ENG107 – Flashcards

Poetry in which only the accented syllables in each line are counted; there may be any number of unaccented syllables

Repeated consonants, particularly at the beginning of words or stressed syllables, as in “with a sound like seed spilled…”

A poetic foot consisting of two unaccented (unstressed) and one accented (stressed) syllables, as in: In the SKY

The purposeful repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses, sentences, paragraphs, or verses

In narrative, the character who provides the major impediment or obstacle to the main character’s desire

A theatrical convention whereby a character says something that the audience hears but the other characters do not

Repeated vowel sounds, as in “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain

The tone and attitude, as well as the setting, period, seater, and time of day, of a story. The background to the characters’ foreground

The author speaks directly to the reader, rather than through the point of view of the character. Author tells us what to think/feel

Past events that are necessary to understand a narrative or its significance

A stanza of four lines, usually of iambic tetrameter, usually rhymed ABCD

In drama, the smallest unit of dramatic action usually signaled by a discovery, a decision, or a change of strategy.
Also used in play script to indicate a brief pause

Unrhymed iambic pentameter. The most common line in English poetry

A problem-solving technique that can also generate ideas for an imagined situation

Jarring, discordant sound

A pause within a line of poetry, often indicated by a comma or period

“The ‘I’ writing ‘my’ story as if it were a memoir”

A fictional person. Basis of literary writing

May be direct, through describing how the character looks, acts, etc, or indirect through summary or interpretation

A word, phrase, or metaphor that represents the predictable or overly familiar, and usually indicates lazy writing

The point of highest tension in a story, at which a discovery or a decision is made that decides the outcome of the conflict

Aspects of the conflict that build the plot towards its climax

A metaphor in which the connection between the two things compared is not immediately clear

Specifics tat address the senses in meaningful ways. The building blocks of imaginative writing, “Show, don’t tell”
Concrete: There is an image, something that can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched
Detail: A degree of focus and specificity
Significant: Specific image also suggests an abstraction, generalization, or judgement

The complex of meanings and ideas that come to be associated with a word, as “rose” suggests not only the flower but beauty, fragrance, etc

The struggle between protagonist and antagonist, or between two opposing forces. Considered necessary to narrative because it generates a desire in the reader to find out what is going to happen

A poetic effect created by “back to back” consonants so that the speaker has to stop between words in order to pronounce them

Two lines of a verse, usually rhymed which can constitute an entire poem or stand as part of a longer stanzaic form

The essay enlivened through attention to stylistic and dramatic devices, personal voice, and a search for range and resonance.

A poetic foor consisting of one accented (stressed) and two unaccented (unstressed) syllables. i.e. FOR-ti-fy

A metaphor so common that it has lost the original sense of comparison and acquired a further definition. i.e. “Sifting the evidence” no longer calls a sieve to mind

The most direct or specific meaning of a word; how it is defined

The resolution at the end of a story. The return to order after the conflict, complications, and climax have passed

In literature, the arrangement of words and images to pack maximum meaning into minimum space

Characters’ talk

The spoken words quoted i.e., “No, I can’t stand the little monsters and I won’t herd a bunch of them to the park unless I’m paid”

The words related in third person i.e., “She said she couldn’t stand kids and wouldn’t take them to the park unless she got paid”

Reported at a distance i.e., “She claimed to hate children and irritatedly demanded payment for taking them to the park”

A combination of vocabulary, the words chosen, and syntax, the order in which they are used. Conveys not only the facts but also the tone and attitude

Musical or other effects that occur naturally as part of the dramatic narrative

A line consisting of two poetic feet

The position, close or far, of the author in relation to the characters or narrator, often implying the degree to which we are intended to identify with or trust them

The audience (or reader) knows something that the character doesn’t know

The rhyming words or syllables occur at the end of the poetic line

The phrase, clause, or sentence punctuation occurs at the end of poetic line

The opposite of end-stoppedl the sentence and its meaning carry on from one line to the next

May describe an essay, poem, novel, or story consisting entirely or mainly of letters written to another character, a person or an institution

A lyric ode to celebrate a bride and groom

Piece with a basis in fact, on a single subject, presenting the view of the author

Pleasant and smooth-flowing sound, the opposite of cacophony

In narrative and especially theater, the laying out of the situation at the opening of the action

The portion of a plot that follows the climax and leads to the resolution

A nonliteral use of language, such as metaphor, smilie, hyperbole, personification, etc, to enhance meaning

“I”

“You”

“He/She”

In narrative, film, or drama, a leap into the past

Verse written in a predetermined pattern of rhythm and rhyme

Verse that lacks a regular meter or rhyme scheme and uses irregular line lengths according to the demands of the particular poem

Writing without any plan or forethought whatsoever

Same unplanned freedom as freewrite, but on a chosen topic

A form of writing such as poetry, drama, or fiction

A form of poetry taken from the Japanese. In three lines with a pattern of five, seven and five syllables, for a total of seventeen syllables

Two lines of poetry consecutively rhymed

Extreme exaggeration

A poetic foot consisting of one unaccented and one accented syllable i.e. hoo-RAY

An expression that is grammatically peculiar to itself and can’t be understood by understanding its separate elements i.e. ‘er

Event that has created the situation in which the protagonist finds himself at the beginning of a drama

Raising of tension or emotion through character conflict, language, etc

At least one of the rhyming words occurs within, tauter than at the end of a line

Involves a contradiction or a denial of expectation in some area

When one thing is said and another/it’s opposite is meant

Contradiction inherent in human action or the human condition

Type of poem expressing subjective thoughts or feelings, often used in the form of a song

Story retrieved from the writer’s memory, with the writer as protagonist

The comparison of one term with another such that a tension is created between what is alike and what is unlike between the two terms

Comparison by using the words “like” or “as”

Way of measuring time in poetry, according to the number of feet and syllables in the line

Figure of speech in which one word or phrase is used as substitute for another with which it is associated

Helpful to or intended to help memory

Speech of some length by a single character

Line consisting of a single poetic foot

The telling of a story

The person who tells the story

Someone on the edge of the action who is nevertheless our eyes and ears in the story

In drama, the specific goal that a character has in any given beat of dialogue

A lyric poem of some length, usually mediative or serious with a formal structure and elevated dictation

Imperfect rhyme

Narrative convention by which the author knows everything – past, future, any character’s thoughts. Godlike authorial stance

The use of words that make sounds

Combines two contradictory words i.e. burning ice, shouting whisper

A seemingly conradictory statement of which both parts may nevertheless be true

A mask adopted by the author that may be a public manifestation of the author’s self

An essay in which the author is overtly present

Technique of giving human attributes or emotions to nonhuman things

The smallest sound that may convey a distinction of meaning

Series of events arranged so as to reveal their significance

unit of measurement with one accented or stressed syllable and one or two unstressed syllables

In drama, the first even that sets the plot in motion

A poem that is not written in lines but continues to the margins of the page

The study of ether and sound in poetry

The main character of a narrative usually one with whom we identify

A figure of speech that plays on different meanings of the same word

A substitue poetic foot with two unaccented syllables

A verse of four lines

A method of drafting, especially a prose piece, by gathering paragraphs and physically moving them around to produce a rough structure

A narrative or dramatic convention that aims at accuracy and verisimilitude in the presentation of period, place, speech and behavior

End of conflict

A similarity or correspondence of sounds

A pattern or flow of sounds created by stressed and unstressed syllables

Measuring of verse into poetic feet or a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Methods of treating time in fiction. Summary covers a relatively long period of time in relatively short compass; scene deals at length with a relatively short period of time

Referring back to the self

Place and period in which a story or drama takes place

Plotted fiction of no more than 500 words

Theatrical convention in which a character alone onstage makes a speech that we understand to represent his or her thoughts

A poem of fourteen lines

A group of lines within a poem

Arrangement of words within a sentence

Intricate poem in which the first and third lines are repeated at the end of alternating successive verses and as a couplet at the end

I. Vagueness or abstract language (collateral damage – civilians were killed, not calling things what they really were)

II. Dead Metaphors or Cliches – finding the easy way out, it’s ready made language, unoriginal, less meaning and sometimes it’s nothing more than a saying, Orwell feels that it isn’t more powerful

1. Write as concretely and specifically as possible

2. Avoid over-used or cliched language, by using imagery that is as FRESH and UNIQUE as possible

“The overriding idea of this book is play, serious, strenuous, dedicated, demanding, enthusiastic, repeated, perfected play.”

To give readers something to “take away”

OBSERVATION to INSIGHT (begin in the descriptive and concrete NOT int he abstract)

David Sedaris

Start in the concrete first and foremost b/c the reader will then connect to it, and the reader will do the rest of the work subconsciously.

When sensuous responses develop, followed by emotional, are generated
> Writer needs to use ALL 5 SENSES and imagery that is concrete, to trigger strong responses
* MLK’s “I have a dream” speech – when he says there is a bank of justice, and black people have been given a bad check. The imagery is then followed by concrete details.

Yusef Komunyakaa

Billy Collins

– Your voice
– Persona
– Irony
– Character View
– Point of View

Alice Walker

George Saunders

1. Image (appearance)
2. Voice (speech)
3. Action
4. Thought
5. Background (flashback)

Aleksander Hemon

Benjamin Perry

Richard Baush

Kaylin Haught

Carole Simmons Oles

Molly Campbell

Verna Mae Slone

Ed McClanahan

Wendell Berry

– As a journey
– As a power struggle
– As a connection or disconnection

1. Someone went on a journey
OR
2. A stranger came to town

Joseph Campbell

– Where does main character want to go?
– What are the obstacles?
– What is/ is not overcome?
– What does character learn/ change?

Margaret Atwood

S. L. Wisenberg

In the middle of things

Kinfolks

Kinfolks

Czeslaw Milosz

Leonard Cohen

Adam Zagajewski