Literary Terms for English Exam Flashcards
Alliteration
the repetition of initial consonant sounds.
Writers use them to give emphasis to words, to imitate sounds, and create musical effects
Aside
a short speech delivered by an actor in a play, expressing the character’s thoughts. Traditionally, the aside the directed to the audience, and is inaudible to other actors
Blank Verse
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines. used widely by Mr. Bill
climax
The high point of interest or suspense. The events that make up the rising action lead up to the climax. The events that make up the falling action follow the climax
Comic Relief
the inclusion of humorous scenes or characters in a serious drama. This eases the building of the emotional intensity
conflict
the struggle between opposing forces. Characters in conflict form the basis of stories
There are two conflicts: external and internal
the main charcacter can struggle with outside force or within himslef
Couplet
a pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter. It generally expresses one idea
Figurative Language
the writing or speech not to be interpreted literally. Often used to create vivid impressions by setting up comparisons between dissimlar things
Foreshadow
The use of clues that suggest events yet to occur, in a literary work.
Helps create suspense, keep readers wondering and speculating about what will happen next.
Imagery
Language that appeals to one or more of the five senses
Irony
the general name given to literary techniques that involve differences between appearance and reality, expectation and result, or meaning and intention. In verbal irony, words are used to suggest the opposite of what they mean.
In dramatic irony, there is a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true.
In irony of situation, an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader or the audience
meter
The meter of a poem is its rhythimical pattern. This pattern is determined by the number and types of stresses, or beats, in each line. To describe the meter of a poem, you must scan the lines.
Scanning involves marking the stressed and unstressed syllables
monologue
A monologue is a speech by one character in a play, speech, or poem.
PRince of Verona commands the families to stop fighting.
oxymoron
a phrase consiting of words that seem the opposite in meaning
pun
a play (game) on words based on different meanings of words that sound alike
rhyme scheme
it is a regular pattern of ryhming words in a poem. The rhyme scheme of a poem is indicated by using different letters of the alphabet for each new rhyme. aabb=1122
similie
a figure of speech where like or as is used to make a comparasion between to basically unlike things
soliloquy
a long speech expressing the thoughs of a cahacter alone or on stage.
sonnet
a 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespearean sonnet containts three quatrains and a coplet
usually rhymes abab cdcd efef gg
the coplet just comments on the ideas in the predecing lines
tragedy
a work of literature, a play in particular, that results in the catastrophe for the main character.
In Greek drama, the main character was a kings or hero, the cause of tragedy was a Hamartia, a characteristical weakness.
Modern Drama: the ordinary guy is main, ans the source of evil is society.
purpose of tragedy is to arouse fear, pity, and maybe to convey a sense of the grandeur and nobility of human spirit
allusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either …
prose
ordinary, everyday language
not discourse
tone
the quality of a person’s voice
dialect
the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people
allegory
an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor
diction
Diction, in its original, primary meaning, refers to the writer’s or the speaker’s distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression. …
theme
a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work; “it was the usual `boy gets girl’ theme”
characterization
the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features; “the media’s characterization of Al Gore as a nerd”
syntax
the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
rhetoric
grandiosity: high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; “the grandiosity of his prose”; “an excessive ornateness of language”
