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American Literature > Midterm Literary Terms > Flashcards

Midterm Literary Terms Flashcards

1
Q

Allegory

A

extended metaphor in which people and things are not only represented on the literal level but they also stand for something on the symbolic level

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2
Q

Alliteration

A

Repeating a consonant sound in close proximity to others

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3
Q

Allusion

A

A historical reference to a well known other event in literature

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4
Q

Archetype

A

An original pattern from which copies are made

A literary element that has common meaning in an entire culture or the entire human race

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5
Q

Assonance

A

Repeating identical or similar vowels in nearby words

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6
Q

Connotation

A

The feelings that are associated with a word

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7
Q

Consonance

A

Alliteration that also involves changes in the intervening vowels between repeated consonants

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8
Q

Denotation

A

The dictionary definition of a word

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9
Q

Dramatic Irony

A

Audience knows more than the characters

Often very frustrating to watch

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10
Q

Hyperbole

A

An extreme metaphor

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11
Q

Imagery

A

Vivid description that adds depth to a work

Use figurative language to appeal to senses

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12
Q

Juxtaposition

A

two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.

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13
Q

Metaphor

A

comparing two or more things without using like or as

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14
Q

Mood

A

evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions

the atmosphere

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15
Q

Motif

A

A reoccurring element in a work of literature

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16
Q

Onomatopoeia

A

The use of sounds that are similar to the noise they represent for a rhetorical or artistic effect.

Ex; buzz, crash, pop

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17
Q

Oxymoron

A

Using contradiction that oddly makes sense on a deeper level

Ex: jumbo shrimp

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18
Q

Paradox

A

Using contradiction that oddly makes sense on a deeper level

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19
Q

Personification

A

giving human qualities to unhuman things

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20
Q

Rhetorical Modes (List)

A

Explanation

Persuasion

Narrative

Desciption

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21
Q

Rhetorical Techniques (List)

A

Rhetorical question

Parallel structure

Restatement of ideas

Repetition

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22
Q

Simile

A

using like or as to compare two or more things

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23
Q

Situational Irony

A

it’s like rain on your wedding day

a free ride but you already paid

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24
Q

Symbolism

A

A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond what it is on a literal level

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25
Q

Rhetorical Techniques (List)

** Need to make flashcards for these **

A

Rhetorical question

Parallel structure

Restatement of ideas

Repetition

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26
Q

Theme

A

A central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work

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27
Q

Tone

A

The means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude or mood

underlying attitudes

Ex: playful, ironic, pessimistic

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28
Q

Plot

A

the structure of a story (sequence of events)

rising action, climax, resolution, etc.

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29
Q

Rising action

A

the part of the story where the plot becomes increasingly complex

30
Q

Exposition

A

A form of writing that explains, defines, instructs, or clarifies information

background information

31
Q

Climax

A

the turning point of the story

the moment when the conflict is at its most intense

32
Q

Resolution

A

the portion of the story following the climax where the conflict is resolved

33
Q

Falling Action

A

diminishing tensions after the climax

34
Q

Setting

A

the time and place of a story

35
Q

Characterization

A

the method an author uses to reveal their characters’ traits and personalities

can be direct or indirect

36
Q

Protagonist

A

the leading “good guy” in the story

37
Q

Antagonist

A

the “bad guy” in the story. Opposes the protagonist

38
Q

Conflict

A

A struggle or clash between two characters or forces (sometimes can be internal)

39
Q

External conflict

A

man vs. man

man vs. nature

man vs. society

40
Q

Internal conflict

A

man vs. self

41
Q

1st person narrator

A

the story is told from a character in the story’s point of view

uses words like “I, we, us”

42
Q

3rd person omniscient

A

the narrator can oversee everyone

43
Q

3rd person limited

A

the narrator can only follow one character

44
Q

Pun

A

a play on words in which the humor is created because a word has two meanings

45
Q

Foil

A

a character who contrasts another character, thus exaggerating the contrasting characteristic

46
Q

Flashback

A

presents action that occurred before the current time that the story takes place

47
Q

Foreshadowing

A

a literary device that sets up expectations for what is to later come

48
Q

Microcosm

A

a representation of something on a much smaller level

Ex: the battle of the ants in Walden representing the Concord Fight

49
Q

Satire

A

a literary approach that ridicules human weakness or vice

50
Q

Myth

A

a traditional story that usually contains an event or hero

is not based upon facts

51
Q

Coming of Age/ Rite of Passage/ Bildungsroman

A

a literary genre that focuses on the psychological growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood

52
Q

Stream of cousciousness

A

getting characters thoughts and style with a realistic tone

it feels like you are in the head of a character

fragments of random disconnected thoughts

53
Q

Aphorism

A

a statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise or witty manner

Ex: I’d rather die on my feet, than live on my knees

Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind

54
Q

Syntax

A

the ordering of words into verbal patterns such as phrases, clauses, and sentences

55
Q

Ambiguity

A

word, phrase, or statement that contains more than one meaning

56
Q

Sermon

A

a lecture, speech, or talk about moral or spiritual issues

57
Q

Picaresque

A

It has a low-born adventurer who would rather live by wits than honorable work

Adventures among people of all social classes, often barely escaping punishment

Irony or Satire: corruptions of society, while also offering the reader a rich mine of observations concerning people in low or humble works of life.

58
Q

Explication

A

the close analysis of an excerpt from a longer work of text

critical analysis

59
Q

Lyric

A

a fairly short poem which is the expression of a single speaker in a mediative manner

60
Q

Verse

A

a single line of poetry

61
Q

Imagery

A

descriptive or figurative language to create sensory images

62
Q

Idiom

A

Set expression or phrase comparing two or more words

“graveyard shift”

“a piece of cake”

63
Q

Literal

A

means exactly what is said

uses words according to definiton

64
Q

Rhyme

A

repetition of similar sounding words at the end of lines

65
Q

End rhyme

A

last syllables or words in two or more lines rhyme with each other

66
Q

Slant rhyme

A

rhyme in which the stressed syllables of ending consonants match, however the preceding vowel sounds do not match

ex: If love is like a bridge
or maybe like a grudge

Kinda “half” rhymes

67
Q

Rhyme scheme

A

the ordered pattern of rhymes

68
Q

Stanza

A

similar to paragraphs

a set of four or more lines

69
Q

Dramatic dialogue

A

A dialogue is a literary technique in which writers employ two or more characters to be engaged in conversation with each other

70
Q

Poetic drama

A

category of plays written in verse

Shakespeare wrote this way

71
Q

Structure

A

The rhyming pattern, meter, grammar, and imagery used by a poet to convey meaning

American Literature (16 decks)

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