week 2 Flashcards
What is VERNACULAR?
The language spoken by the people who live in a particular locality.
What is UNDERSTATEMENT?
A statement that says less than what is meant.
Example: During the second war with Iraq, American troops complained of a fierce sand storm that made even the night-vision equipment useless. A British commando commented about the storm: “It’s a bit breezy.”
What is TRAGEDY?
In general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some other unhappy end.
What is THEME?
The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.
What is TONE?
The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.
What is STEREOTYPE?
A fixed idea or conception of a character or an idea which does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices.
What is STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS?
A style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character’s mind.
What is STYLE?
The distinctive way in which a writer uses language: a writer’s distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax.
What is SUSPENSE?
A feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story.
What is SYMBOL?
A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.
What is SYNECDOCHE?
A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.
Example: “If you don’t drive properly, you will lose your wheels.” The wheels represent the entire car.
What is a QUATRAIN?
A poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.
What is a REFRAIN?
A word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.
What is RHYTHM?
A rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language.
What is RHETORIC?
Art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.
What is a RHETORICAL QUESTION?
A question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer.
What is ROMANCE?
In general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful.
What is SATIRE?
A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change.
What is SIMILE?
A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles.
What is a SOLILOQUY?
A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage.
What is VIGILANT?
Watchful, alert.
Example: The guards remained vigilant throughout the night, but the enemy never launched the expected attack.
What does VILIFY mean?
To lower in importance, defame.
Example: After the Watergate scandal, almost any story written about President Nixon sought to vilify him and criticize his behavior.
What does VINDICATE mean?
To avenge; to free from allegation; to set free.
Example: The attorney had no chance of vindicating the defendant with all of the strong evidence presented by the state.
What does VINDICTIVE mean?
Vengeful.
Example: The vindictive madman seeks to exact vengeance for any insult that he perceives is directed at him, no matter how small.
What does VICARIOUS mean?
Experiencing through another.
Example: All of my lame friends learned to be social through vicarious involvement in my amazing experiences.
