Vocab Quiz- Literary Terms

Question 1

Action

Answer 1

The series of events and episodes that form the plot of a story or play

Question 2

Allegory

Answer 2

Literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

Reference to literary, mythological, or historical person, place, thing, or event

Question 4

Anaphora

Answer 4

Deliberate repetition of word or phrase at the beginning of each one of a sequence of lines

Question 5

Antagonist

Answer 5

Any force in opposition to the main character, or protagonist

Question 6

Anecdote

Answer 6

Brief personal narrative which focuses on particular incident or event

Question 7

Antihero

Answer 7

Chief character in modern literature who is the opposite of what is often associated with the hero; anti heroes are powerless, petty, foolish, passive, dishonest, and the like.

Question 8

Archetype

Answer 8

Recurrent, universal narrative designs, patterns of action, character-types, themes, and images

Question 9

Atmosphere

Answer 9

Emotional tone pervading a literary work or section of a work; sometimes called mood or ambiance

Question 10

Bildungsroman

Answer 10

Novel of formation l; coming of age novel; childhood to adulthood

Question 11

Catharsis

Answer 11

Purging of the feelings of pity and fear that, according to Aristotle, occur I the audience of tragic drama.

Question 12

Protagonist

Answer 12

The chief character in the plot, often opposed by the antagonist

Question 13

Flat character

Answer 13

A character built around a single quality

Question 14

Round character

Answer 14

A more complex character

Question 15

Stock characters

Answer 15

Are types of characters recognizable as stereotypical or conventional characters that reoccur

Question 16

Climax

Answer 16

The turning point in a narrative, when the conflict is at its most intense

Question 17

Close reading

Answer 17

Detailed analysis of complex interrelationships and multiple meanings of the verbal and figurative components within a work

Question 18

Complication

Answer 18

An intensification of the conflict in a story or play

Question 19

Conflict

Answer 19

The issue to be solved in the story

Question 20

Denouement

Answer 20

Action of “untying,” final outcome of main complication in story

Question 21

Dialect

Answer 21

Regional or social variety of language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which it exists

Question 22

Dialogue

Answer 22

Literary work written in the form of conversation

Question 23

Diction

Answer 23

Words phrases chosen by author, often categorized as abstract, concrete, Anglo-Saxon or Latinate, colloquial, technical, formal, common.

Question 24

Epistolary novel

Answer 24

Narrative conveyed through letters

Question 25

Exposition

Answer 25

Introductory material that presents characters, setting, tone

Question 26

Falling action

Answer 26

Action following the climax of a story that moves it toward resolution

Question 27

Figurative language

Answer 27

A departure from standard meaning of words to achieve special meaning or effect

Question 28

Flashback

Answer 28

Interpolated narrative or scenes representing events that happened before the time at which the work opened

Question 29

Foil

Answer 29

Character in a work who, by sharp contrast, serves to stress and highlight characteristics of the protagonist

Question 30

Foreshadowing

Answer 30

Device used to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments

Question 31

Frame story

Answer 31

Preliminary narrative in which a character tells another or a series of other stories

Question 32

Freytag’s pyramid

Answer 32

Gustav Freytag’s description of a typical plot of five act play as a pyramid with rising action, climax, and falling action