Literary Terms (Part 4) Flashcards
a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings (i.e., In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio says, “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” Grave carries the double meaning of serious/sad and dead.)
pun
The part of the story’s plot line in which the problem of the story is resolved or worked out. This occurs after the falling action and is typically where the story ends.
resolution
the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing
rhetoric
a set pattern of rhyming words found at the ends of lines of poetry. The rhyme scheme is indicated by assigning capital letters to pinpoint the pattern (i.e., ABAB CDCD EFEF GG)
rhyme scheme
a character who, like a real person, possesses many different, even contradictory, character traits
round character
ridicule intended to expose truth
satire
time and place in which the plot takes place
setting
the comparison of two or more related objects or events using the words like or as in the phrasing
simile
when a character is alone (solo) on stage, speaking aloud her thoughts or emotions. Soliloquies often reveal motivation and/or foreshadowing
soliloquy
a fourteen-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme
sonnet
the natural divisions of a poem, similar to a paragraph in a work of prose
stanza
a character who does not change through the course of a story
static character
a technique in which prose follows the logic and flow of a character’s (or multiple characters’) thought processes—their associations, tangents, and seemingly strange transitions—rather than a more ordered narrative
stream of consciousness
all the distinctive ways an author uses language to create a literary work; style can involve diction, imagery, tone, syntax, and figurative language
style
a building or rising sense of concern or interest in what will happen in a plot
suspense
an object that is used or represents something else
symbol
the use of objects, animals (especially birds), colors, etc. that have a greater or universal meaning beyond their simple existence. The symbols can o er information and even create foreshadowing if the reader understands or notes their meaning
symbolism
sentence structure
syntax
the message, advice, or warning about life and/or relationships the author shares through the characters’ experiences. This message is often inferred; it is more than a simplistic moral to the story
theme
the primary position taken by a writer or speaker
thesis
the narrator of the story exists outside of the story’s events and uses the pronouns “he,” “she,” “they,” etc.
third person point of view
the attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or audience
tone
a work in which the protagonist, a person of high degree, is engaged in a significant struggle, which ends in ruin or destruction
tragedy
a habit, personality trait, or practice that repeatedly causes a character problems in his/her life and ultimately causes his or her downfall or destruction
tragic flaw
