Terms Used In Multiple-Choice Questions

Question 0

Ambiguity

Answer 0

Multiple meanings that a literary work may communicate, especially when two meanings are incompatible

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

A story in which the people, things, and events have another extended, frequently abstract, meaning

Question 2

Apostrophe

Answer 2

Direct address, usually to someone or something that is not present

Question 3

Connotation

Answer 3

The implications of a word or phrase, or the emotions associated with it, as opposed to its exact meaning

Question 4

Convention

Answer 4

A device of style or subject matter that is so often that it becomes a recognized means expression

Question 5

Denotation

Answer 5

The specific, literal meaning of a word to be found in a dictionary

Question 6

Didactic

Answer 6

Explicitly instructive

Question 7

Digression

Answer 7

The inclusion of material unrelated to the actual subject of a work

Question 8

Epigram

Answer 8

A pithy saying, often employing contrast

Question 9

Euphemism

Answer 9

A figure of speech utilizing indirection to avoid offensive bluntness

Question 10

Grotesque

Answer 10

Characterized by distortions or incongruities

Question 11

Hyperbole

Answer 11

Deliberate exaggeration, overstatment

Question 12

Jargon

Answer 12

The specialized language of a profession or group

Question 13

Literal

Answer 13

The precise, explicit meaning

Question 14

Lyrical

Answer 14

Songlike

Question 15

Oxymoron

Answer 15

A combination or juxtaposition of opposites

Question 16

Parable

Answer 16

A story designed to suggest a principle, to illustrate a moral, or to answer a question

Question 17

Paradox

Answer 17

A statement that seems to be self-contradictory but is, in fact, true

Question 18

Parody

Answer 18

A composition that imitates the style of another composition, normally done for comic effect

Question 19

Personfication

Answer 19

A figurative use of language that endows the nonhuman with human characteristics

Question 20

Reliability

Answer 20

A quality of some fictional narrators in whose word the reader can place his trust

Question 21

Rhetorical question

Answer 21

A question asked for effect, not in expectation of a reply

Question 22

Soliloquy

Answer 22

A speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud

Question 23

Stereotype

Answer 23

A conventional pattern, expression, character, or idea

Question 24

Syllogism

Answer 24

A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them

Question 25

Thesis

Answer 25

The theme, meaning, or position that a writer endeavors to prove or support