing two elements close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities or differences, etc.

Question 12

Alliterative Phrase

Answer 12

Peter Piper Picked a Pack of Pickled Peppers

Question 13

Foreshadowing

Answer 13

• be a warning or indication of (a future event)
• almost like hinting at something
• giving the reader and sometimes the author a clue almost

Question 14

Antecedent

Answer 14

• Chelsey finished her presentation, “Chelsey” is the antecedent and “her” is the pronoun.

Question 15

Connotation

Answer 15

• blue is a color, but it is also a word used to describe a feeling of sadness, as in: “She’s feeling blue.”

Question 16

Hyperbole

Answer 16

• “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse,” “I’ve seen this movie a hundred times,” or “It cost an arm and a leg.”
• exaggeration

Question 17

Oxymoron

Answer 17

• a figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings, like “old news,” “deafening silence,” or “organized chaos.”

Question 18

Pun

Answer 18

• a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.

Question 19

Motif

Answer 19

• A motif is any distinctive feature or idea that recurs across a story; often, it helps develop other narrative elements such as theme or mood. A narrative motif can be created through the use of imagery, structural components, language, and other elements throughout literature.

Question 20

Soliloquy

Answer 20

• an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.

Question 21

Simile

Answer 21

• a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid (e.g., as brave as a lion, crazy like a fox )

Question 22

Allegory

Answer 22

• is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance