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English Terms 09-10
A cumulation of all the words of the day
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| symbol | something that represents something else. often something concrete, like an object, place, or something more abstract, like a concept, idea, or emotion. |
| analysis | the process of combining detailed observations with your own personal knowledge to make an argumentative claim about a subject. |
| claim | an arguable statement backed up by evidence |
| annotation (n.), annotate (v.) | a written conversation with the text that involves questioning, noticing detailed, focusing on important moments, ideas, themes, and making connections to other works |
| point of vie | the point from which people, events, and other details in a story are viewed |
| omniscient | from the Latin, omni and scient, meaning all-knowing. an omniscient narrator can see and report everything (every character's actions, thoughts, and emotions) |
| limited | a limited narrator is somehow confined to a certain set of characters |
| freitag's triangle | exposition: intro to characters, setting time period. rising action: caused by conflict. climax. falling action: aka denouement, a resolution of conflict, a conclusion |
| denotation | the explicit, dictionary definition of a term |
| connotation | the implied, associated meaning of a word, created by context and emotion |
| binary opposition | two contrasting words, terms, or ideas that are often defined in relation to each other (ex. light, dark) |
| protagonist | the main character(s) around whom the action/plot revolves around and with whom the audience shares the most empathy |
| antagonist | the character(s) that provide the opposition and conflict for the protagonist |
| theme | the main idea or message, either explicitly stated or indirectly applied, that a work of literature communicates to the reader. MUST BE STATED IN A COMPLETE SENTENCE |
| simile | a direct, explicit comparison of one thing to another using the words like or as |
| metaphor | an implicit comparison of one thing to an other (that is unlike itself), usually using the verb to be |
| irony | when the opposite of what is expected/desired to happen does |
| diction | the author's choice of words |
| paraphrase | to put something into your own words, but retain the same meaning |
| archetype | a commonly encountered plot or character element that recurs throughout cultural & cross-cultural literature (ex. "the damsel in distress") |
| allegory | a metaphor that extends throughout a whole work of literature. often religious in significance. |
| ambiguous | uncertain, capable of being understood in multiple ways |
| in medias res | Latin for "in the middle of." A story that begins in medias res starts in the middle of the action, without introduction or exposition |
| personification | a literary device in which a non-human object/idea/event is given human characteristics |
| hyperbole | exaggeration |
| plot | events arranged to reveal dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance |
| story | events in a chronological order (the order in which events actually occur) |
| tone | the author's attitude towards a subject, either explicit or implied (ex. sarcastic, ironic, humorous) EXTERNAL to the work |
| mood | the feeling within a work of literature. INTERNAL to the work |
| stanza | a grouping of lines in a poem, like a paragraph of poetry 2: couplet 3: tercet 4: quatrain 5: cinquain 6: sextet 7: septet 8: octave |
| enjambment | the continuation of a phrase from one line of poetry to the next (no period at the end of the line) |
| caesura | a pause in the middle of a line of poetry, usually caused by punctuation |
| villanelle poem | a poem with 5 tercets and 1 quatrain, last word of the second line rhymes with each other |
| consonance | the repetition of consonant sounds in a short succession (ex. pitter patter, all mammals named sam |
| assonance | repetition of vowel sounds, often causing internal rhyme (ex. do you like blue? rumbling thunder) |
| alliteration | same sounds at the beginning of words (ex. tree trunk) |
| imagery | detailed, vivid descriptions that create mental images for the reader. often characterized by figurative language (literal denotation): simile, metaphor, symbol |
| conceit | an extended metaphor with complex logic that governs a whole poem or poetic passage. a conceit invites the reader to develop a more sophisticated understanding of an object/idea through comparison |
| perfect rhyme | the repetition of sounds in words, specifically when the last stressed vowel and all following sounds are identical |
| slant rhyme | a not quite rhyme. usually caused by consonance but not assonance |
| onomatopoeia | a word that imitates the sound that it describes |
| meter | the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry |
| mettle | temperament, disposition, spirit, self, personality |
| plight | an unfortunate or unfavorable situation, a bad condition |
| incardanine | flesh colored, or red |
| incesed | angry, full of wrath |
| dramatis personae | the list of characters at the start of a play |
| thane | a scottish nobleman, much like a mayor or governor |
| monologue | extended speech by a single character that others CAN hear |
| soliloquy | extended speech by a single character usually alone on stage, revealing his/her inner thoughts and struggles to the audience |
| aside | a character briefly reveals his/her inner thoughts, other characters cannot hear |
| motif | a recurring element in a story (image, word, action...) that has significance |
| euphemism | a less offensive term substituted for an offensive one |
| largess | gifts or money given |
| malevolent | having or displaying ill will, spite, or hatred toward someone/thing. acting evil or mean |
| nonpareil | without equal/a thing that has no equal |
| pernicious | wicked, harmful, deadly |
| vanquish | to defeat or overthrow in battle |
| eponymous | named after a particular person |
| tradgedy | a drama dealing with a serious theme, typically that of a hero whose character flaw leads to his/her downfall (death) |
| epigraph | a quotation before a book begins |
| text | something that is regarded as an object of critical analysis (ex. novel, television show, painting, advertisement, movie, t-shirt) |
| anthropomorphism | the attribution of human characteristics to non-human creatures or beings |
| frame narrative | a story within a story |
| memoir | autobiographical writing arranged to tell a good story |
| pogrom | riots against the Jews |
| sanitarium | a place to go to get healthy like a health spa or hotel |
| Aryan | common understanding during WWII = non-Jewish people of European/Nordic descent (often thought as blond people) |
| semite | people descending from the ancient Hebrews. commonly used to mean Jewish |
| ghetto | originally used in Italy to describe a neighborhood where Jewish people lived during WWII. it came to mean a place of forced Jewish confinement |
| Metawriting | writing about writing. specifically, writing that directly draws attention to itself as a piece of writing |
| foil | a character who contrasts with the protagonist in order to highlight various features of the main characters' personality |
| Holocaust | Generally used to mean the genocide of the Jews during WWII |
| Genocide | the systematic eradication of a group of people for reasons relating to religion, ethnicity, culture, race, or class |
| idiosyncrasy | a characteristic, habit, or mannerism that is peculiar to an individual |
| miser | one who is extremely stingy with money |
| catharsis | the process of letting go (often of negative emotions) |
| hypocracy | the practice of doing the opposite of what you profess to believe in |
| presumptuous | overstepping one's bounds |
| dialect | a subset of a particular language, often associated with a religion or a social class. distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, & pronunciation |
| accent | a particular manner of pronouncing a language |
| colloquialism | an informal word or expression used in casual speech, often part of a dialect |
| dichotomy | a division into 2 mutually exclusive parts/groups |
| pugnatious | quarrelsome, belligerent, ready to fight |
| temerity | boldness, rashness, recklessness, bravery, especially in the face of danger |
| incredulous | disbelieving, skeptical |
| eulogy | a speech or piece of writing in praise of someone who has recently died |
| fractious | irritable, troublesome, quarrelsome |
| ostentatious | showy, pretentious, over the top |
| scorn | disdain, dislike, disapproval of something or someone |
| usurp | to take possession of something forcefully or without legal right |
| gallant | showy, splendid, noble, stately, courteous |
| denounce | to condemn or censure openly. to make a formal accusation against |
| indiscriminate | not discriminating, haphazard |
| quote | to repeat or copy the word of another usually with acknowledgement of the source |
| quotation | something that is quoted from a book, speech, etc. |
Created by:
asparcel
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