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Repeating identical beginning consonant sounds

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Alliteration

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The author interrupts the scene of a narrative to tell about earlier events

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Flashback

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An author gives hints or clues as to what will happen in a story

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Foreshadowing

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Exaggeration for emphasis or humorous effect

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Hyperbole

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When things happen that are in direct contrast to what we expect (or would like to happen)

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Situational Irony

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When people say one thing but mean the opposite

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Verbal Irony

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When the reader knows something the character doesn't

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Dramatic Irony

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Compares two things directly, without using the words "like" or "as"

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Metaphor

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A continued comparison throughout a work

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Extended Metaphor

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Words that imitate specific sounds

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Onomatopoeia

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A statement that at first seems self-contradictory but that upon reflection makes sense

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Paradox

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Gives human characteristics to animals, objects, or ideas

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Personification

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A play on words that have similar meanings

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Pun

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A word, phrase, or series of lines that is repeated, adding rhythm and emphasis to a song or poem

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Refrain

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The act of repeating words and phrases throughout a work, or repeating literary devices such as metaphors, symbols, or types of imagery

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Repetition

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A comparison using "like" or "as"

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Simile

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Using one thing to represent another

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Symbol

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The emotion created by the author's use of language or by a character's words and actions

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Tone

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Minimizes or lessens the importance of what is meant

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Understatement

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A literary genre based on imagination and not necessarily on fact

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Fiction

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A literary genre based on fact

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Non-fiction

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A literary genre intended to be performed by actors on a stage

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Drama

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The story is arranged in order of time from the beginning to the end

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Chronological

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A narrative written in the form of letters, diary/journal entries, postcards, or e- mail

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Epistolary Narrative

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A story is told within a story

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Frame Narrative

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The novel or story begins at the midpoint, flashes back to the beginning, & tells the story from there.

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In Medias Res

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Rhymes that occur at the end of a line of poetry; the most common type of rhyme

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End Rhyme

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Rhyme occurring within a line of poetry

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Internal Rhyme

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Also called a near rhyme, half rhyme, or off rhyme. The final consonant sounds are the same but the vowel sounds are different.

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Slant Rhyme

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Repeating consonant sounds at any point in a word

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Consonance

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Repetition of vowel sounds

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Assonance

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The pattern of rhymes in a poem

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Rhyme Scheme

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Has specific requirements on length, rhyme scheme, and number of syllables

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Fixed Form

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Follows no specific guidelines about rhyme, meter, or length

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Free Verse

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The main purpose is to tell a story

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Narrative Poem

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A narrative poem, often of folk origin, intended to be sung

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Ballad

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Expresses a person's thoughts or feelings

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Lyric Poetry

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An implied or indirect reference to a person, place, or thing that is fictitious, historical, or real

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Allusion

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An elaborate or extended simile or metaphor

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Conceit

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A figure of speech where the name of a thing is being substituted for another word or term closely associated with it

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Metonymy

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A part is used to represent the whole or vice versa

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Synechdoche

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A serious play that ends in disaster and sorrow

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Tragedy

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A lighthearted play intended to amuse the audience

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Comedy

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Rules in which the actors and audience engage during a play

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Dramatic Conventions

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The imaginary wall between the actors and the audience.

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Fourth Wall

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This dramatic style exaggerates reality

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Expressionism

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Relies on sparse scenery and limited dialogue

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Minimalism

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A drama or play with a political component, advocating a certain point of view or describing a political event

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Political Drama

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Explores themes of alienation and disconnectedness

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Modern Drama

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Refers to plays written in the 1950s and 1960s with the basic belief that human existence is absurd, or without meaning

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Theatre of the Absurd

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The central idea of a text

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Theme

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The dictionary definition of a word

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Denotation

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A meaning or idea associated with a word

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Connotation

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The best source for the definition and spelling of words

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Dictionary

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Reference book used to get more detailed information on subject areas

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Encyclopedia

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Reference book for synonyms and related words

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Thesaurus

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Tells a story

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Narrative Writing

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Language to describe a person, place, or thing

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Descriptive Writing

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Designed to influence the reader's thoughts in some way

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Persuasive Writing

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Used to provide information on a topic or to explain something

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Expository Writing

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Appeals to people's desire to fit in and be part of the group

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Bandwagon Technique

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Refers to the persuasive technique of only presenting information that supports an idea

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Card Stacking

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Creates a simplified picture of a complex situation, individual, or group

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Stereotyping

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A question to which no answer is needed

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Rhetorical Question

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The repetition of similar parts of a sentence or of several sentences to show that the phrases or sentences are of equal importance

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Parallelism

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To repeat words or phrases to emphasize a point

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Repetition

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A comparison of two items, more extensive than a simile, often used to convey difficult ideas by comparing them to things or ideas most people know

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Analogy

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The words and phrases an author uses

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Language

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The word choices a writer makes

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Diction

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Description intended to elicit a sensory response

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Imagery

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Introduces the characters, establishes the setting, and reveals the problem or conflict

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Exposition

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The events that occur in a story

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Plot

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Incidents that either help or hinder the protagonist in finding a solution

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Rising Action

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The peak or turning point of the action

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Climax

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The part after the climax that gives any necessary explanation and ends with resolution

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Falling Action

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The central character and the one with whom the reader often identifies

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Protagonist

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A character (or force) that opposes the protagonist

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Antagonist

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When and where a story takes place

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Setting

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A feeling or emotion created by the words and setting

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Mood

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The perspective from which a story is told

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Point of View

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The narrator addresses the reader directly using the word "you."

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Second Person

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A speaker outside the action narrates the events using he, she, and they

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Third Person

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Exploring of a problem by investigating all sides of it; persuasion through reason. One of the four chief forms of discourse, the others being exposition, narration, and description. The purpose of argumentation is to convince by establishing the truth of falsity of a proposition.

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argumentation

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Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

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blank verse

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Author directly describes character

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direct characterization

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The author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature

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indirect characterization

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Communication between two or more people

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dialogue

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A struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a single character.

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internal conflict

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A character struggles against some outside force: another character, society as a whole, or some natural force

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external conflict

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A poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable

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iambic pentameter

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A common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally.

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idiom

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A term from novels and poetry, not dramatic literature. It refers to the mental dialogue that occurs within a character's head.

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interior monologue

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A type of autobiography that often focuses on a specific time period or historical event.

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memoir

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Long narrative poem, written in heightened language, recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society

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epic

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From the Greek for "orator," this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively.

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rhetoric

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A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, & exalted feelings toward the subject.

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ode

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A long speech in a play or story, delivered by a single person (see soliloquy).

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monologue

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Lyric poem of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter; rhymes arranged according to certain definite patterns. Expresses a single/ complete idea/thought with a reversal, twist, or change of direction in the concluding lines.

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sonnet

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The point of view is told by the character that uses the first person pronoun "I".

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first person POV

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This is a point of view in which the narrator is outside the story and reveals the thoughts of only one character, who is referred to as "he" or "she."

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third person limited POV

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Point of view in which an all-knowing narrator who is privy to the thoughts and actions of any or all characters.

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third person omniscient POV

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In poetry, described in terms of stanza, form, and meter.In other forms of writing, it refers to the organization of the piece--chronological, in media res, cause/effect, compare/contrast, etc.

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structure

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Arrangement of words in phrases and sentences

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syntax

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A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. It doesn't simply abuse (as in invective) or get personal (as in sarcasm). It targets groups or large concepts rather than individuals.

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satire

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what a paragraph or selection of text is about. This is usually a word or phrase.

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topic/subject

American Literature EOC Terms – Flashcards

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