vocab test 1 Flashcards
Colloquialism
a local, familiar, or informal expression.
Example: Burro Genius (By Victor Villasenor)
Note the use of ______ expressions in the play Burro Genius, by Victor Villasenor:
“‘I don’t understand!’ roared my father, putting his money back in his pocket. ‘Hell, I’ve forgotten more than you or most people will EVER UNDERSTAND!’
‘Salvador,’ said my mother as quietly as she could, ‘why don’t you and Mundo go outside and let me talk to this woman alone.’
‘Damn good idea!’ said my father.”
In this passage, Salvador’s father uses ______ words like “hell” and “damn,” which gives insight into his aggressive and harsh nature. The idea of using colloquialisms is to put diversity into the characters.
Alliteration
the repetition of initial sounds in two or more neighboring words.
Example: “He clasps the crag with crooked hands,/Close to the sun in lonely lands.”
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Eagle”
Allusion
an implied or indirect reference especially in literature
Example: In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, “the two knitting women” whom Marlow sees _____ to “Moirae” or Fates as visualized in Greek Mythology:
“The two knitting women increase his anxiety by gazing at him and all the other sailors with knowing unconcern. Their eerie looks suggest that they know what will happen (the men dying), yet don’t care”
The thread they knit represents human life. The two women knitting black wool foreshadows Marlow’s horrific journey in the “Dark Continent”.
Ambiguity
the quality or state of being uncertain or obscure
Example: The Sick Rose (By William Blake)
“The Sick Rose”, a short lyric written by William Blake, is full of ambiguities:
"O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm: Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy; And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy"
Many of the words in the above lines show ambiguity. We cannot say for sure what “ bed of crimson joy” means; neither can we be exact about the interpretation of “dark secret love.” The ambiguous nature of such phrases allows readers to explore for deeper meanings of the poem. Some of those who have analyzed this poem believe that “Has found out thy bed / Of crimson joy” refers to making love.
Antithesis
the rhetorical contrast of ideals through parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences.
Example: A Tale of Two Cities (By Charles Dickens)
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Aphorism
a concise statement of principle.
Example: “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth/It is to have a thankless child.” –Shakespeare, King Lear
Aside
In drama, an utterance not meant to be heard by some.
Cacophony
The use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing, and unmelodious sounds - primarily those of consonants - to achieve desired results.
Characterization
artistic representation of a character
flat character
a character who does not change from beginning to end of a narrative
round/dynamic
a character who does change throughout the course of a narrative
stock character
stereotypical character
cliche
a trite phrase or expression
Example #1
In describing time, the following expressions have turned into ______:
in the nick of time - to happen just in time
only time will tell - to become clear over time
a matter of time - to happen sooner or later
Example #2
In describing people, these expressions have turned into ______:
as brave as a lion - describes a very brave person
as old as the hills - describes an old person or idea
a diamond in the rough - describes someone with a brilliant future
Conceit
an elaborate or strained metaphor
conflict
competitive or opposing actions or forces
connotation
the suggested meaning of a word
Analogy
a comparison of two otherwise unlike things based on a specific commonality.
Example: abandoning a project is like leaving a house partway build)
anecdote
a usually short narrative of an interesting or amusing incident
assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in nearby words.
Example: “Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;/And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil.” -Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”
antagonist
one that contents with or opposes another; the adversary of the protagonist.
antecedent
a word or phrase replaced by a substitute.
Example: John in “Mary saw John and called to him.
consonance
The repetition of consonant sounds in two or more successive words or stressed syllables that contain different vowel sounds: “had/hid,” “wonder/wander,” “haven/heaven.”
Example: “…leave thy vain bibble-babble.” –Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
denotation
a direct and specific meaning of a word Example: A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal (By William Wordsworth) "A slumber did my spirit seal; I had no human fears — She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years. No motion has she now, no force; She neither hears nor sees; Roll'd round in earth's diurnal course With rocks, and stones, and trees."
Wordsworth makes a contrast between a living girl and a dead girl in the first and second stanzas respectively. We are familiar with the meanings of the words used in the last line of the second stanza: rock, stone, and tree. However, the poet uses them connotatively, where “rock” and “stone” imply cold and inanimate objects, and the tree suggests dirt and thus the burial of that dead girl.
diction
the choice of words;
Example: The Sun Rising (By John Donne)
In sharp contrast to Keats, John Donne uses colloquialism in his poem The Sun Rising:
"Busy old fool, unruly Sun, Why dost thou thus, Through windows, and through curtains, call on us? Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run? Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide. "
Treating the sun as a real human being in this excerpt, the poet speaks to the sun in an informal way, using colloquial expressions. He rebukes the sun because it has appeared to spoil the good time he is having with his beloved. Further, he orders the “saucy pedantic sun” to go away.
didactic
designed to teach
Example: Pilgrim’s Progress (By John Bunyan)
John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the best _______ism examples in the form of spiritual allegory. The poem describes a religious and spiritual journey of a man on the way to deliverance.
The poem describes an ordinary sinner, “Christian,” who leaves the City of Destruction and travels towards Celestial City, where God resides, for salvation. On his way, he finds a companion, “Faithful,” who helps him on his way to the City.
On many occasions, many characters - “Hypocrisy,” “Apollyon,” “Worldly Wiseman,” and “Obstinate and Pliable” - try to discourage or stop him from achieving his goal. Finally, he reaches the Celestial City carried by Hopeful’s faith.
The moral or ______ lesson that this allegorical poem intends to instruct is that the road to Heaven is not easy, and it is full of obstacles. Moreover, a Christian has to be willing to pay any cost to achieve his salvation. Besides, a man is full of sin, but this does not stop him from achieving glory
dramatic monologue
a literary work in which a speaker’s character is revealed in a speech performed by one character to another.
epiphany
A sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.
euphemism
the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend.
Example: Othello (By William Shakespeare)
Examples of _______ referring to sex are found in William Shakespeare’s Othello. In Act 1, Scene 1, Iago tells Brabantio:
“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.”
Here, the expression “making the beast with two backs” refers to the act of having sex.
euphony
the use of words and phrases that are distinguished as having a wide range of noteworthy melody or loveliness in the sounds they create
figurative language
figures of speech used to make communication more effective, persuasive, and impactful.
flashback
an interruption of chronological sequence by interjection of events of earlier occurrence.
foil
someone or something in contrast to another
foreshadowing
an indication of what is to come
frame story
a story told within the “frame” or another story (or series of stories)
genre
a category or literary composition
