Literary Terms Deck #2

Question 1

mode

Answer 1

a lyric poem of some length, usually of serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal structure

Question 2

onomatopoeia

Answer 2

the use of words whose sound suggest their meaning

Question 3

opinion

Answer 3

see fact and opinion

Question 4

oral history

Answer 4

stories of people’s lives related by word of mouth

Question 5

oxymoron

Answer 5

a form of figurative language combining contradictory words or ideas

Question 6

paradox

Answer 6

a statement that seems to contradict itself but is, nevertheless, true

Question 7

parallelism

Answer 7

the use of similar grammatical constructions to express ideas that are related or equal in importance

Question 8

paraphrasing

Answer 8

the restatement of a text by readers in their own words or in another form

Question 9

parody

Answer 9

a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author’s work for comic effect or ridicule

Question 10

personification

Answer 10

a figure of speech where animals, ideas, or inanimate objects are given human chatacteristics

Question 11

perspective

Answer 11

see point of view

Question 12

persuasion

Answer 12

persuasive writing is meant to sway reader’s feelings, beliefs, or actions

Question 13

play

Answer 13

see drama

Question 14

exposition

Answer 14

introduces the characters and the conflicts they face

Question 15

inciting incident

Answer 15

occurs after the exposition and introduces the central conflict within the story

Question 16

rising action

Answer 16

following the introduction of the central conflict, complications arise as the characters struggle with the conflict

Question 17

climax

Answer 17

the turning point, point of maximum interest, and highest tension in the plot of a story, play, or film.

Question 18

falling action

Answer 18

the end of the central conflict in a story, when the action starts to wind down

Question 19

resolution/denouement

Answer 19

occurs after the climax and is where conflicts are resolved and loose ends are tied up

Question 20

subplot

Answer 20

an additional minor plot that involves a secondary conflict in the story; the subplot may or may not affect the main plot

Question 21

poetry

Answer 21

a type of literature in which ideas and feelings are expressed in compact, imaginative, and often music language

Question 22

primary source

Answer 22

a first hand account of an event

Question 23

propaganda

Answer 23

text that uses false or misleading information to present a slanted point of view

Question 24

prose

Answer 24

the ordinary form of spoken and written language

Question 25

protagonist

Answer 25

see character

Question 26

questioning

Answer 26

the process of raising questions while reading in an effort to understand characters and events

Question 27

realistic fiction

Answer 27

imaginative writing set in the real, modern world.

Question 28

refrain

Answer 28

repetition in literature of one or more lines at regular intervals

Question 29

repetition

Answer 29

a technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or line is repeated for effect or emphasis

Question 30

resolution

Answer 30

see plot

Question 31

rhyme

Answer 31

repetition of an identical or similarly accented sound or sounds in a work.

Question 32

end/terminal rhyme

Answer 32

words that rhyme at the end of a verse-line

Question 33

point of view

Answer 33

perspective from which a story is told

Question 34

first person point of view

Answer 34

the person telling the story is one of the characters in the story

Question 35

second person point of view

Answer 35

refers to the use of “you” in explanations or aguments

Question 36

third person limited point of view

Answer 36

the person telling the story is not one of the characters in the story

Question 37

third person omniscient point of view

Answer 37

the narrator is not a character in the story, but the events in the story are seen through the eyes of more than one of the characters

Question 38

predicting

Answer 38

the process of gathering information and combining it with the reader’s own knowledge to guess what might occur in the story

Question 39

soliloquy

Answer 39

a speech delivered by a character who is alone on the stage

Question 40

sonnet

Answer 40

distinctive poetic style that uses a system or pattern of metrical structure and verse composition with fourteen lines

Question 41

sound devices

Answer 41

see alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, rhyme, and rhythm

Question 42

speaker

Answer 42

the voice that talks to the reader in a poem

Question 43

speech

Answer 43

a talk given in public

Question 44

stage directions

Answer 44

the instructions to the actors, director and stage crew in the script of a play

Question 45

suspense

Answer 45

a feeling of growing tension and excitement

Question 46

symbolism

Answer 46

using something specific to stand for something else, especially an idea

Question 47

synecdoche

Answer 47

a literary technique in which the whole is represented by naming one of its parts

Question 48

tall tale

Answer 48

humorously exaggerates story about impossible events

Question 49

theme

Answer 49

common thread or repeated idea that is incorporated throughout a literary work.

Question 50

third person point of view

Answer 50

see point of view

Question 51

tone

Answer 51

the writer’s attitude or feeling about his or her subject

Question 52

tragedy

Answer 52

a dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character(s) who are involved in historically or socially significant events.