Vocabulary Flashcards
Ambiguity
More than one possible meaning from language with the capacity to function on literal and non literal levels.
Alliteration
The repetition of sounds through a sequence of words. (e.g. Crazy kangaroo, loud house)
Anaphora
Repetition of the same word(s) at the beginning of a line, clause or sentence.
Auditor
Implied listener.
Dramatic poetry
Must have an auditor
Hyperbole
Exaggerated language
Iambic
Metrical form of poetry reading like sheet music.
Inciting incident
An action that sets plot into motion
Irony
Characterized by a significant difference between what is expected and what actually happens.
Verbal irony
Occurs when a word in context means something different from what it appears to mean. Sarcasm
Situational irony
Occurs when something happens to a character that they did not expect to happen.
Dramatic irony
When the audience knows something the character does not know.
Lyric poetry
A cohesive meditation in an idea.
Metaphor
Two unlike things are compared without using like or as
Meter
Pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
Mood
The way the reader feels when reading
Motif
A recurrent device, formula or situation.
Narrative poetry
Tells a story
Onomatopoeia
The sound of the word suggest the meaning. Bang honk.
Pentameter
Line of poetry with five feet
Persona
The speaker in a poem.
Prose
Sentences and paragraph form
Prose poem
Poem in prose form but still had poetic qualities.
Simile
An explicit comparison of two things using like or as.
Sonnet
14 lines of iambic pentameter. 3 quatrains and a couplet. Usually discussing unrequited love.
Theme
A topic explored in a literary work. NOT THE MAIN IDEA.
Tone
Writers attitude towards material or reader.
Antihero
A protagonist that does not posses normal heroic characteristics.
Antagonist
A character or nonhuman force that is in conflict with the protagonist.
Blank verse
Unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter
Character
An imaginary personage who acts, appears, or is referred to in a literary work.
Main character
Receive most attention
Minor characters
Receive least attention
Flat character
Simple, predictable, few dominant traits.
Round character
Complex multifaceted and unpredictable.
Static character
Do not change over story.
Dynamic character
Change over story
Comedy
The protagonist gets what he/she wants.
Foil character
A character that serves by contrast to highlight traits in another character.
Plot
The arrangement of the action
Exposition
Phase 1. Sets the scene introduces characters and establishes situation of play.
Rising action
Phase 2. Events complicate. Intensifying initial conflict or introducing new conflict.
Climax
Phase 3. Action stops rising and begins falling.
Falling action
Phase 4. Conflict mows towards resolution.
Conclusion.
Phase 5. Situation stabs loses and conflict is resolved.
Denouement
Any action that follows conclusion and ties up loose ends.
Protagonist
Main character in literary work
Soliloquy
A speech in a play that is meant to be heard by the audience. Represents the character thinking out loud.
Tragedy
Protagonist does not get what he/she wants.
Character identification
What play they are in. Who they are. What they do.
