Quiz 3 Flashcards
Homily
A sermon - usually of a non-doctrinal nature; an inspirational saying or cliché
Flashback
Retrospection, where an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of a narrative
Foil
A person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast
Formal/informal/colloquial
Language that is lofty, dignified, or impersonal; informal or colloquial language is similar to everyday speech
Foreshadow
To hint at or present things to come in a story or play
Genre
Term used to describe literary forms, such as tragedy, comedy, novel, or essay
Hamartia
Aristotle’s term for the main character’s tragic flaw or error in judgement
Hyperbole
An overstatement characterized by exaggerated language
Imagery (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory)
Sensory details in a work; the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or describe an object; involves any or all five senses
Inductive
Conclusion or type of reasoning whereby observation or information about a part of a class is applied to the class as a whole; contrast with deductive
Inference
The process of arriving at a conclusion from a hint, implication, or suggestion
Invective
The use of angry and insulting language in satirical writing
In medias res
Refers to opening a story in the middle of an action, requiring filling in past details by exposition or flashback
Irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational
A situation or statement characterized by significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant; frequently humorous, and can be sarcastic when using words to imply the opposite of what they normally mean
Isocolon
Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure, but also in length
Juxtaposition
Placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose
Literal
The strict meaning of a word or words; not figurative or exaggerated
Litote
Form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis and intensity
Metaphor
The implicit comparison or identification of one thing with another unlike itself without the use of a verbal signal such as like or as; one thing is pictured as if it were something else, suggesting a likeness or analogy between them
Metonymy
A figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to name or designate something
Mood
The feeling or ambience resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/narrator’s attitude and point of view; the effect is created through descriptions of feelings or objects that establish a particular feeling such as gloom, fear, or hope
Morés
Folkway of central importance accepted without question and embodying the fundamental moral views of a group
Motif
Recurrent device, formula, of situation that often serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event
Narrative
A form of writing that tells a story
Narrative device
Use of techniques such as flashbacks and/or digression in the telling of a story
Narrator
The “character” who “tells” the story
Nostalgia
Desire to return in thought or fact to a former time
Onomatopoeia
A word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes
Opening
The first part or beginning of a piece of writing
Overstatement
Exaggerated language
Oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements
Paradox
A statement that seems contradictory, but is actually true
Parallelism (parallel structure)
Recurrent syntactical similarity where several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed alike to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences equal in importance
Parody
A satirical imitation of a work of art for purpose of ridiculing its style or subject
Persona
The voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story and who may of may not share the values of the actual author
Polysyndeton
The use of a number of conjunctions in close succession
Pedantic
Ostentatious in one’s learning; overly concerned with minute details of formalisms, especially in teaching
Personification
Treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by giving it human qualities
Perspective
A character’s view of the situation or events in the story
Point of view
The view the reader gets of the action and characters in a story
Propaganda
Information of rumor deliberately spread to help or harm a person, group, or institution
Prose
The ordinary of form of written language without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse
Protagonist
The chief character in a work of liteature
