question

Allegory

answer

an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric. Examples: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (Temptations of Christians) , Orwell's Animal Farm (Russian Revolution), and Arthur Miller's Crucible ("Red Scare")

question

Alliteration

answer

use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse ex. "Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran"

question

Allusion

answer

a reference to another work of literature, person, or event

question

Anadiplosis

answer

repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next

question

Anagnorisis

answer

the point where the protagonist realizes the truth of the situation about himself

question

Analogy

answer

drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect

question

Anaphora

answer

repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses

question

Anastrophe

answer

the reversal of the normal order of words ex. "Glistens the dew upon the morning grass"

question

Anecdote

answer

short account of an incident (especially a biographical one)

question

Annotation

answer

a critical or explanatory note or comment, especially for a literary work

question

Antagonist

answer

A character or force in conflict with the main character

question

Antecedent

answer

a preceding occurrence or cause or event

question

Anthropomorphism

answer

Giving an animal the traits of a human.

question

Anti-hero

answer

a protagonist who lacks the characteristics that would make him a hero (or her a heroine)

question

Antithesis

answer

the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance

question

Aphorism

answer

a short pithy instructive saying

question

Aposiopesis

answer

breaking off in the middle of a sentence (as by writers of realistic conversations)

question

Apostrophe

answer

address to an absent or imaginary person

question

Appositive

answer

A word or phrase that follow a noun or pronoun for emphasis or clarity

question

Aptronym

answer

a name that fits a character's qualities (lots of examples in Dickens)

question

Archetype

answer

an original model (prototype) on which something is patterned

question

Arabesque

answer

a contrived intricate pattern of verbal expression (think Poe)

question

Grotesque

answer

art characterized by an incongruous mixture of parts of humans and animals interwoven with plants

question

Assonance

answer

the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words

question

Atmosphere

answer

a distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing

question

Bildungsroman

answer

Coming of age novel

question

Black Humor

answer

the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements (in writing or drama) to give a disturbing effect

question

Blank Verse

answer

unrhymed verse (usually in iambic pentameter)

question

Cacophony

answer

loud confusing disagreeable sounds

question

Caesura

answer

a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse line

question

Cataloguing

answer

creating long lists for poetic or rhetorical effect (think Whitman)

question

Catharsis

answer

(psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions

question

Direct Characterization

answer

author directly describes character

question

Indirect Characterization

answer

the character is revealed through their personality, appearance, words, actions, and effect on others

question

Flat Character

answer

this character seems to possess only one or two personality traits - little or no background is revealed

question

Round Character

answer

this character is fully developed - the writer reveals good and bad traits as well as background

question

Dynamic Character

answer

one whose character changes in the course of the play or story

question

Static Character

answer

a character that does not change from the beginning of the story to the end

question

Stock Character

answer

the stereotyped character in which he is immediately known from typical characters in history

question

Chiasmus

answer

inversion in the second of two parallel phrases ex. "Nice to see you, to see you, nice!"

question

Cliche

answer

a trite or obvious remark

question

Climax

answer

the decisive moment in a novel or play

question

Colloquialism

answer

A local or regional dialect expression ex. in MA we say "wicked"

question

Conflict

answer

opposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces (especially an opposition that motivates the development of the plot)

question

Connotation

answer

an idea that is implied or suggested

question

Conventions

answer

accepted rules of written and spoken language

question

Consonance

answer

the repetition of consonants (or consonant patterns) especially at the ends of words

question

Denotation

answer

the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression

question

Denouement

answer

the final resolution of the main complication of a literary or dramatic work

question

Falling Action

answer

events after the climax, leading to the resolution

question

Didacticism

answer

preachiness

question

Dialect

answer

the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people

question

Diacope

answer

Repetition of a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase ex. "Put out the light, and then put out the light."

question

Dialogue

answer

a literary composition in the form of a conversation between two people

question

Diction

answer

the manner in which something is expressed in words (word choice)

question

Double Entendre

answer

a word or phrase having two distinctly different meanings, one of which is indecent or suggestive, used in a context where either may be relevant.

question

Enjambment

answer

the continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of verse into the next line without a pause

question

En Medias Res

answer

describes a narrative that begins not at the beginning of a story, but somewhere in the middle, usually at some crucial point in the action

question

Envelope Construction

answer

When a poem has a structure like that of a 5 paragraph essay; distinct intro, body paragraphs, conclusion. Whitman used it, apparently

question

Epic

answer

a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds

question

Epigraph

answer

a quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing

question

Epilogue

answer

a short passage added at the end of a literary work

question

Epiphany

answer

a moment of sudden revelation or insight

question

Epistrophe

answer

repetition of the ends of two or more successive sentences, verses, etc. ex "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us"

question

Euphony

answer

any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds

question

Euphemism

answer

an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive

question

Explication

answer

a detailed explanation of the meaning of something

question

Exposition

answer

The introductory material which gives the setting, creates the tone, presents the characters, and presents other facts necessary to understanding the story.

question

Eye Dialect

answer

the use of misspellings to identify a colloquial or uneducated speaker

question

Fiction

answer

a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact

question

Nonfiction

answer

prose writing that is not fictional

question

Figurative Language

answer

Writing or speech that is used to create vivid impressions by setting up comparisons between dissimilar things, [examples are metaphor, simile, and personification.

question

Flashback

answer

a transition (in literary or theatrical works or films) to an earlier event or scene that interrupts the normal chronological development of the story

question

Flash-forward

answer

a brief look into a character's future

question

Foil

answer

a character whose personality and attitude contrast sharply with those of another

question

Foreshadowing

answer

the act of providing vague advance indications

question

Free Verse

answer

unrhymed verse without a consistent metrical pattern

question

Genre

answer

a kind of literary or artistic work

question

Germanism

answer

combo of words connected by hyphens to create an adjective

question

Homophone

answer

words that are pronounced the same way but differ in meaning or spelling or both (e.g. bare and bear)

question

Hyperbole

answer

a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor

question

Hypophora

answer

raising a question then proceeding to answer it

question

Imagrey

answer

use of words that appeal to the five senses

question

Interior Monologue

answer

writing that records the conversation that occurs inside a character's head

question

Situational Irony

answer

occurs when the outcome of a work is unexpected, or events turn out to be the opposite from what one had expected

question

Verbal Irony

answer

occurs when what is said contradicts what is meant or thought

question

Dramatic Irony

answer

irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

question

Juxtaposition

answer

the act of positioning close together (or side by side)

question

Loose Sentence

answer

a complex sentence in which the main clause comes first and the subordinate clause follows ex "We must be wary of conclusions drawn from the ways of the social insects, since their evolutionary track lies so far from ours."

question

Macrocosm

answer

everything that exists anywhere

question

Microcosm

answer

a miniature model of something

question

Malapropism

answer

the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar

question

Metaphor

answer

a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity

question

Extended Metaphor

answer

The comparison between two things is continued beyond the first point of comparison. This extends and deepens a description.

question

Metonymy

answer

a term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name" __ is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. For example: a news release that claims "The White House declared" rather than "The President declared"

question

Moral

answer

concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior and character based on those principles

question

Motif

answer

a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work

question

Onomatopoeia

answer

using words that imitate the sound they denote ex. "Zap"

question

Oxymoron

answer

conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence')

question

Paradox

answer

(logic) a self-contradiction

question

Parallelism

answer

phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other

question

Pathetic Fallacy

answer

when weather or the elements mirror human emotions

question

Periodic Sentence

answer

a complex sentence in which the main clause comes last and is preceded by the subordinate clause

question

Personification

answer

representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature

question

Physiognomy

answer

the art of judging human character by facial features, facial ffeatures when regarded as revealing character

question

Platitude

answer

a trite or obvious remark

question

Polysyndenton

answer

The deliberate use of many conjunctions for special emphasis - to highlight quantity or mass of detail, or to create a flowing, continuous sentence pattern

question

Prosopopoeia

answer

representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature

question

Punning

answer

a humorous play on words

question

Syllepsis

answer

use of a word to govern two or more words though agreeing in number or case etc. with only one

question

Symploce

answer

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and another at the end of successive clauses, i.e., simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe

question

Tricolon

answer

Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses.

question

Utilitarian

answer

having a useful function

question

Verismilitude

answer

appearance or semblence of truth

question

Vignette

answer

a small illustrative sketch

question

Zeitgeist

answer

the spirit of the time

Honors American Literature Terms – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards