Terminology - NLMG & Macbeth

Question 1

Bildungsroman

Answer 1

a form of novel dealing with one person’s formative years or spiritual education.

Question 2

Dystopian

Answer 2

A genre of literature which imagines a society gone wrong, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded landscape.

Question 3

Symbolism

Answer 3

the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a deeper meaning

Question 4

Unreliable narrator

Answer 4

a narrator whose account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted

Question 5

Non-linear narrative

Answer 5

when an author presents the story’s occurrences and characters out of order

Question 6

Memento Mori

Answer 6

A symbol reminding the reader of death

Question 7

Analepsis

Answer 7

Flashback; depiction of earlier story points after later events have been revealed

Question 8

Prolepsis

Answer 8

Flash forward

Question 9

Motif

Answer 9

A recurring element, such as an image, theme, or type of incident.

Question 10

Pathetic fallacy

Answer 10

Attributing human qualities to a force of nature

Question 11

Digression

Answer 11

A temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing

Question 12

Protagonist

Answer 12

The central character in a work of literature

Question 13

Semantic field

Answer 13

Group of words which are related in meaning

Question 14

Motif

Answer 14

A recurring theme, subject or idea

Question 15

Setting

Answer 15

The time and place of a story

Question 16

Dialogue

Answer 16

Conversation between characters

Question 17

conversational tone

Answer 17

A relaxed and informal style that allows the speaker to talk with you and not at the audience

Question 18

Euphemism

Answer 18

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Question 19

science fiction

Answer 19

writing that tells about imaginary events that involve science or technology

Question 20

Speculative Fiction

Answer 20

a genre of fiction that encompasses works in which the setting is other than the real world, involving supernatural, futuristic, or other imagined elements

Question 21

Realism

Answer 21

artistic representation that aims for visual accuracy

Question 22

Climax

Answer 22

the most intense, exciting, or important point of something; a culmination or apex.

Question 23

retrospective

Answer 23

Looking backward over a period of time

Question 24

Foreshadowing

Answer 24

A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.

Question 25

circular narrative

Answer 25

A narrative that starts at its end point, then circles back to relate the events that lead up to that point

Question 26

Allusion

Answer 26

A statement that refers to something else without directly referencing

Question 27

Connotation

Answer 27

The associated meaning of words e.g. red connotes danger

Question 28

Foreboding

Answer 28

A feeling that something bad will happen

Question 29

Foreshadowing

Answer 29

A warning or indication of future events.

Question 30

Hyperbole

Answer 30

An exaggeration for effect.

Question 31

Metaphor

Answer 31

A description by comparison e.g. He was a giant.

Question 32

Paradox

Answer 32

A paradox is a statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true (or wrong at the same time).

Question 33

Pathetic Fallacy

Answer 33

When inanimate objects are given human qualities OR when the weather is used to reflect the mood of characters.

Question 34

Personification

Answer 34

A description that gives an inanimate/non human object human qualities e.g. The sea growled as it thrashed the shore.

Question 35

Simile

Answer 35

A description by comparison using like or as e.g. eyes like the ocean.

Question 36

Symbolism

Answer 36

When one thing represents a wider or deeper meaning

Question 37

Aside

Answer 37

A brief remark made by a character intended to be heard by the audience, but not the other characters on stage.

Question 38

Antihero

Answer 38

A main character in a story who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as courage and morality and yet the audience still roots for them.

Question 39

Dramatic Irony

Answer 39

When the audience knows something that the character(s) on stage does not. (Verbal irony is when a character says one thing and means another.)

Question 40

Hamartia

Answer 40

A tragic flaw, something that under normal circumstances would be seen as a virtue (e.g. ambition, love).

Question 41

Hubris

Answer 41

Excessive pride or self-confidence.

Question 42

Rhyming Couplet

Answer 42

A pair of lines, usually with the same metre, that end-rhyme with each other and complete a thought. They often create finality, emphasis and succinctness.

Question 43

Soliloquy

Answer 43

A speech given by a character on stage alone to the audience in order to reveal his/her thoughts and feelings.

Question 44

Tragedy

Answer 44

A literary genre in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw or moral weakness.

Question 45

Tragic Hero

Answer 45

a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy/downfall.

Question 46

Alliteration

Answer 46

Repetition of the same sound or letter at the start of a word e.g. The forest's ferny floor.

Question 47

Assonance

Answer 47

Repetition of a vowel sound in multiple words e.g. The purple curtain.

Question 48

Onomatopoeia

Answer 48

Words that sound like their meaning, which helps bring the text to life e.g. the patter of rain on my window.

Question 49

Plosives

Answer 49

Repetition of b, p, t or d sounds, which create an abrupt, sharp effect, e.g. Her cheek blushed bright beneath my burning kiss.

Question 50

Sibilance

Answer 50

The repetition of 's' or 'sh' sounds creating a soft or hissing effect e.g. the sea swished against the shore.

Question 51

Caesura

Answer 51

A stop or pause within a line usually causing an abrupt stop/break in the rhythm.

Question 52

Monosyllabic Words

Answer 52

Words that consist of single syllables and often create simplicity e.g. I will not go.

Question 53

Polysyllabic Words

Answer 53

Words that consist of more than one syllable and can be used exaggerate/draw out an idea or show complexity.

Question 54

Stichomythia

Answer 54

Dialogue in brief alternating lines.

Question 55

Syntax

Answer 55

Word order that has been selected to have an effect on the reader.