Literary Terms Flashcards
What is the authors purpose?
The reason an author writes.
Persuade
Inform
Explain
Entertain
What are Rhetorical Devices?
Figurative language such as repition or parallelism to effect and audience.
EX:Repition, Figurative Language
What are symbols?
An object,person, place stands for something else.
EX: Dove=peace , Eagle=Freedom, Snake=Evil, Owl=Wisdom
What is a theme?
The authors message he/she wants the reader to understand.
EX: Return evil with good, Relationships are complicated
What is an inference?
A prediction in the story; logical assumption
EX:If someone eats something and makes a face. Then you can infer they dont like it.
What is Parallelism?
A pattern of words or sentence structure.
EX:We cannot dedicate-We cannot consercrate-We cannot hallow
What is repetition?
To repeat a sound or word for emphasis.
EX:We-shows unity
What is text structure?
arrangments of the story;novel,poem, essay.
EX: Sequence, description, choronical order, compare/contrast, cause/effect
What is a Simile?
Comparing to things using LIKE or AS.
EX:As brave AS a lion. , Crazy LIKE a fox.
What is supporting textual evidence?
Material to prove a claim.
EX: claim=Return evil with good
evedince=In page 21 line 56-60 Clinton says ¨let usteach our children better…¨
What is a metaphor?
Comparing two things WITHOUT using LIKE or AS.
EX: raining cats and dogs
What is a Claim/point of view?
A point to support or prove an argument.
EX:
What is a mood?
Embodies the overall felling or atmosphere of the work.
EX:sadness, anxious, sense of worry
What is foreshadowing?
litetary device used to givean indication or hint of what is to some later in the story.
EX: The cenocors book says¨he is going to find his own letter¨
What is an extended metaphor?
A version of metaphor that extends over the course of multiple lines, paragraphs, stanzas or prose of potery.
EX: Hope is the thing with feathers
What is pace?
The speed at which the story is told.
EX: In the cencor book, the pace changed from slow to fast becuase it should how he got promoted fast so the pace skipped to when he got promoted.
What is authors tone?
The mood implied by an authors word choice and the way that the text can make a reader feel.
EX: cynical, depressed, sympathetic, cheerful, outraged, positive, angry, sarcastic
What is Irony: verbal/situational?
When the actual results of a situation is tottally different from what you´d expect the results to be.
EX: Verbal Irony-When what is said is the opposite of what is meant. Situational Irony- when the reader or charater expects something to happen but something else happens instead.
what is Figurative Language?
creates comparisons by linking the senses and the concrete to abstract ideas.
EX:simile,metaphor, personification
What is Fortune’s fool?
thinks of the consequences of his actions as caused by fate or luck.
EX:Romeo: O, I am fortune’s fool! … Romeo, for example, simply by defending himself against Tybalt, a Capulet and therefore a blood enemy, becomes an outlaw.
What is a Tragic Hero?
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:Romeo is seen as a tragic hero because of the many examples of his good and bad character. … Romeo loves Juliet with kindness and generosity, but to love her is forbidden.
What is Foil?
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:used to compare the each other and highlight particular qualities and character traits. Must have some similarities in order for the reader to compare them
what is Pun?
Puns involve words with similar or identical sounds but with different meanings.
EX:is in act 3, scene 1, when Mercutio famously makes a pun as he is dying, saying that he will be a “grave man” tomorrow.
what is Dramatic Irony?
a literary device by which the audience’s or reader’s understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters.
EX:Romeo returns to Verona. He find Juliet drugged, in a death-like sleep. He assumes she is dead and kills himself.
What is Tragic Flaw?
a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy.
