Literarure Key Terms and Concepts

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

A reference in a work of literature that is in regards to something that is in fact outside the literature (frequent cases are references to famous historical events or other pieces of highly regarded literature)

Question 2

Attitude

Answer 2

A spoken author or characters disposition

Question 3

Autobiography

Answer 3

Authors account of his or her own life

Question 4

Biography

Answer 4

An accurate history of a single person

Question 5

Climax

Answer 5

Point of highest interest in the novel. The turning point.

Question 6

Connotation

Answer 6

The implication of a word or phrase as oppose to its exact meaning

Question 7

Denotation

Answer 7

A words exact meaning

Question 8

Diction

Answer 8

Word choice

Question 9

Euphemism

Answer 9

A figure of speech using indirection to avoid offensive bluntness

Question 10

Figurative Language

Answer 10

Writing that uses figures of speech (as appose to literal language). Examples would be using metaphors or similes to construct figurative language

Question 11

Genre

Answer 11

A literary form such as an essay novel or poem

Question 12

Hyperbole

Answer 12

Deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

Question 13

Imagery

Answer 13

The images of literary work. The sensory details of a work. The figurative language of a work.

Question 14

Irony

Answer 14

A figure out of speech in which intent and actual meaning differ (essentially the book says irony is sarcasm).

Question 15

Jargon

Answer 15

The special language of a profession or group

Question 16

Literal

Answer 16

Not figurative. Accurate to the letter. Matter of fact of concrete.

Question 17

Lyrical

Answer 17

Song like. Characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination.

Question 18

Metaphor

Answer 18

A figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term to describe a relation.

Question 19

Narrative Technique

Answer 19

The methods involved in telling a story

Question 20

Novel

Answer 20

A fictional narrative in prose of a considerable length

Question 21

Omniscient point of view

Answer 21

Vantage point that is essentially all knowing and able to skip around to any period anytime

Question 22

Oxymoron

Answer 22

The union of contradictory terms

Question 23

Parable

Answer 23

A story designed to suggest a principle or illustrate a moral

Question 24

Paradox

Answer 24

A statement that seems to be self contradicting but is in fact true

Question 25

Parody

Answer 25

A composition that imitates the style of another composition (often in a joking manner)

Question 26

Personification

Answer 26

A figurative use of language that endows non-humans humanistic qualities or characteristics

Question 27

Plot

Answer 27

The interrelated action of play or novel that move to the climax and final resolution

Question 28

Vantage point

Answer 28

Literary point of view

Question 29

Rhetorical question

Answer 29

A question asked for effect

Question 30

Rhetorical technique

Answer 30

Devils used in effective or persuasive language (contrast, understatement, sarcasm, rhetorical questions, etc)

Question 31

Satire

Answer 31

Writing that seeks to arouse the readers disapproval by ridicule

Question 32

Setting

Answer 32

The background to the story

Question 33

Simile

Answer 33

A direct expressed comparison usually using “like” “as” or “than”

Question 34

Soliloquy

Answer 34

A speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud

Question 35

Strategy

Answer 35

Rhetorical strategy (the management of language for a specific effect).

Question 36

Structure

Answer 36

The arrangement of materials within a work, the relationships between parts of a work in regards to the work as a whole

Question 37

Style

Answer 37

The mode of expression in language

Question 38

Syllogism

Answer 38

A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them

Question 39

Symbol

Answer 39

Something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else

Question 40

Theme

Answer 40

The main thought expressed by a work

Question 41

Thesis

Answer 41

The theme meaning or position a writer undertakes to prove or support

Question 42

Tone

Answer 42

The manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude

Question 43

Tragedy

Answer 43

Now defined as a play with serous content and an unhappy ending

Question 44

Allegory

Answer 44

A story where people, things, or events have another meaning