Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Lang and Lit Terms
Language and Literature Terms for Woodford House
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ACRONYM | a word composed of initial letters/syllables of a phrase or organisation, e.g. SCUBA / SADD / ANZAC / EFTPOS |
| ACTIVE VOICE | the subject of the sentence performs the action e.g. The dog bit the postman. (Passive voice: “The postman was bitten by the dog.) |
| ALLEGORY | a story in verse or prose on two levels, e.g. Pilgrim’s Progress, Animal Farm, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe |
| ALLITERATION | repetition of initial letters, e.g. bewitched, bewildered, and bothered. |
| ALLUSION | reference to a well-known person, place or thing e.g. Classical – Zeus, historical – Hitler, literary – Shakespeare |
| AMBIGUITY | two possible meanings, e.g. He slipped and broke his leg in several places/ I saw her duck. |
| ANALOGY | comparison to show a similarity, e.g. The choice of two paths in a wood is like the choices in life. |
| ANTONYM | a word of opposite meaning, e.g. the antonym of ‘hot’ is ‘cold’. |
| ARCHAISM | outdated words, e.g. ‘thou’, ‘art’, ‘perchance’. |
| ASSONANCE | repetition of a similar vowel sounds, e.g. please leave these / the cool blues of the moon. |
| BLANK VERSE | unrhymed iambic pentameter, most commonly found in Shakespeare |
| CAESURA | pause mid-line in poetry e.g ‘I knew you in this dark : for you so frowned.’ |
| CLICHÉ | overused / stale saying, e.g. ‘I am going to turn over a new leaf’ |
| COLLOQUIAL | informal language or slang, usually spoken, e.g. isn’t it great? / gutted / whatever / LOL |
| CONNOTATION | emotional meaning, e.g. ‘bath’ – warm, relaxing, peaceful |
| DENOTATION | dictionary meaning of a word, e.g. ‘bath’ – a vessel for washing |
| DIALECT | words and accents that belong to a region, e.g. North Island – bach / docking |
| DIALOGUE | scripted speech / conversation between people |
| ELLIPSIS | A series of 3 dots that indicates the omission of one or more words. It is often used in quotations, e.g. “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” |
| ENJAMBEMENT | a run-on line in poetry, e.g. ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills.’ |
| EUPHEMISM | softening of something unpleasant, e.g. She passed away (instead of she died). |
| EYE OF GOD | omniscient or all-seeing third person narrative. The narrator shows the character’s inner thoughts and feelings. e.g. He was a tall man and he was proud of it. |
| FABLE | story or poem in which animals take the place of humans, usually with a moral, e.g. The Little Red Hen or The Tortoise and the Hare |
| FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE | based on comparisons or imagery (word pictures), e.g. similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, idiom, etc. |
| FORMAL LANGUAGE | precise, politically correct language, used by those who are not in a relaxed situation, e.g. “It is customary on these occasions to welcome…” (essays should be formal!) |
| GENRE | form of literature, e.g. short story, novel, play, poem, film |
| HOMONYM | words which are spelt the same but mean different things, e.g. wind/wind, minute/minute, close/close |
| HOMOPHONE | words which sound the same but mean different things, e.g. which/witch, meat/meet, whether/weather |
| HYPERBOLE | exaggeration for effect, e.g. I’ve told you a hundred times not to exaggerate / I have tonnes of prep. |
| IMPERATIVE | command form of a verb, e.g. Close the door / Give me the keys. |
| INFORMAL LANGUAGE | language that is colloquial, casual, or suggests familiarity, e.g. Chill out |
| INNUENDO | something hinted at but not stated directly, often with unpleasant overtones, e.g. That’s an ‘unusual’ hat. |
| INVERSION | reversal of normal word order, e.g. “Drenched were the cold fuchsias,” or “We here shall constant be.” |
| IRONY | a.) a perverse event or circumstance, e.g. a girl cheats on her boyfriend and while she’s out she sees her boyfriend with another girl. b.) saying the opposite of what is meant, e.g. “What a hard working girl you are!” when she is lazy. |
| JARGON | elaborate technical language used by a group or profession, e.g. engine torque / sauté / deuce |
| LISTING | where the writer uses a list, e.g. she was beautiful, graceful, eloquent and rich |
| LITERAL | actual meaning |
| METAPHOR | direct comparison, e.g. The lake is a silver mirror. |
| EXTENDED METAPHOR | comparison continued through a poem, fable or parable, e.g. comparing life to the seasons – ‘First is your spring, then your summer.’ |
| MINOR SENTENCES | incomplete sentences which can still be understood, e.g. Going to Taupo this weekend? |
| MNEMONIC | memory aid, e.g. Thirty days hath September… / My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos (planets) |
| MONOLOGUE | one way conversation, usually in a play or performance |
| ONOMATOPOEIA | sound of word suggests the meaning, e.g. ‘splash,’ ‘buzz,’ thud.’ |
| PARABLE | bible story with a moral, e.g. The Good Samaritan, The Sower & the Seeds |
| PASSIVE VOICE | subject of sentence is acted upon, most common in formal language, e.g. The postman was bitten by the dog. |
| PERSONIFICATION | giving human characteristics to non-human objects, e.g. Disease ran through the school / The wind whispered beneath the eaves. |
| PROPAGANDA | persuasive language to promote a belief or value, now often seen as lies and dangerous |
| PROVERB | short saying, in common use and often metaphorical or traditional, e.g. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones / A stitch in time saves nine. |
| PUN | play on words, e.g. Who invented the round table? – Sir Cumference / To write with a broken pencil is pointless. |
| REPETITION | repeating words and phrases, e.g. ‘Break, break, break on thy cold grey stone, O sea.’ |
| RHETORICAL QUESTION | asking a question where no answer is expected, e.g. We call ourselves Greenies, but are we really? |
| RHYTHM | the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, often in poetry. The beat! e.g. iambic, trochaic, etc. |
| SARCASM | bitter, wounding remarks, often the opposite of what is meant (verbal irony), e.g. “I won six races in Athletics” – “You’re so modest!” |
| SATIRE | use of ridicule, irony, sarcasm, to expose and discourage folly or weakness, e.g. Gulliver’s Travels, The Simpsons |
| SIMILE | indirect comparison using like, as, or than e.g. My love is like a red, red rose / As soft as the fall of snow/ Faster than a speeding train. |
| SOLILOQUY | Speech when alone on stage. Usually indicates thoughts or feelings – very important in Shakespeare, e.g. “Is this a dagger I see before me… |
| STEREOTYPE | fixed idea of sex or type, e.g. the dumb blond / geeky scientist |
| STYLE | all aspects of how a piece of literature is said or written (the individual flavour of the writer |
| SUPERLATIVES | the extreme comparison of an adjective, e.g. best, greatest, biggest |
| SYMBOLISM | where something represents something else, e.g. a cross – religion; dawn – a new beginning |
| SYNONYM | a word of similar meaning, e.g. small/little, hard/difficult |
| SYNTAX | word order in a sentence |
| TAUTOLOGY | unnecessarily repeating an idea, e.g. descend down; the reason he was late was because… Tautology can also be called ‘redundancy’. |
| TONE | the mood or feeling conveyed by a piece, e.g. sarcastic /romantic / angry |
| TRANSCRIPT | written version of spoken language |
| UNDERSTATEMENT | said more weakly than the meaning intended, e.g. “She’s pretty good all right” when she is incredible (also known as Litotes) |
| VERBAL CONTRACTIONS | combining of words using apostrophes, e.g. I’ll, she’s, don’t |
Created by:
Greg Semmens
Popular English Vocabulary sets