Vocab Flashcards
Tragedy
a play, novel, or other narrative that depicts serious and important events in which the main character comes to an unhappy end
Aside
words that are spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character but that are not supposed to be overheard by the others onstage
Conflict
a challenge a character faces (internal or external)
Motif
a recurring element/a symbolic image or idea that appears frequently (can be sounds, actions, ideas, words, items, etc.)
Tone
the author’s attitude toward the subject matter
Mood
the emotional response the writer is trying to evoke in his reader/audience
Prose
direct, unadorned form of language, written or spoken, in ordinary use
Anachronism
event or detail that is inappropriate for the time period
Verbal irony
a writer or speaker says one thing, but really means something completely different
Dramatic irony
the audience or reader knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know
the audience or reader knows something before one or more of the characters
Monologue
a speech by one character in a play
Soliloquy
an unusually long speech in which a character who is on stage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud
Foil
character who is used as a contrast to another character; writer sets off/intensifies the qualities of 2 characters this way
Paradox
a statement that seems contradictory yet makes sense or is possibly true
Oxymoron
a combination of contradictory terms (EX: jumbo shrimp)
Pun
a play on the multiple meanings of a word, or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings
Comic relief
humor added that lessens the seriousness of a plot
Petrachan lover
one whose undying love for another is not returned
Static character
character who does not change much in the course of a story
Dynamic character
character who changes as a result of the story’s events
Enjambment
the continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break
Allusion
Reference to popular historic event (Greek Gods, Bible, Folklore, Pop-Culture)
An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, character, place, or event that a writer makes to deepen the reader’s understanding of their work by creating an association between the work and the reference.
Simile
A simile is a type of figurative language that describes something by comparing it to something else with the words like or as.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.