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Grd 9Literary Terms
Literary Terms for 9th Grade - Arnett
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Not attached to anything specific or concrete |
| Active voice | Verb that is in action (as opposed to passive voice). Example: Jane sweeps the floor. |
| Ad hominem | An argument attacking an individual's character rather than the issue |
| Aesthetic | Relating to beauty or to a branch of philosophy concerned with art, beauty, and taste. |
| Allegory | A narrative in which literal meaning corresponds directly with symbolic meaning. Example: Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution (Napoleon = Stalin, Animal Farm = Russia, etc.) |
| Alliteration | Repetition of similar consonant sounds in the beginning of words |
| Allusion | A reference within a literary work to a historical or literary person, place or event. |
| Anachronism | The misplacement of a person, occurance, custom, or idea in time. Example: in Julius Caeser, a character mentions a watch. Watches did not exist in ancient Rome (they existed in the time of the author, Shakespeare) |
| Anadiplosis | Repetition of a word at the end of a phrse, sentence, etc. which then begins the next phrase, clause, sentence, etc. Example: I ran to the store. The store had plenty of oranges for me. |
| Analogy | A comparison between two things that are otherwise unlike. Often analogies draw a comparison between something abstract and something more concrete or easier to visualize. Example: Trying to get a confesion out of the suspect was like pulling teeth. |
| Anaphora | Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases and sentences |
| Antagonist | The person or obstacle that gets in the way of the protagonist's accomplishment or his/her goal |
| Anecdote | A brief narration of an event or person. Example: Aunt Joan loves to tell anecdotes of her childhood |
| Antecedent | What noun the pronoun is replacing. Example: "I love reading. It makes me happy." The antecendent of "it" is "reading." |
| Antihero/aniheroine | A protagonist who is not a good person |
| Antimetabole | Reversing the order of repeated words or phrases Example: All work and no play is as harmful to mental health as all play and no work |
| Antithesis | Parallelism with contradictory ideas. Example: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times |
| Aporia | Expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think, say, do. |
| Aposiopesis | A sudden breaking off of speech, usually due to excitement (either positive or negative) |
| Apostrophe | Directing addressing either a dead person or an inanimate object |
| Appeals | Methods authors use to gain favor in rhetoric, or to establish tone. Pathos/emotional- appeals to feelings and sympathies Logos/logical- appeals to brain/logical side Ethos/ethical- attempts to sway readers by creating a positive impression of his/her |
| Archetype | A theme, motif, symbol or stock character that holds a familiar place in culture's consciousness Example: Knight in shining armor, villain, the sidekick, the Garden of Eden |
| Assonance | Repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words |
| Asyndeton | The omission or conjunctions in a series Example: on my desk are pens, books, papers, exams. The omission of he conjunction emphasizes quality |
| Bathos | A sudden change from extreme lighthearted to extreme sentiment |
| Bildungsroman | A novel about the education or psychological growth of the protagonist |
| Caricature | The author's exaggeration or distortion of certain traits or characteristics of an inidividual. Charles Dickens' characters are often caricatures |
| Cacophony | An arrangement of harsh-sounding words Example: kill, crack, create, danger, cupcake |
| Catharsis | A cleansing or purification of one's emotions through art |
| Chiasmus | Two phrases in which the syntax is the same, but the placement of words is reversed. Example: "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life." |
| Climax | The moment of greatest intensity in a text, or the major turning point in the plot |
| Cliche | Expressions that are used so frequently that they're not as powerful Example: She decidied to turn over a new leaf. |
| Colloquialism | An informal expression or slang, usuallyl imited to a certain geographical area/culture. Example: Y'all vs. you guys, Soda vs. pop, Sneakers vs. tennis shoes vs. trainers |
| Comic relief | A character whose actions are comedic and breakup tension |
| Conceit | A far-fetched metaphor/simile |
| Conflict | The problem a character faces internal - problem within oneself external - outside problem - another person or perhaps a thing |
| Connotation | The emotional side of a word (implied meaning that it has). Example: Trash and garbage have the same denotation, but trash sounds more negative. |
| Consonance | The repetition of consonants in a sequence of nearby words, especially at the end of stressed syllables or words when there is no similar repetition of vowel sounds Example: moth breath |
| Denotation | The dictionary definition of a word |
| Dues ex machina | Literally "god in the machine." It's used when a character is saved by a miraclously or improbable event. Stems from Greek idea that the gods would come in and rescue. |
| Diction | Specific word choice used in a piece of writing, often chosen for effect but also for correctness and clarity |
| Didactic | Intended to instruct or to educate |
| Ellipses | Figure of speech in which a word or short phrase is omitted, but easily understood from the context. Example: our nation motto is E pluribus unum, which translates to "Out of many, one." = "out of many there is one" |
| Epanalepsis | Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that appeared at the beginning of the clause Example: Possessing what we were still unpossessed by/ Possessed by what we now no more possessed. |
| Epigraph | A quotation placed at the beginning of a piece of liteature or at the beginning or one of its chapters or scenes to provide the reader with some ideas about the content or meaning to follow |
| Epithet | An adjective or phrase that describes a prominent or distinguishing feature of a person or thing. |
| Epiphany | A sudden, powerful, and often spiritual or life-changing realization that a character reaches in an otherwise ordinary or everyday moment |
| Epistolary | A type of narration through letters (as in "Dear John" kind of letter, not "abc" kind of letters) |
| Epistrophe | The repetition of the word or group of words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, verses or sentences. |
| Epizeuxis | Repetition of the same word without any other words between them. Example: "He! He stole my book!" |
| Euphemism | A nice way of saying something unpleasant. Example: "Passed away" instead of "died" |
| Euphony | A pleasing arrangement of sounds. Example: Swish, smooth, mushroom. |
| Eulogy | A formal statement of praise (usually said at funerals) |
| Foil | A character whose traits sharply contrast those of another. Their qualities stand out because of that sharp contrast. |
| Foreshadow | Deliberately presenting hints as to what will happen later in the story |
| Hamartia | The tragic/fatal flaw of a tragic hero |
Created by:
Nomster
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