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
English I Lit. Terms
ELA
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| abstract | not attached to anything specific Ex. Love vs. Hate |
| 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 narritive in which literal meaning corresponds directly with symbolic meaning Ex. Animal Farm an the Russian Revolution |
| alliteration | repitition 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 Caesar a character mentions a non-existent watch |
| anadiplosis | repitition of a wrod at the end of a phrase or sentence 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, they often draw connections between abstract and concrete things making them easier to visualize |
| anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of succesive phrases and sentences |
| antagonist | the person or obstacle that gets in the way of the protagonist's accomplishment of his goal |
| anecdote | a brief narration of an event or person Ex. annecdotes of childhood |
| antecedent | what noun the pronoun is replacing Ex I love reading *it* makes me happy |
| antihero | a protagonist who is not a good person |
| antimetabole | reversing the order of repeated words or phrases |
| antithesis | parallelism with contradictory ideas Ex. best of times worst of times |
| aporia | expression of doubt (often feigned) by which a speaker appears uncertain as to what he should think say or do |
| aposiopesis | a sudden breaking off of speech, usually due to excitement (either positive or negative) |
| apostrophe | directly addressing either a dead person or an inanimate object |
| appeals | methods authors use to gain favor in rhetoric, or to establish tone Ex. Pathos: Emotional, Logos: Logic, Ethos: Attempts to sway readers by creating a positive impression on his character |
| archetype | a theme, motif, symbol, or stock character that holds a familiar place in cultures consciousness Ex. knight in shining armor |
| assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words |
| asyndeton | the omission or conjuctions in a series Ex. On my desk are books, pens, and papers. The ommision of the conjunction expresses quality. |
| bathos | a sudden change from extreme lighthearted to extreme sentiment |
| bildungsroman | a novel about the education or physchological growth of the protagonist |
| caricature | the authors exaggeration or distortion of certain traits or characteristics of an individual Ex. Charles Dickens characters |
| cacophony | an arrangement of harsh-sounding words: kill, crack, create, danger, cupcake |
| catharsis | a cleansing of ones emotion 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 |
| cliche | expressions that are used so often they are not as powerful Ex. she decided to turn over a new leaf |
| colloquialism | an informal expression or slang, usually limited in its distance |
| comic relief | a character whose actions are comedic and break up tension |
| conceit | a far fetched metaphor/simile |
| conflict | the problem a character faces Ex. internal or external |
| connotation | the emotional meaning of a word (the implied meaning it has) Ex. trash vs. garbage |
| 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 Ex. moth bread |
| denotation | the dictionary definition of a word |
| dues ex machine | literally "god in the machine". Its when a character is saved by a miraculously or improbably event Ex. stems from the thought that God would come in and rescue |
| diction | specific word choice used in a piece of writing, chosen for its effect and clarity |
| didactic | intended to instruct or educate |
| eclipses | figure of speech in which a word or short phrase is omitted, but easily understood from the context Ex. our national motto is E pluribus unum, which translates to "out of many one". The verb there is is left out, it is understood |
| epanalepsis | repetition at the end of a clause of the word that appeared at the beginning of the clause Ex. 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 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 or everyday moment |
| epistolary | a type of narration through letters Ex. Dear John |
| epistrophe | the repetition of the word or group of words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, verses, or sentences |
| epizeuxis | the repetition of the same word without any other words between them Ex. He! He stole my book |
| euphemism | a nice way of saying something unpleasant Ex. passed away instead of died |
| euphony | a pleasing arrangement of words Ex. swiss, smooth, mushroom |
| eulogy | a formal statement of praise Ex. said at funerals |
| foil | a character whose traits sharply contrast those of another, their qualities stand out because of the sharp contrast |
| foreshadow | deliberately presenting hints as to what will happen later in the story |
| hamartia | the fatal/tragic flaw of a tragic hero |
| hyperbole | an exaggeration/overstatement |
| idiom | a phrase that is worded oddly yet everyone understands Ex. its raining cats and dogs |
| imagery | language that appeals to the five senses |
| in media res | "in the middle of things"- when literature starts in the middle of the action |
| irony | a contrast between what should be and what seems to b, a difference between what should be and what seems to be |
| dramatic irony | when the audience knows something about the plot the characters don't know |
| cosmic irony | the depiction or fate of 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 |
| verbal irony | saying one thing but meaning another |
| juxtaposition | placing unexpected combinations of words or ideas side by side |
| legend | a widely told story of the past that night or might not be true |
| litotes | deliberate understatement in which an idea or opinion is often affirmed by negating its opposite |
| metaphor | comparing two unlike things |
| metonymy | a figure of speech in which something is referred to by one of its attributes Ex. White House and Govt |
| mood | the feeling of the audience while reading a piece of literature, created by the setting |
| motif | a recurring idea, structure, contrast, or device that develops or informs the major themes of a work of literature |
| myth | a story about the origins of one's beliefs and practices of culture |
| onomatopoeia | words that sound like what they do Ex. snap, crackle |
| oxymoron | the association of two contradictory words Ex. jumbo shrimp |
| paradox | a phrase that seems to be contradictory, yet theres some truth behind it Ex. things will get worse before they get better |
| paralipsis | drawing attention to something by claiming not to mention it Ex. I will not tell you how bad the mayor did this year |
| parallelism | the use of similar grammatical structures or word order in two or more sentences, clauses, or phrases to suggest a comparison or contrast between them Ex. Before a joy proposed, behind a dream |
| passive voice | using to be verbs-am, are, be, been, is, was, were, etc. Verbs that don't show an action |
| personification | the use of human characteristics to describe animals, objects, or ideas |
| point of view | the perspective a story is told in |
| first person | when the narrator is a character in a story, the story is only told from what that character knows. Uses first person pronouns- I, we, us, my, mine |
| second person | when the narrator isnt a character, but talks to the audience, addresses the audience as you |
| third person limited | when the narrator isnt a character, but the story is focusing on one character and what he/she thinks |
| third person omniscient | when the narrator isnt a character, and the story is told from many perspectives-we see what many characters are thinking |
| third person omniscience objective | the narrator reports neutrally on the outward behavior of the characters, but offers not interpretation of their actions or inner states |
| polysyndeton | the use of conjugations in between each item of a series Ex. on my desk are books, and pencils, and paper |
| propaganda | ideas, facts, or allegations spread to persuade others to support ones cause or to go against the opposing cause |
| protagonist | the main character in apiece of literature |
| pun | a play on words that exploits either that double definition of the words or similarity in ways words are pronouned Ex. writing with a broken pencil is pointless |
| rhetoric | the art of persuasion |
| rhetorical question | a question that does not warrant a response, but calls attention to the subjects of the question |
| satire | a work that ridicules elements of society-it pokes fun to prove a point |
| simile | comparing two unlike things using like or as |
| syllepsis | when one word modifies two or more words in other ways Ex. Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave |
| syllogism | a type of argument in which a conclusion is inferred from a general statement Ex. if a=b and b-c then a=c |
| synaesthesia | the use of any one kind of sensory experience to describe another Ex. she has a hunger to swim in the icy pond |
| synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part of an entity is used to refer to the whole or when a genus is referred to by a species Ex. wanna take a ride in my new wheels |
| syntax | the sentence structure choice an author uses |
| tautology | obvious needless and redundant repetition Ex. free gift |
| tone | the author's attitude of what she is writing about |
| understatement | deliberately representing/describing something with less importance than it really is Ex. anger and unhappy |
Created by:
studyaholic132
Popular English Vocabulary sets