VOcab Flashcards
Alliteration
the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words
Allegory
A form of extended metaphor in which the objects, persons, places and actions in a narrative are equated with meanings outside the narrative itself
Allusion
a figure of speech that makes brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object.
Anachronism
assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence
Analogy
A comparison of two things that are alike in certain aspects. Often used to use something familiar to explain the unfamiliar
Antithesis
A figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas. It is the balancing of one term against another
Archetype
an image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a character type that occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore
Asyndeton
omission of connecting words in a list
Anaphora
the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines
Apostrophe
the speaker addresses a dead (or absent) person or an abstraction or inanimate object – it provides the speaker an opportunity to think aloud
Verse
metrical language (writing using a meter); the opposite of prose.
Meter
the measurable repetition of accented and unaccented syllables in poetry
Prose
the ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure; not poetry
Structure
The internal organization of a poems content
Form
The external pattern or shape of the poem, describable without reference to its content
Blank Verse
unrhymed, but otherwise regular verse (IE it has a meter, but no rhyme)
Free verse
nonmetrical poetry that does not follow established norms
Characterization
The creation of imaginary persons by an author so that they seem
lifelike
Direct Characterization
the writer tells the reader what a character is like
Indirect Characterization
the writer shows the reader what a character is like through his/her dialogue and/or actions or through other characters
Colloquialism
An expression used in informal conversation but not accepted universally in formal speech or writing
Satire
mode of writing that exposes the failings of individuals, institutions, or societies to ridicule and scorn
Simile
A figure of speech in which a similarity between two objects is directly expressed, most often introduced by words such as like, as, compare, liken, resemble, etc
Understatement
to represent with restraint; to say less than is meant
Run-on line (Enjambment)
a line that has no natural speech pause at its end, allow the sense to flow uninterruptedly into the succeeding line
Stanza
A group of lines whose metrical pattern (and usually rhyme scheme) is repeated throughout the poem
Refrain
A repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines normally at some fixed position in a poem written in stanzaic form
Rhyme
The repetition of accented vowel sounds and all succeeding sounds in important or importantly positioned words
End Rhyme
Rhymes that occur at the ends of the lines
Internal Rhyme
A rhyme in which one or both of the rhyme words occur(s) within the line
Rhyme scheme
a fixed pattern of rhymes characterizing a whole poem or its stanzas
Couplet
Two successive lines (of poetry), usually of the same meter, linked by Rhyme
End-stopped line
A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation
Epigram
a pithy saying
Epigraph
a quotation or motto placed at the beginning of a book, chapter, or poem
Epithet
A word that points out a characteristic of a person or thing that is used like a nickname
Dialect
a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciations, often associated with a particular geographical region
Dramatic Irony
the audience knows more about a character’s situation than the character does
Euphemism
A device in which indirectness replaces the directness of a statement, usually in an effort to avoid offensiveness
Extended Metaphor
a metaphor that continues over several lines or throughout an entire work
Foil
a character who, through contrast, underscores the characteristics of another.
Genre
a category of literary composition
Idiom
Use of words peculiar to a given language; an expression that cannot be translated literally
Imagery
The technique by which the author creates images within a literary work
Metaphor
A type of analogy in which identifies one object with another and ascribes to the first object one or more of the qualities of the second.
Motif
Recurrent images, words objects, phrases, actions, etc. that tend to unify a work of literature
Onomatopoeia
Words that by their sounds suggest their meaning
Oxymoron
A self-contradictory combination of words
Paradox
a statement that although seemingly contradictory or absurd may be actually well-founded or true
Personification
The representing of non-human things or ideas as having human personalities, intelligence, emotions, or physical feature
Polysyndeton(pol-ee-sin-di-ton)
the repeated use of conjunctions to link together a succession of words, clauses, or sentences
Lyric Poetry
A brief subjective poem strongly marked by imagination, melody, and emotion and creating a single unified effect. Has numerous subclassifications.
Ode
A single, unified strain of exalted lyrical verse, directed to a single purpose and dealing with one theme.
English (Shakespearian) Sonnet
rhyming ababcdcdefefgg. It’s content usually
parallels the rhyme scheme, with three quatrains and a concluding couplet a shift just before the couplet, but if structured like an itialian sonnet with an octave and a sestet,
the shift occurs after the 8th line
Italian (Petrarchan) Sonnet
A sonnet consisting of an octave rhyming abbaabba and a sestet using any arrangement of two or three additional rhymes. A shift occurs after the
8th line.
Sonnet
A fixed form of fourteen lines, normally in iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme conforming to one of two main types—the Italian or English
