Vocab #1

Question 1

a reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familiar.

Answer 1

Allusion

Question 2

An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype. Examples: Quest story, mentor character, etc.

Answer 2

Archetype

Question 3

interruption of the chronological order of the main narrative to take the reader back to an earlier time in a character’s life.

Answer 3

Flashback

Question 4

the use of words to express something opposite or different from the expected meaning.

Answer 4

Irony

Question 5

the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexact.

Answer 5

Ambiguity

Question 6

when an author provides a hint or clue regarding something that will happen later in a story.

Answer 6

Foreshadow

Question 7

the meanings, feelings, and associations that a word suggests

Answer 7

Connotation

Question 8

a literary device that refers to the juxtaposition of two opposing elements through parallel grammatical structure as in the example “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Answer 8

Antithesis

Question 9

the literal, dictionary definition of the word that is usually objective.

Answer 9

Denotation

Question 10

exaggeration not meant to be taken literally, but used to add emphasis: “I have a million things to do today!”

Answer 10

Hyperbole