Lit Terms Flashcards
Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together
Alliteration
Reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science , or other branch of culture
Allusion
Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike
Analogy
Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something., often shows character of an individual
Anecdote
Repetition of words in successive clauses in revers grammatical order “One should eat to live, not live to eat”
Atimetabole
Attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object. Also called _
Anthropomorphism
Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing , or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it’s called invocation
Apostrophe
The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together
Assonance
Commas used without conjunction in a series of words
Asyndeton
In poetry, a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first, but with parts reversed “flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike” is also _ in prose writing
Chiasmus
Is a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing, but is inappropriate for formal situations
Colloquialisms
Is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse
Cliché
Conflict that can exist between two people, a person and nature or a machine or between as person if a whole society
External conflict
A conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces within a persons mind
Internal Conflict
The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase , in addition to its strict dictionary definition
Connotation
A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area
Dialect
A speaker or writer’s choice of words
Diction
A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society
Epic
One of the four forms of discourse which uses logic, ethics, and emotional appeals (logos ethos, and pathos) to develop an effective means to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way
Argumentation
Relies more on emotional appeals than on facts
Persuasion
Form of persuasion that appeals to reason instead of emotion to convince an audience to think or act in a certain way.
Argument
One of the four major forms of discourse, in which something is explained or “set forth”
Exposition
The form of discourse that tells about a series of events
Narrative
A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time
Flashback
The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience.
Imagery
A discrepancy between appearances and reality
Irony
Occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.
Verbal Irony
Takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.
Situational Irony
Is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.
Dramatic Irony
Poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating and effect of surprise and wit. “The apparition of these faces inthe crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough.” “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Juxtaposition
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.
Metaphor
Does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison :I like to see it lap the miles” is an _ in which the verb lap implies a comparison between “it” and some animal that “laps” up water
Implied Metaphor
Is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (conceit if it is quite elaborate).
Extended Metaphor
Is a metaphor that has been used so oftern that the comparison is no longer vivid: “The head of the house”, “The seat of the government”, “a knotty problem” are all _ metaphors
Dead Metaphor
Is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. “The President is a lame duck who is running out of gas”
Mixed Metaphor
An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected.
Mood
A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the owkr by typing the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. Kurt Vonnegut uses “So it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death.
Motif
The use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pew Pew Pew Pew Pew ‘Murica”
Onomatopoeia
A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. “Jumbo Shrimp.” Pretty ugly.” “Bitter-Sweet”
Oxymoron
A statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth
Paradox
the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.
Parallel Structure
A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes
Personification
The series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline.
Plot
Introduces characters, situation, and settings
Exposition
Complications in conflict and situations
Rising Action
The vantage point from which the writer tells the story
Point of view
One of the characters tells the story.
First Person Point of View
An unknown narrator, tells the story, but this narrator zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings of only one character.
Third Person Point of View
An all knowing narrator tells the story, also using the third person pronouns. This narrator, instead of focusing on one character only, often tells us everything about many characters.
Omniscient Point of View
A narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events
Objective Point of View
Sentence which uses a conjunction with No commas to separate the items in a series . This Dang vocab list goes ON and ON and ON and ON and ON and ON.
Polysyndeton
The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or anti-hero; in a tragic hero, like John Proctor of the Crucible, there is always a hamartia, or tragic flaw in his character which will lead to his downfall
Protagonist
A “Play on words”
Pun
A rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.
Rhythm
Art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.
Rhetoric
A figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles
Simile
A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.
Soliloquy
A fixed idea or conception of a character or an idea which does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices
Stereotype
The distinctive way in which a writer uses language: a writer’s distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax.
Style
The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work
Theme
The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.
Tone
A statement that says less than what is ment
Understatement
The language spoken by the people who live in a particular locality.
Vernacular
Be warning of: to indicate or suggest something, usually something unpleasant, that is going to happen
Foreshadowing
