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literary terms by H
flashcards of literary terms for arnett by holly
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| abstract | not attached to anything specific or concrete |
| active voice | verb that is an action(as opposed to passive voice)...Ex: 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 (ex:animal farm to russian rev.) |
| 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, occurence, custom or idea in time (ex: in julius ceasar 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 phrase, sentence,etc. which then begins the next phrase, clause, sentence, etc. (ex: 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. |
| 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 accomplishments of his/her goal |
| anecdote | a brief narration of an event or person. ex:aunt joan loves to tell anecdotes of her childhood. |
| antecedent | what noun the pronoun was replacing. ex:i love reading. It makes me happy. The antecedent of "it" is "reading". |
| antihero/antiheroine | a protagonist that is not a good person |
| antimetabole | reversing the order of the of repeated words or phrases (ex: all work and no play is as harmful to mental health as all play and no work) |
| antithesis | parallelism with contradictory ideas (ex: 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 negative0 |
| apostrophe | directly 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 | appeals to an audiences feelings and sympathies |
| logos/logical appeals | appeals to an audiences brain/logical side |
| ethos/ethical | attempts to sway readers by creating a positive impression of his/her character |
| archetype | a theme, motif, symbol or stock character that holds a familiar place in culture's consciousness (ex:knight in shining armour, villian etc.) |
| assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words |
| asyndeton | the omissions or conjunctions in a series (ex: on the desk are books, pens, papers, exams)the omission of the conjunction emphasizes quality |
| bathos | a sudden change from extreme lighthearted to extreme sentiment |
| bildungsroman | a novel about the educational or psychological growth of the protagonist |
| caricature | the authors exaggeration or distortion of certain traits or characteristics of an individual. often used by charles dickens |
| cacophony | an arrangement of harsh sounding words-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 (ex: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 are not as powerful ex: she decided to turn over a new leaf |
| colloquialism | an informal expression or slang, usually limited to a certain geographical area/culture. ex: y'all vs you guys |
| comic relief | a character whose actions are comedic and break up tension |
| conceit | a far-fetched metaphor or simile |
| conflict | the problem a character faces (either internal-within oneself or external-outside problem w/another person or perhaps another thing) |
| connotation | the emotional side of a word (implied meaning that it has) |
| consonance | the repetition of consonants in a sequence of nearby words esp. at the end of stressed syllables (ex: moth breath) |
| denotation | the dictionary definition of a wrod |
| dues ex machina | literally "god in the machine". when a character would be miraculously saved from doom. stems from idea greek gods would rescue people |
| 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 educate |
| ellipses | figure of speech in which a word or short phrase is deleted but easily understood from the context. |
| Epanalepsis | repetition at the end of a clause or the word the appeared at the beginning of the clause (ex: possessed by what we now no more possessed.) |
| epigraph | a quotation placed at the beginning of a piece of literature or at the beginning of 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 moment |
| epistolary | a type of narration through letters (not "abc" kind of letters though) |
| epistrophe | 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 (ex: He! He stole my books!) |
| euphemism | a nice way of saying something unpleasant (passed away instead of died) |
| euphony | a pleasing arrangement of sounds (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 their contrast. |
| foreshadow | deliberately presenting hints as to what will happen later in the story |
| hamartia | a tragic/fatal flaw of a tragic hero |
| hyperbole | an exaggeration, a.k.a an overstatement |
| idiom | a phrase that is worded oddly, yet everyone understands. Ex: It's raining cats and dogs. |
| imagery | language that appeals to the five senses-great descriptions of sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. |
| in media res | Latin for "in the middle of things"-when a piece of literature starts in the middle of the action, not in the beginning |
| irony | a contrast between what should be and what seems to be, a difference between expectations or fulfillment. |
| dramatic irony | when the audience knows something about the plot that the characters don't know |
| cosmic irony | the depiction or fate or the universe as malicious or indifferent to human suffering, creating a painful contrast between our purposeful activity and its ultimate meaningless |
| situational irony | a technique in which the logical outcome doesn't happen- an illogical, unforeseen outcome (opposite of what should happen) |
| verbal irony | saying one thing but meaning another |
Created by:
bluerunner
Popular English Vocabulary sets