Terminology Flashcards
What is the Climax in narrative structure?
The most suspenseful part of the plot; the turning point for the protagonist.
What is Falling Action?
Events that unravel the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist.
What is Rising Action?
Three major events that add tension to the plot leading to the climax.
What is Resolution?
The part of the plot where we discover whether the protagonist’s goals are achieved.
What is Denouement?
The ‘tying up of loose ends’ in a narrative.
What is Exposition?
The introduction of the plot that includes characters and setting.
What is Initial Incident?
The very first conflict that occurs in the plot.
What is an Allusion?
An indirect reference to something outside the text, usually familiar to the audience.
What is an Allegory?
A literary work where characters and events have a second, symbolic meaning.
What is Alliteration?
The repetition of an initial consonant sound in words that are close together.
What is Assonance?
The repetition of similar vowel sounds within words and phrases.
What is Plosive Alliteration?
Repetition of ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds.
What is Sibilance?
Repetition of ‘s’ sounds.
What is Dental Alliteration?
Repetition of ‘d’ and ‘t’ sounds.
What is Guttural Alliteration?
Repetition of ‘g’, ‘r’, and ‘c’ sounds.
What is Fricative Alliteration?
Repetition of ‘f’, ‘ph’, and ‘v’ sounds.
What is Anagnorisis?
The point in a narrative where a character recognizes another’s true identity.
What is an Analogy?
A comparison between one thing and another for explanation or clarification.
What is Anaphora?
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of sentences.
What is an antagonist?
A figure or symbol of hostility or conflict that opposes the protagonist. It doesn’t always have to be a person; for example, in ‘The Road’, the antagonist is the environment.
What does ambiguity mean?
The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness. Writers often use it to encourage reader interpretation or create a sense of uncertainty.
What is antithesis?
A rhetorical technique that contrasts two opposing ideas, often used in dystopian work to exaggerate the contrast between utopian and dystopian ideals.
What is an aphorism?
A brief, memorable statement that captures a broad, universal truth or idea. For example, in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘Try to pity them. Forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
What are archetypes?
Common literary elements found in stories across cultures and times, with universally recognizable attributes. A struggling protagonist is an archetype of dystopian fiction.
What are Aristotle’s Poetics/Three Unities?
The earliest surviving work on Greek dramatic theory, outlining foundations of tragedy, including the tragic hero and the importance of catharsis, along with the three unities: time, geography, and action.
What is binary opposition?
The strict definition and contrast of two theoretical opposites, such as bittersweet, life and death, or active and passive.
What is catharsis?
The process of releasing and providing relief from strong or repressed emotions, often occurring at the end of a narrative.
What is caesura?
A break between words within a metrical foot or a pause near the middle of a line. For example, ‘to be, or not to be - that is the question.’
What is the difference between connotation and denotation?
Connotation refers to the associations gleaned from words, while denotation is the literal definition. Writers may use connotation to imply meaning subtly.
What is deus ex machina?
A plot device where an unsolvable conflict is suddenly resolved by the unexpected appearance of an implausible character, object, or event, such as a pirate ship.
What is dystopia?
An imagined state or society characterized by great suffering or injustice, typically totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.
What is ellipsis in literature?
A device used to omit details from a narrative, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Dystopian texts often use this to create uncertainty.
What is an epithet?
A descriptive phrase that accompanies or replaces the name of a character or thing, such as ‘Rose of May’ for Ophelia in ‘Hamlet’.
What is figurative language?
Language that goes beyond the literal, including metaphorical language and symbolism.
What is hamartia?
A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine, such as Blanche’s lying or Hamlet’s indecision.
What is hubris?
Excessive pride or self-confidence, exemplified by Stanley’s self-assurance at the end of the play or Polonius throughout the play.
What is hyperbole and litotes?
Hyperbole is over-exaggeration for effect, while litotes uses exaggerated language to understate something, often relying on negation. Dystopian writers may use these for different effects.
What is iambic pentameter?
A line of verse composed of ten syllables arranged in five metrical feet (iambs) with the second syllable stressed, mimicking a heartbeat and common British speech.
Example: ‘I am, I am, I am, I am, I am.’
What is an idiom?
A commonly used figure of speech with a meaning that differs from its literal meaning.
Example: ‘The world is your oyster’ means ‘You can accomplish anything you want to.’
What is an interjection?
A word or phrase that is grammatically independent from the words around it, mainly expressing feeling rather than meaning.
What is innuendo?
An allusive or oblique remark or hint, typically a suggestive or disparaging one.
Example: Hamlet’s remark ‘It would cost you a groaning to take off mine edge’ to Ophelia.
What is irony?
The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
What is tragic irony?
In a tragedy, the audience is aware that a character’s words or actions will bring about a tragic or fatal result, while the character is not.
What is dramatic irony?
The full significance of a character’s words or actions is clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.
What is juxtaposition?
The placement of two ideas, characters, or actions close together in relation to each other, usually to draw attention to their contrasting traits.
What are lexical sets/semantic fields?
A group of words or expressions that are related in meaning.
What is a monologue?
A long speech by one character.
What is narrative voice/perspective?
The perspective from which a story is told, impacting the tone and nature of the extract.
What is a neologism?
A newly coined phrase or word, often indicating a way of control or creating a sense of identity via subculture.
Example: Features in Sci-Fi like ‘A Clockwork Orange.’
What is othering?
A divisive and reductive action of labeling and defining a person as someone who belongs to the socially subordinate category of the Other.
Example: The Proles were othered in 1984.
What is an oxymoron?
A figure of speech linking two opposite or contradictory words or ideas together to form a neat paradox.
Example: ‘Passive-aggressive.’
What is a paradox?
A direct contradiction that is often used as a means of provocation.
Example: Slogans in 1984 like ‘War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery.’
What is parallelism?
The repetition of grammatical structures and patterns within a text, used for emphasis or to draw connections between ideas.
What is parody?
An imitation of another literary work that mocks, critiques, or makes light of the original.
Example: ‘My God. Who Art in the Kingdom of Heaven’ in The Handmaid’s Tale.
What is peripeteia?
A sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to fictional narrative.
Who is the protagonist?
The main character within a text, often but not always a hero.
What is the difference between prose and verse?
Prose is a conversational way of speaking without a set rhythm or structure, while verse has a set rhythm and structure.
Hamlet is mostly written in iambic pentameter and is 75% verse.
What is rhymed verse?
The most common type of verse that usually has a metrical form that rhymes throughout.
What is blank verse?
A metrical form that has no rhyme.
What is free verse?
A form of poetry that has no set metre but may or may not be rhymed.
What are puns?
A form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term or similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect.
Example: ‘A little more than kin, and less than kind’ (1.2.65) in Hamlet.
What is register in writing?
The formality of the text/writing, which can imply different attitudes or authority.
What does Renaissance mean?
A French word meaning ‘rebirth,’ referring to a period marked by a revival of Classical learning and wisdom.
When did the Renaissance start and end?
The Renaissance started in Italy in the 14th century and lasted until the 17th century.
What significant event occurred in 1660?
The end of the English Renaissance.
What was the Reformation?
A movement from 1533 to 1558 where Henry VIII split England from Rome.
What is satire?
Satire is the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
What is Stichomythia?
Stichomythia is dialogue in which two characters speak alternate lines of verse.
What is tragedy in literature?
Tragedy is a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially concerning the downfall of the main character, but provides catharsis for an audience.
What defines a tragic hero?
A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy, typically characterized by noble birth, experiencing a reversal of fortune, having a Hamartia or fatal flaw, and facing a tragic outcome.
What is Utopia?
Utopia is an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members, coined by Sir Thomas More in his 1516 book Utopia.
What is A01 in assessment objectives?
A01 is to articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
What is A02 in assessment objectives?
A02 is to analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts.
What is A03 in assessment objectives?
A03 is to demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.
What is A04 in assessment objectives?
A04 is to explore connections across literary texts.
What is A05 in assessment objectives?
A05 is to explore literary texts informed by different interpretations.
What is dysphemism
A blunt statement
What is euphemism
a word or phrase used to obliquely describe something unpleasant, impolite, or taboo
What is a declarative
A declarative sentence states a fact. This word can be used to describe any action or speech that makes a statement.
What is an imperative
a sentence that expresses a direct command, request, invitations, warning, or instruction
What is an interrogative
typically feature a word order with the predicate and primary verb before the subject
What is an exclamatory
one that expresses sudden or strong emotions and feelings.
What is a modal verb
verbs that indicate likelihood, ability, permission or obligation
What is an abstract noun
a noun denoting feeling, idea, state or quality is an abstract noun.
