English Praxis > Literary Terminology > Flashcards

Literary Terminology Flashcards

(111 cards)

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1
Q

Allegory

A

A story in which people represent an idea or a generalization about life.

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2
Q

Alliteration

A

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in words.

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3
Q

Allusion

A

A reference to a familiar person, place, or thing, or event.

Ex: Brave new world

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4
Q

Analogy

A

A comparison of objects or ideas that appear to be different but are alike in some important way.

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5
Q

Anapestic meter

A

Meter that is composed of feet that are short-short-long.

Ex: contradict

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6
Q

Anaphora

A

Repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of several clauses.

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7
Q

Anecdote

A

A brief story that illustrates or makes a point

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8
Q

Antagonist

A

Person working against the protagonist. The anti hero

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9
Q

Anthropomorphism

A

Writer attributes human characteristics to an animate being or an inanimate object.

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10
Q

Antithesis

A

A contrast or opposition between two things

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11
Q

Anxiety of influence

A

Way of interpreting poetry.

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12
Q

Aphorism

A

A wise saying, usually short and witty.

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13
Q

Apostrophe

A

A turn from the general audience to address a specific group of persons.

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14
Q

Archetype

A

A character, plot, image, theme, or setting that appears in literature across cultures and is repeated over time

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15
Q

Assonance

A

A repetition of the same sound in words close to one another.

Ex: white stripes

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16
Q

Blank verse

A

I rhymed verse, most often occurring in iambic pentameter

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17
Q

Cadence

A

The natural rhythmic rise and fall of language as it is normally spoken

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18
Q

Caesura

A

A break in the rhythm of language, particularly, a natural pause in a line of verse

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19
Q

Canon

A

A group of literary works considered by some to be central or authoritative to the literary tradition

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20
Q

Characterization

A

A method an author uses to let readers know more about the characters and their personal traits

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21
Q

Cliche

A

An expression that has been used so often that it loses its expressive power.

Ex: I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

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22
Q

Conceit

A

A specific type of metaphor of figure of speech, often elaborate, that compares two things that are very different.

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23
Q

Consonance

A

Repetition of the final consonant sounds in words containing different vowels.

Ex: stroke of luck

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24
Q

Couplet

A

A stanza made up of two rhyming lines

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25
Dactyl
A metrical foot of three syllables in which the first syllable is stressed and the next two are unstressed
26
Denouement
The resolution of conclusion of a story
27
Dialect
A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain region or social group
28
Diction
An author’s choice of words
29
Archaic
Old-fashioned words that are no longer used in common speech Ex: thee, thy, thou
30
Colloquialism
Expressions that usually are accepted in informal situations or regions Ex: wicked awesome
31
Jargon
Specialized language used in a particular field or content area
32
Doublespeak
Language that intentionally distorts or disguised meaning. Ex: passed away instead of dies
33
End rhyme
Rhyming that occurs at the end of lines of verse
34
Enjambment
Also known as a run-on line in poetry, enjambment occurs when one line ends and continues onto the next line to complete the meaning
35
Epithet
A descriptive phrase or word frequently used to characterize a person or thing Ex: Father of psychology
36
Euphemism
A word or phrase that substitutes for an offensive or suggestive one Ex: lost their lives means killed
37
Existentialism
A philosophy that values human freedom and personal responsibility
38
Flashback
A literary device in which the author jumps back in time in the chronology of a narrative
39
Foil
A character who acts in contrast to another character
40
Foot
A metrical foot is one stressed syllable and a number of unstressed syllables
41
Foreshadowing
A literary technique in which the author gives hints or clues about what is to come at some later point in the story
42
Frame story
A literary device in which a story is enclosed in another story
43
Free verse
Verse that contains an irregular metrical pattern and line length
44
Genre
A category of literature defined by its style, form, or content
45
Hermeneutics
The art of science of text international
46
Heroic couplet
A pair of rhyming lines of poetic verse written in iambic pentameter
47
Hubis
The flaw that leads to the downfall of a tragic hero
48
Hyperbole
An exaggeration for emphasis or rhetorical effect
49
Idiom
An expression specific to a certain language that means something different from the literal meaning
50
Imagery
The use of words to create pictures or arouse senses in the reader’s mind
51
Incongruity
The joining of opposites
52
Interior monologue
A narrative technique that reveals a character’s internal thoughts and memories
53
Internal rhyme
A rhyme that occurs within a line of verse
54
Intertextuality
The relationship between texts.
55
Irony
The use of a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or expected meaning.
56
Dramatic irony
The reader sees a character’s errors, but the character does not.
57
Verbal irony
The writer says one thing and means another
58
Situational irony
The purpose of a particular action differs greatly from the result
59
Malapropism
A type of pun or play on words that results when two words become mixed up in the speakers mind.
60
Metaphor
Comparison is made between two unlike things
61
Meter
A rhythmical pattern in verse that is made up of stressed and unstressed syllables.
62
Metonymy
A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. Ex: Hollywood for Los Angeles
63
Mood
The feeling a text evokes in the reader. Ex: sadness
64
Moral
A lesson a work of literature is teaching.
65
Motif
A term for themes or ideas that are often repeated in a literary work
66
Narration
The telling of the story
67
Oedipus complex
A complex set of emotions based on sexual attraction to their parent of the opposite sex
68
Onomatopoeia
The use of words to suggest sounds Ex: buzz, click
69
Oxymoron
A phrase that consists of two contradictory terms Ex: jumbo shrimp Deafening silence
70
Paradox
A contradictory statement that makes sense. Ex: man learns from history that man learns nothing from history
71
Pathetic fallacy
The attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals
72
Personification
A literary device in which animals, ideas, and things are represented as having human traits
73
Point of view
The perspective from which a story is told
74
First person point of view
The story is told from the point of view of one character in the story
75
Third person
The story is told by someone outside the story
76
Omniscient
The narrator of the story shared the thoughts and feelings of all the characters God-like
77
Limited omniscient
The narrator shares the thoughts and feelings of one character
78
Camera views
The narrator records the action from his or her point of view, unaware of any of the other characters thoughts or feelings. Objective view
79
Pun
A play on words based on multiple meanings or on words that sound alike but have different meanings Ex: Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt
80
Refrain
The repetition of a line or phrase of a poem at regular intervals
81
Repetition
The multiple use of a word, phrase, or idea for emphasis or rhythmic effect
82
Rhetoric
Persuasive writing
83
Rhetorical question
Question that is posed but doesn’t actually require an answer
84
Rhyme
Repetition of sounds in two or more words, usually at end of line, but not always
85
Rhythm
The regular or random pattern of sounds in poetry
86
Setting
Time and place in which action of a fictional work takes place
87
Simile
Comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”
88
Slant rhyme
A rhyme that is not exact such as “Queen” and “Afternoon”
89
Soliloquy
A long speech made in a play while no other characters are speaking.
90
Spondee
A metrical foot consisting of two syllables, both which are stressed
91
Stanza
A division of poetry named for the number of lines it contains ``` Couplet: 2 lines Triplet: 3 lines Quatrain: 4 lines Quintet: 5 lines Sestet: 6 lines Septet: 7 lines Octave: 8 lines ```
92
Stream of consciousness
A style of writing that portrays the inner thoughts of a character
93
Style
How the author uses words, phrases, and sentences to form ideas
94
Symbol
A person, place, thing, or event used to represent something else
95
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part represents a whole
96
Synesthesia
The juxtaposition of one sensory image with another that appeals to an unrelated sense.
97
Tone
The overall feeling created by an author’s use of words
98
Total effect
The overall impression a literary work leaves on the reader
99
Transcendtalism
Their philosophy focuses on protesting Puritan ethics and materialism. They valued individualism, freedom, experimentation, and spirituality
100
Trochee
A metrical foot made up of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable
101
Vernacular
Language spoken by people who live in a particular region
102
Verse
A metric line of poetry. A verse is named based on the kind a number
103
Voice
Distinctive features of a persons speech and speech pattern
104
Semantics
How something works in a sentence
105
Diagraph
2 letters that create one sound
106
Dangling modifier
Doesn’t have a subject
107
Formative assessment
Day-to-day assessing
108
Summarize assessment
End of chapter or unit
109
Jigsaw
Differing portions of reading Puts group me of people who read, partially read, and didn’t read at all
110
Portmanteau
Blending distinct form of words
111
Ebonics
American black English regarded as a language in its own right rather than as a dialect of standard English
English Praxis
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