Literary Terms

Question 1

Act:

Answer 1

One of the main structural divisions of a drama.

Question 2

Action:

Answer 2

The physical/mental events that occur in a narrative.

Question 3

Allegory:

Answer 3

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Question 4

Alliteration:

Answer 4

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words.

Question 5

Allusion:

Answer 5

A reference to any element from history, literature, or other recognizable media.

Question 6

Ambiguity:

Answer 6

An intentional vagueness in writing.

Question 7

Analogy:

Answer 7

An expository technique where a comparison is made to help simply a difficult topic.

Question 8

Analysis:

Answer 8

Literary criticism.

Question 9

Anecdote:

Answer 9

A short narrative embedded in non-narrative work used to introduce a topic leading to a thesis. Often comedic.

Question 10

Antagonist:

Answer 10

“The Bad Guy”

Question 11

Antecedent Action:

Answer 11

Action that occurred before the story begins.

Question 12

Anti-climax (bathos):

Answer 12

The failure of a passage to fulfill a reader after intense buildup.

Question 13

Anti-hero:

Answer 13

A protagonist who shows ignoble quality but still manages to get us to sympathize with them.

Question 14

Antithesis:

Answer 14

The close placement of contrasting ideas in parallel grammatical structure.

Question 15

Apostrophe:

Answer 15

Speaking to someone as if they were present or addressing non-human things as if they were alive.

Question 16

Argument:

Answer 16

Made to have the reader pick a side.

Question 17

Audience:

Answer 17

The reader.

Question 18

Aside:

Answer 18

In a play, a short passage spoken by a character to himself or another character where others are not to hear.

Question 19

Assonance:

Answer 19

Repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighbouring words.

Question 20

Balance:

Answer 20

Expression of two ideas or images parallel in grammatical structure to emphasize contrasting or similar ideas.

Question 21

Cacophony (dissonance):

Answer 21

The use of words that are considered harch in sound.

Question 22

Caricature:

Answer 22

A character presented by deliberate and comic distortion of a real person.

Question 23

Carpe diem:

Answer 23

A Latin phrase which means “seize the day”

Question 24

Catharsis:

Answer 24

Feeling emotional release and cleansing.

Question 25

Characterization:

Answer 25

The description of a character.

Question 26

Chorus:

Answer 26

People who address both the audience and the play.

Question 27

Clarity:

Answer 27

The clearness in writing.

Question 28

Classic (noun):

Answer 28

A well-known and recognized piece of literature.

Question 29

Classicism:

Answer 29

Classical literature was made with the artistic ideals of ancient times.

Question 30

Cliche:

Answer 30

An expression that is overused and unmeaningful.

Question 31

Climax:

Answer 31

Height of the events.

Question 32

Coherence:

Answer 32

Writing that flows.

Question 33

Colloquialism:

Answer 33

Slang words.

Question 34

Comedy:

Answer 34

Amusment content.

Question 35

Comic relief:

Answer 35

A humourous scene meant to downplay seriousness of an issue.

Question 36

Complication:

Answer 36

An obstacle.

Question 37

Conflict:

Answer 37

The overall struggle

Question 38

Connotation:

Answer 38

The extra possible meanings of a word based on context.

Question 39

Consonance:

Answer 39

Repetition of initial, / middle, / final consonant sounds in neighbouring words.

Question 40

Context:

Answer 40

The information in the background.

Question 41

Denotation:

Answer 41

The literal meaning of a word.

Question 42

Deus ex machina:

Answer 42

Sudden unexplained turn of events.

Question 43

Enjambment:

Answer 43

The opposite of an end-stopped line.

Question 44

Fable:

Answer 44

A short allegorical narrative which instructs moral lesson.

Question 45

Fallacy:

Answer 45

A fault in an argument.

Question 46

Farce:

Answer 46

Hearty, simple comedy.

Question 47

Hubris:

Answer 47

Pride in the form of arrogant self-confidence.

Question 48

Malapropism:

Answer 48

A blunder in writing caused by the substitution of a word that is similar in sound but different in meaning.

Question 49

Melodrama:

Answer 49

Exagerated emotions, clear good and bad characters, cheesy.

Question 50

Menotnymy (Synecdoche):

Answer 50

One element of structure is used to represent an entire element. (A book represents intelligence)

Question 51

Motif:

Answer 51

A recurring and symbolically significant element.

Question 52

Rhetoric:

Answer 52

Verbal expression.

Question 53

Soliloquy:

Answer 53

An extended speech by a character, alone, in a drama.

Question 54

Syntax:

Answer 54

The ordering of sequences of words into phrases and sentences.