Literary Terms Flashcards
What is Author’s purpose?
The reason the author writes
Ex: To inform, entertain, or persuade
What are Rhetorical Devices?
Techniques writers use to enhance their writing and communicate more effectively
Ex: Repetition or Parallelism
What is Symbol?
A person, place, object, or activity that stands for something else.
Ex: The bird from “Night Calls” symbolizes hope for the girls and her father’s relationship.
What is Theme?
Underlying message / Central idea
Ex: love, war, betrayal
What is Inference?
A prediction / logical assumption
Ex: If someone slams a door, you can infer that they are either upset or angry.
What is Parallelism?
Pattern of words or sentence structure
Ex: Let it snow, Let it go
What is Repetition?
Repeat of a sound or word for emphasis
Ex: Its okay not to be okay
What is Text Structure?
Arrangement of the story Ex: -sequence/process -description -time order/chronology -proposition/support -compare/contrast -problem/solution -cause/effect
What is a Simile?
Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things; using “like” or “as”
Ex: Her blue-eyed stare was cold as ice.
What is Supporting Textual Evidence?
Facts in writing and the strategies used to figure out weather or not the information is factual.
Ex: On page 9 in line 5-10, the text states, “….” This evidence means….
What is a Metaphor?
Figure of speech that compares two things; stating one is the other
Ex: John’s suggestion was just a Band-Aid for the problem.
What is claim / Point of View?
Claim: Argument made by the writer or speaker Point of View: A particular attitude or way of considering a matter. Ex: Point of the argument, first person ( I ), third person (They)
What is Mood?
The overall feeling or atmosphere of the story
Ex: In a thriller most readers will feel some sort of suspense
What is Foreshadowing?
A warning or indication of a future event
Ex: certain colors or animals, “I have a bad feeling about this…”
What is a Extended Metaphor?
A metaphor introduced and then further developed throughout all or part of a literary work.
Ex: poems
What is Pace?
The speed the story is moving for the reader; the speed the plot unfolds
Ex: the plots unfolds quickly or slowly
What is the Author’s Tone?
The mood implied by an author’s word choice and way that the text can make the reader feel
Ex: -airy -comic -condescending -funny
-heavy -intimate -facetious
What is Irony?
Verbal: occurs when a speaker’s intention is the opposite of what he or she is saying
Ex: a character stepping out into a hurricane and saying, “What nice weather we’re having!”
Situational: occurs when the actual result of a situation is totally different from what you’d expect it to be
Ex: A fire station burning down
Dramatic: the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Ex: Girl in a horror film hides in a closet where the killer just went (the audience knows the killer is there, but she does not).
What is figurative language?
Creates comparisons by linking the senses and the concrete to abstract ideas.
Ex: This coffee shop is an icebox!
What is fortune’s fool?
Romeo believes he is being used for the god’s entertainment, like a fool in a royal court.
Ex:
Benvolio:Romeo, away, be gone! The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain. Stand not amaz’d, the Prince will doom thee death If thou art taken. Hence be gone, away!
Romeo: O, I am fortune’s fool!
What is a tragic hero?
A character in a dramatic tragedy who has virtuous and sympathetic traits but ultimately meets with suffering or defeat.
Ex: iron man
What is foil?
Prevent something considered wrong or undesirable from succeeding. A character who is presented as a contrast to a second character so as to point to or show to advantage some aspect of the second character.
Ex: In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is famous for being Romeo’s foil character. While Romeo is a whimsical lover, Mercutio doesn’t see the big deal. In fact, he’s skeptical of love. Romeo is anything but, and it shows. Their opposite attitudes about love make them foil characters, and Mercutio’s “whatever” attitude works to show the depth of Romeo’s feelings.
What is a pun?
A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings.
Ex: Santa Claus’ helpers are known as subordinate Clauses.
What is a tragic flaw?
A flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy.
Ex: cowardice, ambition, over-protectiveness, and self-sacrifice.
