VOCAB I

Question 0

Allegory

Answer 0

A literary form in which some or all of the characters are embodiments or abstract ideas.
A story that carries a second meaning along with surface story.

Question 1

Abstract language

Answer 1

Language describing ideas and qualities rather than specific things.

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

Repetition of the initial consonant sound in words.

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history; the reader is expected to see the application of the allusion.

Question 4

Ambiguity

Answer 4

Quality of intentionally being unclear. Events or situations that are ambiguous can be interpreted one way.

Question 5

Anachronism

Answer 5

An element within a story that is out of its time frame. Sometimes this is for effect, but it can be committed through poor research and error.

Question 6

Analogy

Answer 6

Compares an unfamiliar object/place to the familiar to create understanding. Similes and metaphors are kinda of analogies.

Question 7

Anapestic

Answer 7

In poetry, a three beat rhythm (u u /) with two unstressed syllables, followed by a stressed syllable.
EX: Rec-o-MEND

Question 8

Antagonist

Answer 8

The main character or force which creates the conflict with the main character.
EX: Big Brother in Orwell’s 1984, Moriarty in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes

Question 9

Anti-climax

Answer 9

The arrangement of details in such an order that the unimportant suddenly appears at the point where the critical or serious detail should be found.

Question 10

Anti-hero

Answer 10

A protagonist who carries the action of the literary piece, but doesn’t envoy the classic characteristics of a hero.
EX: Lemonhope in Adventure Time, Oh Dae-Su in Oldboy

Question 11

Antithesis

Answer 11

Two ideas presented closely together for a contrast. The second idea is a concept directly opposed to a previously presented idea.

Question 12

Antonomasia

Answer 12

The use of a proper noun as a common name.

Question 13

Aphorism

Answer 13

A statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and witty manner.
EX: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Question 14

Apostrophe

Answer 14

Figure of speech where someone absent, dead, or something non-human is addressed as if it were alive and could not reply.
EX: “Death be not proud.”

Question 15

Apotheosis

Answer 15

Elevating someone to the level of a God.

Question 16

Approximate rhyme

Answer 16

(Imperfect rhyme)

A term for words used in a rhyming pattern that has some kind of correspondence, but are not perfect rhymes.

Question 17

Archetype

Answer 17

A character, situation, or symbol that is familiar to people on all cultures because it occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore.
EX: Jesus and the story of Christ

Question 18

Aside

Answer 18

A short speech made by an actor on stage to the audience.

Question 19

Assonance

Answer 19

The repetition at close intervals of the vowel sounds of accepted syllables or important words.
EX: Owen goes Over the Ocean (the O’s)

Question 20

Ballad

Answer 20

A short narrative poem written in song like stanza form.

Question 21

Blank verse

Answer 21

Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter.

Ten syllables per line, one unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable.

Question 22

Bombast

Answer 22

Grandiloquent, ranting, insincere, extravagant language

Question 23

Cacophony

Answer 23

A literary device used to describe a blaring of sounds that don’t match with each other.
EX: the sound of dishes crashing, nails scratching a chalkboard

Question 24

Caesara

Answer 24

A pause in a line of poetry made by mark of punctuation

Question 25

Carpe diem

Answer 25

Latin: Seize the day

Question 26

Catharsis

Answer 26

An expression of emotion meant to cleanse

Question 27

Chiasmus

Answer 27

The opposite of parallel construction: inverting the second of two phrases.
EX: I like the idea; its execution, I don’t.

Question 28

Colloquial

Answer 28

Language that relates to slang or regional dialect, such as used in every day conversation.
EX: “hon” in Baltimore, “on fleek”, “throwing shade”

Question 29

Comedy

Answer 29

Any literary form with a happy ending.

Question 30

Conceit

Answer 30

A complex or far fetched comparison

Question 31

Conflict

Answer 31

A struggle which grows out of the interplay of opposing forces in a plot.

Question 32

Connotation

Answer 32

What a word suggests beyond its basic definition; the shades of meaning of a word

Question 33

Consonance

Answer 33

The repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words.

Question 34

Couplet

Answer 34

Two successive rhyming lines, usually in the same meter.

*a Heroic Couplet fits the previous definition and is written in iambic pentameter

Question 35

Dactylic

Answer 35

A three beat rhythm of one stressed and two unstressed syllables.
EX: FOR ti fy

Question 36

Denotation

Answer 36

A word’s most literal and limited meaning.

Question 37

Deus ex machina

Answer 37

Latin for “God from the machine”; any artificial device an author uses to solve difficulties.

Question 38

Denouement

Answer 38

The events following the resolution of the final conflict of the goal.

Question 39

Diction

Answer 39

The deliberate choice of a style of language for a desired effect or tone.

Question 40

Didactic

Answer 40

A label given to a literary work whose main purpose is to give guidance on moral, ethic, or religious matters.

Question 41

Dynamic character

Answer 41

One who changes as a result of actions in the plot.

Question 42

Elegy

Answer 42

A usually form poem expressing sorrow or lamentation for the dead.

Question 43

Enjambment

Answer 43

The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Question 44

Epigram

Answer 44

A witty, pointed, terse saying.!

Question 45

Epigraph

Answer 45

A brief quotation at the beginning of a literary work, reflective of the theme.

Question 46

Epiphany

Answer 46

A sudden flash of insight, a startling discovery.

Question 47

Epithet

Answer 47

A word or group of words used to describe a person.