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132 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Absolute
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An expression of certainty without exception or qualification
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Ad hominum
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An argument attacking an individual's character
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Allegory
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A narrative or a description having a second meaning beneath the surface one
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Alliteration
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The repetition at close intervals of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words or syllables
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Allusion
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An indirect reference to something familiar
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Amphibrach
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A trisyllabic foot: ~ / ~
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Ambiguity
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A vague-ness of meaning
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Anachronism
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Assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence
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Anapest
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A trisyllabic foot: ~ ~ /
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Antecedent
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A word, phrase, or clause that is replaced later with a pronoun
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Analogy
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A comparison between two different things
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Anaphora
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Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row
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Anecdote
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A brief personal recounting of a relevant episode
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Antithesis
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A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses
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Aphorism
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A concise statement which expresses a general truth or idea
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Apostrophe
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An address to a person or personified object not present
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Archetype
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An abstract or ideal conception of a type
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Assonance
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The repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity
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Asyndeton
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A series of words separated by commas
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Ballad
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A simple narrative verse that tells a story that is sung or recited
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Blank Verse
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The verse form that most resembles common speech
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Cacophony
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The deliberate use of harsh, awkward sounds
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Caesura
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A pause in a line of verse
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Chiasmus
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A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reverse
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Colloquialism
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Informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing
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Conceit
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A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor
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Concrete Language
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Language that describes specific, observable things, people or places, rather than ideas or qualities
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Connotation
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The associations affiliated with a word
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Consonance
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Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity
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Couplet
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A pair of lines that end in rhyme
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Dactyl
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A trisyllabic foot: / / ~
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Denotation
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The dictionary definition of a word
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Denoument
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The resolution that occurs at the end of a play or a work of fiction
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Deus ex machina
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The use of an artificial device or gimmick to solve a problem
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Diction
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Word choice, particularly as an element of style
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Didactic
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Something which has as its primary purpose to teach or instruct
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Dimeter
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Two metrical feet per line of poetry
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Dramatic Irony
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When the reader is aware of an inconsistency between a character's perception of a situation and the truth of that situation
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Dramatic Monologue
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A poem that contains words that a character speaks to a particular audience
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Elegy
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A formal sustained poem lamenting the death of a particular person
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Ellipsis
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The omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context
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Enjambment
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The continuation of a sentence from one line or couplet of a poem to the next
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Epic
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A poem that celebrates, in a continuous narrative, the achievements of mighty heroes and heroines
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Epigram
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A concise but ingenious, witty and thoughtful statement
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Epiphany
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A major character's moment of realization or awareness
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Epistolary
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A genre in which the story is told through the use of letters
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Euphemism
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An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant
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Euphony
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Pleasing, harmonious sounds
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Fable
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A legend or short moral story often using animals as characters
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Foil
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A character whose traits are the opposite of another
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Foot
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The basic rhythmic unit into which a line of verse can be divided
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Foreshadowing
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To hint at or to present an indication of the future beforehand
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Free Verse
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A kind of poetry without rhymed lines, rhythm, or fixed metrical feet
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Frame
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A structure that provides premise of setting for a narratrive
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Genre
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A major category or type of literature
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Hamartia
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An error in judgment resulting from a defect in the character
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Heptameter
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Seven metrical feet per line of poetry
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Hexameter
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Six metrical feet per line of poetry
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Hubris
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Overwhelming pride or insolence that results in the misfortune of the protagonist of a tragedy
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Hyperbole
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A conscious exaggeration used to heighten effect
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Iamb
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A disyllabic foot: ~ /
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Idiom
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A common expression that has acquired a meaning that differs from its literal meaning
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Imagery
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The use of concrete sensory details which contribute to the themes or ideas of a work
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In media res
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A narrative that starts not at the beginning of events
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Invective
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An intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack
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Irony
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When a reader is aware of a reality that differs from a character's perception of reality
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Jargon
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Specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group
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Juxtapostion
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The location of one thing as being adjacent with another
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Litotes
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A type of understatement in which something affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite
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Lyric
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Personal reflective poetry that reveals the speaker's thoughts and feeling about the subject
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Kenning
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A device in which the name of a thing is replace by one of its functions or qualities
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Metaphor
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A comparison of two things
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Meter
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The rhythmic pattern created in a line of verse
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Metonymy
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The designation of one thing with something closely associated with it
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Mood
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An atmosphere created by a writer's diction, syntax, and the details selected
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Motif
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A frequently recurrent character, incident, theme, or concept
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Non sequitur
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An inference that does not logically follow from the premise
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Octometer
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Eight metrical feet of poetry per line
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Ode
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A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject
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Onomatopoeia
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A word formed from the imitation of natural sound
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Oxymoron
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A rhetorical antithesis
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Parable
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A story consisting of elements from which a moral or spiritual truth may be derived
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Paradox
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A seemingly contradictory statement or situation which is actually true
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Parody
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An imitation of a work meant to ridicule its style and subject
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Pastoral
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A work dealing with rural life
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Pathos
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The quality on a work that prompts the reader to feel pity or sorrow
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Pedantic
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Describing an excessive display of learning or scholarship
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Pentameter
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Five metrical feet in one line of poetry per line
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Persona
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A fictional voice
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Personification
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Figurative language in which inanimate objects, animals, ideas, or abstractions are endowed with human traits or forms
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Point of View
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The perspective from which a fictional or nonfictional story is told
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Polysyndeton
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Sentence which uses "and" or another conjunction, with no commas, to separate items in a series
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Prose
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A piece of literature not written in verse
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Protagonist
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The main character in a work of literature
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Quatrain
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A four-line poem or a four-line unit of a longer poem
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Refrain
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A phrase or group of lines that is repeated at significant moments within a poem
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Rhetorical Question
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A question that is asked not to elicit a response but to make an impact or call attention to something
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Rhyme
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The repetition of similar sounds at regular intervals
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Rhythm
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The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that make up a line of poetry
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Sarcasm
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Harsh, cutting language designed to ridicule
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Satire
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The use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions
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Scansion
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The process of analyzing the number and type of feet in a line of poetry
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Sestet
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The last six lines of an Italian sonnet
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Sestina
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Six six-line stanzas followed by a three-line stanza
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Setting
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Locale and period in which the action takes place
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Simile
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A figurative comparison of two things using "like," "as," or "then"
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Soliloquy
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When a character in a play speaks his thoughts aloud
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Sonnet
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A form of verse usually consisting of three four-line units called quatrains and a concluding couplets
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Spondee
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A disyllabic foot: / /
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Stanza
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A line or distinct group of lines separated from other segments
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Stream of Consciousness
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A technique of writing that undertakes to reproduce the raw flow of consciousness
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Style
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The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes
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Syllepsis
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The linking of one work with two other words in two strikingly different ways
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Syllogism
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A logical argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and a minor premise
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Symbol
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A thing, event, or person that represents or stands for some idea of event
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Synecdoche
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The use of one part of an object to represent the whole object
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Syntax
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The manner in which words are arranged by a writer into sentences
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Tautology
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Needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding
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Tercet
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A group of three lines, often bearing a single rhyme
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Terza rima
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A system of interlaced tercets linked by common rhymes
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Tetrameter
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Four metrical feet per line of percent
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Theme
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A central idea of a work
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Tone
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A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization
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Tragedy
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The representations of serious actions which turn out disastrously
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Tragic Flaw
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Tragic error in judgment
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Trocee
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A disyllabic foot: / ~
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Trope
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A category of figures of speech that extend the literal meanings of words by inviting a comparison to other words, things, or ideas
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Understatement
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The deliberate representation of something as much less in magnitude than it really is
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Verisimilitude
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Similar to truth
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Verse
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A synonym of poetry
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Villanelle
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A French verse form calculated to appear simple and spontaneous but consisting of nineteen lines and a prescribed pattern of rhyme
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Voice
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The real or assumed personality used by a writer or speaker
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