Vocab Flashcards
a group of words containing a subject and its verb that may or may not be a complete sentence
Clause
a trite phrase that has become overused. Clichés are considered bad writing and bad literature. (“There’s no place like home.” “The check is in the mail.” “As easy as pie.”)
Cliché
the high point of interest of suspense in a literary work. It is usually the crisis in the plot, the point at which the protagonist changes his or her understanding of the situation. Sometimes the climax coincides with the resolution, the point at which the central conflict is resolved.
Clímax
Latin phrase meaning “I think, therefore I exist.” This was an axiom (a statement which is regarded as being established, accepted or self-evidently true) of Descartes and his philosophy.
Cogito ergo sum
a word or phrase used every day in plain and relaxed speech but rarely found in formal writing, usually pertinent to a given area (“I hear tell that Jake got a new truck.” – southern slang)
Colloquial
a work of literature, especially a play that has a happy ending. Comedies often show ordinary characters in conflict with their societies. Comedy is often contrasted with tragedy.
Comedy
a play satirizing the fashions, manners and outlook on life of an artificial, highly sophisticated society (Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Jane Austen’s novels – Pride and Prejudice)
Comedy of manners
is the feeling created by a humorous action or speech that appears within a serious work of literature. It is often used to emphasize, by contrast, the seriousness of the main action. (the drunken Porter in Macbeth; the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet)
Comic relief
an unusual and surprising comparison between two very different things. This special kind of metaphor or complicated analogy is often the basis for a whole poem. It is also a whimsical, ingenious, extended metaphor in which an object, scene, person, situation or emotion is presented in terms of a simpler analogue, usually from nature or a context familiar to author and reader alike. The metaphysical poets used conceit to startle the reader by showing a very exact correspondence between a thought or emotion and some particular aspect of a seemingly alien and inappropriate object. (John Donne used a drawing compass to describe the bond between the soul of him and his mistress.)
Conceit
anything that follows reasonably from something else. In a literary work, the conclusion is the final part, or ending, of the work.
Conclusion
a struggle between opposing forces. The struggle can be internal, within the character. The struggle can be external—between the character and some outside force. The four types of conflict in literature are as follows: (1) man against man, (2) man against self, (3) man against nature and (4) man against society.
Conflict
an association that a word calls to mind in addition to its dictionary meaning (Home and domicile have the same dictionary meaning, but home has positive and warm connotations while domicile does not.)
Connotation
the repetition of consonant sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar vowel sounds (“On a hot, hot day, and I in pajamas for the heat…” Note that the consonants are the same, but the vowels are different.)
Consonance
the process of observing and pointing out differences
Contrast
any device or style or subject matter which has become, in its time and by reason of its habitual use, a recognized means of literary expression, an accepted element in technique. (soliloquy associated with drama, simile with poetry, and catalog with the epic)
Convention
a pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter. Shakespeare ended his sonnets with couplets. (“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” Sonnet XVIII – Shakespeare)
Couplet
in the plot of a story or play is the turning point for the protagonist and often coincides with the climax of the story
Crisis
is a cynical attitude or character. Cynical means being contemptuous of the motives or virtues of others—mocking and sneering. (Heathcliff in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights)
Cynicism
a metrical foot of three syllables, an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables
Dactyl
(fallacy) attacking a person by formally praising him/her, but for an achievement that should not be praised
Damning with faint praise
is a metaphor that has been overused to the point that its original impact has been lost (“the foot of the bed” and “toe the line”)
Dead metaphor
a term used in literature or art history for the decline that marks the end of a great artistic period. The general characteristics of decadence are often self-consciousness, artificiality, over-refinement and perversity.
Decadence
deals with the ideal of propriety. It stemmed from the classical authors and was used widely by the 17th and 18th century writers. It stressed that literary works had to be polished, dignified, clear, rational and elevated.
Decorum
is a form of argument in which the conclusion has to be true if the premises are true. (EX. People living in the 18th century had no experience with cars. Dr. Johnson lived in the 18th century. Dr. Johnson had no experience with cars.)
Deduction
a belief in the existence of a personal God who is manifested neither supernaturally in history nor in nature
Deism
French for “already seen” – an experience involving a feeling of familiarity in a place where one has never been before or in a situation one has not before experienced
Deja vu
a word’s actual dictionary meaning as opposed to a word’s connotative meaning
Denotation
in a literary work, it is anything that happens after the resolution of the plot. At this point the central conflict is resolved, and the consequences for the protagonist are already decided. It is the tying up of loose ends.
Denouement
the belief that all apparent acts of the will are actually the result of causes which determine them. In classical literature, it may be fate. In Calvinistic teachings, it may be the predestined will of God. (Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles)
Determinism
one who deliberately takes the opposite in an argument to prove a point; a destructive critic who searches for flaws to bring out the whole truth
Devils advocate
a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region
Dialect
In classical literature, it refers to the tradition of continuing debate or discussion of eternally unresolved issues, such as beauty vs. truth or the individual vs. the state.
Dialectic
is word choice. Diction can be formal or informal, abstract or concrete, plain or ornate, ordinary or technical. A writer’s choice of words has great impact in a literary work. Hemingway stated that he had to rewrite the ending to A Farewell to Arms 39 times. When asked why, he answered, “Getting the words right.” (Archaic diction refers to words that are no longer in everyday use.)
Diction
instructiveness in a literary work, one of the purposes of which appears to be to give guidance, particularly in moral, ethical or religious matters. Didactic literature (especially poetry) teaches moral lessons. (Chaucer’s “The Pardoner’s Tale”)
Didactic
to stray from the main subject in speaking or writing
Digression
a situation that requires a person to decide between two equally attractive or equally unattractive alternatives
Dilemma
a cheaply made, often sensational and melodramatic paperback novel of history, crime or adventure, printed in America in the latter half of the 19th century. These novels were priced at ten cents each.
Dime novel
a lamentation sung or recited at a funeral or composed in commemoration of a death; a sad song
Dirge
digressing from subject to subject; relating to discourse or modes of discourse
Discursive
harsh and inharmonious sounds that are discordant with the words and the rhythms surrounding them in a line or sentence
Dissonance
a type of drama allied to comedy, radically nonrealistic in both content and presentation, that emphasizes the absurdity, emptiness or meaninglessness of life (Kafka’s The Metamorphosis where Gregor, whose life seems empty, morphs into a gigantic beetle – and R&G Are Dead)
Drama of the absurd
when there is a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true (Oedipus is unaware that he killed his own father and married his mother.)
Dramatic irony
a lyric poem in which a speaker addresses a silent or absent listener in a moment of high intensity or deep emotion, as if engaged in private conversation. The speaker proceeds without interruption or argument, and the effect on the reader is that of hearing just one side of a conversation. This takes the reader inside the speaker’s mind. (Robert Browning’s “The Last Duchess”)
Dramatic monologue
a character who is different at the end of the book than he/she was at the beginning of the book. The character has undergone changes and has matured greatly, usually learning harsh lessons along the way. (Pip in Great Expectations or Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird)
Dynamic character
a solemn and formal lyric poem about death—often in tribute to a person who has died recently. Most elegies are written in formal, dignified language and are serious in tone. (Tennyson’s In Memoriam and Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”) (elegiac is the adjective form)
Elegy
English comic and tragic plays produced during the Renaissance—during the last years of and the few years after Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Thus, Shakespeare is an Elizabethan dramatist, although more than one-third of his active career lies in the reign of James I who succeeded Queen Elizabeth I to the throne. Modern English drama developed so rapidly and brilliantly that the Elizabethan Era is the golden age of English drama.
Elizabeth drama
the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context (“Some people prefer cats; others, dogs.”) – A series of marks used in writing to show omission of words (“To be…that is the question.”)
Ellipsis
a philosophical movement of the 18th century, particularly in France but effectively over much of Europe and America. The Enlightenment celebrated reason, the scientific method and human beings’ ability to perfect themselves and society. In England, Swift (Gulliver’s Travels), Pope and others responded to the elements of Enlightenment thought.
Enlightenment, the
a line with a pause at the end. Lines that end with a period, comma, colon, semicolon, exclamation point, or question mark are end-stopped lines.
End stopped
a long, narrative poem about the adventures of gods or of a hero. The
epic usually presents an encyclopedic portrait of the culture in which it was
produced (The Odyssey and Beowulf).
Epic
