Lit Terms 1-20 Flashcards
- Allegory
In the Faerie Queen characters are used as allegorical figures such as Una who represents truth.
A story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts
- Age of Reason
Writers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes and philosophers such as Newton and Bacon were a part of the Age of Reason.
any period in history, especially the 18th century in France, England, etc., characterized by a critical approach to religious, social, and philosophical matters that seeks to repudiate beliefs or systems no based on or justifiable by reason. Also known as the Enlightenment
- Alliteration
The little lion laid on the lazy field of loose grass.
The repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another.
- Allusion
The sportscasters predicted the underdogs to win in a David vs. Goliath match up.
A reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or popular culture.
- Ambiguity
The dog runs the store.
deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work
- Analogy
The alarm was as loud as a truck’s horn!
A comparison of two things to show that they are alike in certain respects
- Anaphora
Oh my, that dog is big. Oh my, that was the tastiest food I’ve ever had.
repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row
- Anecdote
Grandma told a long anecdote about growing up in the Philippines.
A brief and sometimes witty story that focuses on a single interesting incident or event, often in order to make a point or teach a moral lesson.
- Antagonist
Harry Potter is the main character that fights for good in the Harry Potter books.
The character or force that opposes or blocks the protagonist, or main character, in a narrative
- Antithesis
“It was the best of times, It was the worst of times”
A contrast of ideas expressed in a grammatically balanced statement.
- Apostrophe
John kept telling the beeping alarm,” I know. I know” as if it could respond back to him.
A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something non-human as if it were present and capable of responding.
- Aside
Iago delivers many asides during the play Othello in which he talks to himself on stage.
Private words that a character in a play speaks to the audience or to another character and that are not supposed to be overheard by others onstage.
- Assonance
Go move the moat!
The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together.
- Ballad
The popular song was really a ballad about her broken heart.
A song or songlike poem that tells a story.
- Blank Verse
Shakespeare doesn’t write in blank verse.
The leaves fall, the wind whips, and yet the sun shines.
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
- Chiasmus
Do you run because you’re scared, or scared to stop running?
in poetry, a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balance against the first, but with the parts reversed
- Climax
The climax occurred when Daniel shot his wife.
The point of greatest emotional intensity or suspense in a plot when the outcome of the conflict becomes known.
- Conceit
A good doctor is like a nice chair.
A fanciful and elaborate figure of speech that makes a surprising connection between two seemingly dissimilar things.
- Connotation
The man came from Beverly Hills and thought he was above every one.
All the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to a word
- Denotation
hypotension: low blood pressure or a decrease in blood pressure
The literal, dictionary definition of a word.
