Literary Terms Flashcards
1
Q
A type of detail that discusses intangible questions like good and evil
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Abstract
2
Q
In drama, a grouping of scenes
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Act
3
Q
A verb construction in which the subject performs the action
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Active Voice
4
Q
Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close together
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Alliteration
5
Q
Reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something
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Allusion
6
Q
A comparison made between two things to show how they are alike
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Analogy
7
Q
The repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent.
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Anaphora
8
Q
A brief story told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows the character of an individual
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Anecdote
9
Q
An opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero in a story
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Antagonist
10
Q
Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure
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Antithesis
11
Q
Calling out to an imaginary dead or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation
A
Apostrophe
12
Q
A typical character, action, or situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature. (ex: hero, mentor, devil)
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Archetype
13
Q
The main statement of a poem, essay, a short story which usually appears as an introduction, or a point on which the writer will develop his work in order to convince his readers
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Argument
14
Q
Occurs when a writer displays a partiality for or prejudice against someone, something or some idea
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Argumentation bias
15
Q
A characters quiet remark to the audience or another character that no one else on the stage is supposed to hear
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Aside
16
Q
The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are together
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Assonance
17
Q
a writing style where conjunctions are omitted in a series of words, phrases, or clauses. It is used to shorten a sentence and focus on its meaning. Ex. “I came, I saw, I conquered” – Julius Caesar
A
ASYNDETON
18
Q
the author’s reason for or intent in writing the work
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AUTHOR’S PURPOSE
19
Q
a poem that retells a legend or a folktale
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BALLAD
20
Q
unrhymed iambic pentameter
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BLANK VERSE
21
Q
a listing of the characters in a play, often with a short description next to the name
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CAST OF CHARACTERS
22
Q
the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.
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CHARACTERIZATION
23
Q
the author reveals to the reader what the character is
like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature
A
INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION
24
Q
the author tells us directly what the character is like:
sneaky, generous, mean to pets and so on. Romantic style literature relied more heavily on this form
A
DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION
25
A character who does not change much in the course of a story
STATIC CHARACTER
26
A character who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.
DYNAMIC CHARACTER
27
Someone who has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.
FLAT CHARACTER
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Someone who has more dimensions to their personalities---they are complex, just as real people are.
ROUND CHARACTER
29
a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, which has become lifeless because of overuse.
CLICHE
30
a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. Example: “He’s out of his head if he thinks I’m gonna go for such a stupid idea.
COLLOQUIALISM
31
an elaborate metaphor (often extended) that compares two things that are startlingly different. Conceit examples have a surprising or shocking effect on the readers because they are novel comparisons unlike the conventional comparisons made in similes and metaphors.
CONCEIT
32
the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story.
CONFLICT
33
a conflict between two people (man vs. man), between a person and a natural occurrence (man vs. nature), or between a person and an accepted tenet of society (man vs. society).
EXTERNAL CONFLICT
34
a conflict involving opposing forces within a
| person’s mind (man vs. self).
INTERNAL CONFLICT
35
the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.
CONNOTATION
36
the repetition of consonant sounds, though not solely at the beginning of the words as in alliteration. Example: yellow lollipop
CONSONANCE
37
two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry
COUPLET
38
the dictionary definition of the word
DENOTATION
39
a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area. Example: “ya’ll” or “youse guys”
DIALECT
40
conversation between characters. In literature, it is indicated with quotation marks. In drama, it is indicated by the placement next to a character’s name
DIALOGUE
41
the splitting of a whole into two non-overlapping parts (e.g., eastern culture and western culture)
DICHOTOMY
42
a speaker or writer’s choice of words
DICTION
43
a form of literature that is performed for an audience, either on stage or before a camera
DRAMA
44
A Shakespearean Drama that in general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters.
COMEDY
45
a play that chronicles the life of an English monarch, such as Henry VIII
HISTORY (Shakespearean Drama)
46
in general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some other unhappy end
TRAGEDY (Shakespearean Drama)
47
a long narrative poem, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.
EPIC
48
a stylistic device that can be defined as the repetition of phrases or words at the ends of the clauses or sentences. Ex. “I want the best, and we need the best, and we deserve the best.” – JFK
EPISTROPHE
49
an adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of our country” and “the great Emancipator” are examples
EPITHET
A Homeric epithet is a compound adjective used with a person or thing: “swift-footed Achilles”; “rosy-fingered dawn.”
50
a short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a subject
ESSAY
51
a polite term substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Example: “passed away” instead of “died”
EUPHEMISM
52
a very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life.
FABLE
53
Words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
54
a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.
FLASHBACK
55
A character who acts as contrast to another character, often a funny side kick to the dashing hero or a villain contrasting the hero.
FOIL
56
the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.
FORESHADOWING
57
poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.
FREE VERSE
58
type of literature Ex. poetry, fiction, drama, nonfiction
GENRE
59
The physical movement of a character during a play. Used to reveal character, and may include facial expressions as well as movements of other parts of an actor's body.
GESTURE
60
a 3 line poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third
HAIKU
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a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times….”
HYPERBOLE
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An expression where the literal meaning of the words is not the meaning of the expression. Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs.
IDIOM
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the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation in the reader’s mind
IMAGERY
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the process of arriving at a conclusion using known evidence or premises and logically forming an opinion or interpretation
INFERENCE:
65
a discrepancy between appearances and reality
IRONY
VERBAL IRONY occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.
SITUATIONAL IRONY takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected
to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.
DRAMATIC IRONY is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play
or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.
66
a literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters, or actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts
JUXTAPOSITION
67
a 5 line, typically humorous poem with aabba rhyme scheme
LIMERICK
68
a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form (a double negative): Hawthorne--- “wedging their not unsubstantial persons … into the throng”
LITOTES
69
a statement that says less than what is meant (understatement). Example: During the second war with Iraq, American troops complained of a fierce sand storm that made even the night-vision equipment useless. A British commando commented about the storm: “It’s a bit breezy.”
MEIOSIS
70
a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.
METAPHOR
IMPLIED METAPHOR does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison: “I like to see it lap the miles” is an implied metaphor in which the verb lap implies a comparison between “it” and some animal that “laps” up water.
EXTENDED METAPHOR is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (called conceit if it is quite elaborate).
MIXED METAPHOR is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. “The President is a lame duck who is running out of gas.”
71
a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (the “beat” of the poem)
METER
72
a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, for example, Two
households, both alike in dignity.
IAMBIC PENTAMETER
73
a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. “We requested from the crown support for our petition.” The crown is used to represent the monarch.
METONYMY
74
An extended speech by one person.
MONOLOGUE
75
An emotion the reader feels as a result of the author’s diction and the details selected.
MOOD
76
a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. Kurt Vonnegut uses “So it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death
MOTIF
77
a lyrical poem in the form of an address to a particular subject
ODE
78
the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pop.” “Zap.”
ONOMATOPOEIA
79
a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. “Jumbo shrimp.” “Pretty ugly.” “Bitter-sweet”
OXYMORON
80
a statement or group of statements that leads to a contradiction or a situation which (if true) defies logic or reason, similar to circular reasoning (e.g., “I always lie” because if it is true, than it must also be false)
PARADOX
81
the repetition of words or phrases that have similar
| grammatical structures.
PARALLEL STRUCTURE
82
a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style.
PARODY
83
a verb construction in which the subject is acted upon Ex. The ball was hit by Timmy
PASSIVE VOICE
84
a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.
PERSONIFICATION
85
the series of related events in a story or play sometimes called the storyline
PLOT
86
the vantage point from which the writer tells the story, aka perspective.
POINT OF VIEW
87
a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect Ex. He ran and jumped and laughed
for joy
POLYSNDETON
88
the central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or anti-hero
PROTAGONIST
89
a “play on words” based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.
PUN
90
a poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.
QUATRAIN
91
a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated regularly, for effect, several times in a poem
REFRAIN
92
a literary device that repeats a word or phrase for emphasis or clarification
REPETITION
93
words that sound alike because they share the same ending vowel and consonant sounds.
RHYME
94
a rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.
RHYTHM
95
the art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.
RHETORIC
96
a question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer.
RHETORICAL QUESTION
97
a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.
SATIRE
98
In drama, the action of the play is divided into scenes. A scene changes whenever the changes.
SCENE
99
a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles.
SIMILE
100
a monologue often used in drama to reveal the innermost thoughts of a character
SOLILOQUY
101
a 14 line poem written in Iambic Pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme … the Shakespearean Sonnet Rhyme Scheme is ababcdcdefefgg
SONNET
102
In drama, the instructions for the director, the performers, and the stage crew. They are printed in italics or enclosed in (parentheses).
STAGE DIRECTIONS
103
a group of lines arranged together in a poem, similar to a paragraph in prose
STANZA
104
a fixed idea or conception of a character or an idea that does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices.
STEREOTYPE
105
the characteristic way in which a writer uses language: a writer’s distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax
STYLE
106
a feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story.
SUSPENSE
107
a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.
SYMBOL
108
a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. “If you don’t drive properly, you will lose your wheels.” The wheels represent the entire car.
SYNECDOCHE
109
the arrangement of words into a sentence; the grammatical sentence structure.
SYNTAX
110
the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work
THEME
111
the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience,
revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.
TONE
