Vocab Unit 2

Question 1

Abstract

Answer 1

A 150- to 250-word paragraph that provides readers with a quick overview of your essay or report and its organization.

Question 2

Anticlimax

Answer 2

A figure of speech that consists of the usually sudden transition in discourse from a significant idea to a trivial or ludicrous one.

Question 3

Archaism

Answer 3

Words, phrases, or pronunciations that have become obsolete or have fallen out of contemporary use

Question 4

Ballad

Answer 4

a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next as part of the folk culture.

Question 5

Denotation

Answer 5

the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Question 6

Epic

Answer 6

a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation.

Question 7

Euphony

Answer 7

the quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words.

Question 8

Foot

Answer 8

The basic unit of measurement of accentual-syllabic meter.

Question 9

Foreshadowing

Answer 9

be a warning or indication of (a future event).

Question 10

Gothic Novel

Answer 10

Gothic novel, European Romantic pseudomedieval fiction having a prevailing atmosphere of mystery and terror.

Question 11

Hyperbole

Answer 11

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Question 12

Irony

Answer 12

the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

Question 13

Masculine Rhyme

Answer 13

a rhyme of final stressed syllables

Question 14

Nemesis

Answer 14

the inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall.

Question 15

Paradox

Answer 15

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well-founded or true.

Question 16

Personification

Answer 16

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Question 17

Pun

Answer 17

a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Question 18

Simile

Answer 18

a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as

Question 19

Symbolism

Answer 19

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

Question 20

Travesty

Answer 20

a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something.