Queen mother of lit terms Flashcards
allegory
symbolical narrative
alliteration
repeated consonant sounds
sibilance
s sound repeated
allusion
indirect reference to another text, historical event, etc
anaphora
repetition of words at the beginning of a clause (aka parallelism)
antihero
protagonist who lacks attributes that make a heroic figure (raskolnikov)
apostrophe
concept/person not present being addressed
archetype
model/form on which other things are based
assonance
repetition of vowel sounds (happy/ woeful sounds)
bildungsroman
developmental novel
blank verse
unrhymed iambic pentameter
free verse
verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern
cacophony
lines difficult to pronounce, loud, not pleasant to the ear
euphony
lines that are musically pleasant to the ear
caesura
break in the middle of the line of poetry
catharsis
purging of emotions
characterization
what motivates a character
static vs. dynamic characterization
does not change vs. changes (what caused that change?, consequences?)
round vs. flat
lifelike vs. one dimensional
Chekhov’s gun
requires every element in a narrative to be irreplaceable, with anything else removed. Remove everything that has no relevance to the story.
confidant
character to whom the protagonist confides
connotation
how that words meaning is changed based on situation
denotation
dictionary definition
consonance
form of rhyme : home same; luffed laughed left; usually at the end
deus ex machina
nonhuman force used to solve problems, implausible (doll’s house)
diction
use strong adjectives; suggest a not as powerful synonym for an important word
dystopia
a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding
electra complex vs. oedipal complex
to much camaraderie with parents
enjambment
running over from one line to another - suspense, highlight word
epigraph
passage before the work starts; establish theme, tone; usually a quote
epiphany
revelation and insight
epistolary
contained in or carried on by letters