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Literary Elements
Quiz
| Term | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Allegory | A story, picture, or play employing representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events | Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" |
| Alliteration | Repitition of the same or very similar consonant sounds in words that are close together in a poem | Open here i flung the shutter, when with many a flirt and flutter |
| Allusion | reference to a statememnt, person, place, or an event from literature , history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture | In "The Gift of the Magi", O. Henry used an allusion to the wise men from the East called the Magi, who presented the infant Jesus with the first Christmas gifts |
| Analogy | Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike in some respects | ______ is to _______ as _________ is to _________ |
| Assonance | Repitition of similar vowel sounds that are followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are close together in a poem | base & fade, young & love |
| Atmosphere | the mood provided by the setting and can affect the way we feel | Fear, uneasiness (from a lonely house, the scraping of a branch on a window) |
| Blank Verse | poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter | "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" |
| Character | person in a story, poem, or play | Cinderella, Prince Charming, Step-mother, 2 step sisters in "Cinderella" |
| Cliche | An overused, worn-out expression or phrase | Eyes like stars or pretty as a picture |
| Climax | Moment of great emotional intensity or suspense in a plot | When Kate tries to escape in "After the First Death" |
| Conflict | Struggle or clash between opposing characters or opposing forces | In "After the First Death", Kate vs. terrorists |
| Connotation | All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests | Skinny and slender have the same literary definition (thin) but skinny = unflattering, slender=compliment |
| Couplet | Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme | I am his Highness' dog at Kew; Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you? |
| Dialect | Way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or a particular group of people | Standard English |
| Diction | A writers or speakers' choice of words | Slang (house, home, digs) or flowery (domicile, residence, abode) |
| Elegy | A mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem | A funeral song or a mournful musical composition |
| Flashback | Scene in a movie, play, short story, novel, or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to flash backward and tell what happened at an earlier time | The Odyssey |
| Foreshadowing | The use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in a plot | A gun found in a bureau is likely to foreshadow violence |
| Hyperbole | Figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or to creat a comic effect | A limousine is as long as an ocean liner |
| Idiom | Expression peculiar to a particular language that means something different from the literal meaning of each word | Its raining cats and dogs |
| Imagery | Language that appeals to the senses | Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach Three fields to cross til a farm appears A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match |
| Irony | Contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality- between what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected to happen and what really does happen, or between what appears to be trua dn what is really true | Romeo kills himself because he thinks Juliet is deat, but we know she is just drugged |
| Lyric | Poetry that does not tell a story but is aimed only at expressing a speakers emotions or thoughts | Poems with rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia |
| Metaphor | Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one thing becomes another thing, without the use of the word "like", "as","than", or "resembles" | O my love is a red, red rose |
| Narrative | A writing that tells about a series of related events that take place over a period of time | Any story |
| Onomatopoeia | Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning | Pop, fizz |
| Oxymoron | A figure of speech by which a socution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect | Cruel kindness |
| Paradox | Statement or situation that seems to be a contradition but reveals a truth | One of the richest couples on Earth |
| Parody | A humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing | Hamlet |
| Personification | Kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human | The poetry gets bored of being alone |
| Plot | Series of related events that make up a story or drama | Exposition and conflict and main events and climax and resolution |
| Point of View | Vantage point from which a writer tells a story | Omniscient, 1st person, 3rd person |
| Pun | Play on the multiple meanings of a word or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings | What has 4 wheels and flies? A garbage truck |
| Refrain | Repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines | In "Fifteen"--I was 15 |
| Rhyme | Repetition of accented vowel sounds, and all sounds following them, in words that are close together in a poem | My last defense is the present tense |
| Rhythm | Musical quality in language produed by repitition | Meter |
| Setting | The time and place of a story or play | Time and place |
| Simile | Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as "like", "as", "resembles", or "than" | My mistress' eyes are like the sun |
| Slant Rhyme | Poems in which words repeat sounds but are not exact echoes | Hollow and meadow |
| Tone | Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character | Affectionate |
| Tragedy | Play, novel, or other narrative that depicts serious and important events in which the main character comes to an unhappy end | Romeo and Juliet |
| Vernacular | Expressed or written in the native language of a place | Accent, slang |
| Satire | Witty language using irony, sarcasm, and ridicule | (blank) |
Created by:
K1
Popular English Vocabulary sets