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CLEP American Lit > Literary Terms > Flashcards

Literary Terms Flashcards

1
Q

Allegory

A

a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation

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2
Q

Alliteration

A

the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words

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3
Q

Allusion

A

a statement that refers to something without mentioning it directly

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4
Q

Amplification

A

use of bare expressions, likely to be ignored or misunderstood by a hearer or reader because of the bluntness. Emphasis through restatement with additional details.

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5
Q

Anagram

A

a word or phrase made by transposing the letters.

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6
Q

Analogy

A

the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship.

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7
Q

Anaphora

A

One of the devices of repetition, in which the same phrase is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines.

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8
Q

Animism

A

the belief that all plants, animals, and objects have spirits

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9
Q

Anthropomorphism

A

an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics

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10
Q

Aphorism

A

a short phrase that expresses a true or wise idea ( life is short )

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11
Q

Archetype

A

the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies

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12
Q

Assonance

A

the repetition of vowel sounds but not consonant sounds as in consonance.

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13
Q

Asyndeton

A

Omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses (opposite of polysyndeton). (“I came, I saw, I conquered.”)

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14
Q

Bibliomancy

A

prediction based on a Bible verse or literary passage chosen at random.

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15
Q

Cacophony

A

harsh, discordant sounds. (finger of birth-strangled babe)

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16
Q

Caesura

A

a natural pause or break

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17
Q

Characterization

A

method used by a writer to develop a character.

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18
Q

Chiasmus

A

type of rhetoric in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first. (“There’s a bridge to cross the great divide. . . .There’s a cross to bridge the great divide. . . .”)

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19
Q

Circumlocution

A

the use of many words to say something that could be said more clearly and directly by using fewer words

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20
Q

Conflict

A

the struggle found in fiction. Conflict/Plot may be internal or external and is best seen in (1) Man in conflict with another Man: (2) Man in conflict in Nature; (3) Man in conflict with self.

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21
Q

Connotation

A

is an implied meaning of a word. (Good night, sweet prince)

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22
Q

Consonance

A

is the repetition of consonant sounds, but not vowels, as in assonance. (lady lounges lazily , dark deep dread crept in)

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23
Q

Denotation

A

the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning. Opposite of connotation. (Good night, sweet prince, )

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24
Q

Epilogue

A

a concluding part added to a literary work, as a novel.

2.a speech, usually in verse, delivered by one of the actors after the conclusion of a play.

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25
Epithet
An epithet is a word which makes the reader see the object described in a clearer or sharper light. ( "frantic" wind, "whipped" clouds, and "panicky" trees)
26
Euphemism
the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.
27
Euphony
Euphony is soothing pleasant sounds. Opposite of cacophony.
28
Fable
a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue:
29
Foil
a character that contrasts second character that highlights certain qualities of that first character
30
Foreshadowing
the use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature
31
Hyperbaton
the use, especially for emphasis, of a word order other than the expected or usual one, as in “Bird thou never wert.”
32
Hyperbole
an exaggeration or overstatement. | I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
33
Image
language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching.
34
Internal Rhyme
rhyming within a line. (I awoke to black flak.)
35
Inversion
Grammar. any change from a basic word order or syntactic sequence, as in the placement of a subject after an auxiliary verb in a question or after the verb in an exclamation, as “When will you go?” and “How beautiful is the rose!”.
36
Irony
1. verbal irony is when an author says one thing and means something else. 2. dramatic irony is when an audience perceives something that a character in the literature does not know. 3. irony of situation is a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results.
37
Juxtaposition
when one theme or idea or person or whatever is paralleled to another
38
Kenning
a conventional poetic phrase used for or in addition to the usual name of a person or thing, especially in Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon verse, as “a wave traveler” for “a boat.”.
39
Malapropism
an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.
40
Metaphor
the comparison of two UNLIKE things.
41
Metonymy
substituting a word for another word closely associated with it.
42
Motif
* A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work. * A dominant theme or central idea.
43
Mood
the emotional attitude the author takes towards hir subject. Similar to Tone.
44
Onomatopoeia
a word that imitates the sound it represents.
45
Oxymoron
putting two contradictory words together.
46
Parable
1. a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. 2. a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison, analogy, or the like.
47
Paradox
reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory. Two opposing ideas. (Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage. Akin to Oxymoron.)
48
Personification
giving human qualities to animals or objects. | a smiling moon, a jovial sun
49
Polysyndeton
the use of several conjunctions in close succession, esp where some might be omitted (as in he ran and jumped and laughed for joy)
50
Portmanteau
combination of two or more words to create a new word. | smog is the combination of smoke and fog
51
Prologue
1. a preliminary discourse; a preface or introductory part of a discourse, poem, or novel. 2. an introductory speech,
52
Pun
the humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words.
53
Rhyme Scheme
``` rhymed words at the ends of lines. Example: Roses are red Violents are blue Sugar is sweet And so are you. ```
54
RHYTHM & RHYME
a pattern of words that contain similar sounds. Example: go/show/glow/know/though
55
Satire
Satire arouses laughter or scorn as a means of ridicule and derision, with the avowed intention of correcting human faults. Common targets of satire include individuals ("personal satire"), types of people, social groups, institutions, and human nature
56
Setting
is determining Time and Place in fiction.
57
Simile
the comparison of two unlike things using like or as. Related to metaphor Example: He eats like a pig. Vines like golden prisons.
58
Spoonerism
the shuffling of the first letters of words to make different words and therefore change the actual meaning of the sentence, or else produce a humorous, non-sensical sound. (Rather than "I have to blow my nose", "I have to nose my blows".)
59
Stanza
a unified group of lines in poetry.
60
Symbol
using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning.
61
Synecdoche
when one uses a part to represent the whole (lend me your ears)
62
Synesthesia
the conflation of the senses.
63
Syntax
1 a : the way in which linguistic elements (as words) are put together to form constituents (as phrases or clauses) b : the part of grammar dealing with this 2 : a connected or orderly system : harmonious arrangement of parts or elements 3 : syntactics especially as dealing with the formal properties of languages or calculi
64
Theme
the general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express.
65
Tone
the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective. Similar to Mood
66
Tragedy
the imitation of an action that is serious | and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself
67
Verisimilitude
2. Something that has the appearance of being true or real.
68
Verse
a line of poetry

CLEP American Lit (1 decks)

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