Engl 1102 Vocab Ii

Front 1

allegory

Back 1

any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning

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alliteration

Back 2

repeating a consonant sound in close proximity to others, or beginning several words with the same vowel sound

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allusion

Back 3

a casual reference in literature to a person, place, event, or another passage of literature, often without explicit identification

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archetype

Back 4

an original model or pattern from which other later copies are made

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autobiography

Back 5

a non-fictional account of a person's life

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black vernacular

Back 6

the ethnic dialect associated with Americans of African ancestry

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canon

Back 7

an approved or traditional collection of works; standard; genuine

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character

Back 8

any representation of an individual being presented in a dramatic or narrative work through extended dramatic or verbal representation

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claim

Back 9

an assertion to something as a fact; a just title to something

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climax

Back 10

the moment in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the crisis reaches its point of greatest intensity and is thereafter resolved

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close reading

Back 11

reading a piece of literature carefully, bit by bit, in order to analyze the significance of every individual word, image, and artistic ornament

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closed poetic form

Back 12

poetry written in a a specific or traditional pattern according to the required regulations

Front 13

colloquialism

Back 13

a word or phrase used everyday in plain and relaxed speech, but rarely found in formal writing

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connotation

Back 14

the extra tinge or taint of meaning each word carries beyond the minimal, strict definition found in a dictionary

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creole

Back 15

a native language combining the traits of multiple languages

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cultural symbol

Back 16

a symbol widely or generally accepted as meaning something specific within an entire culture or social group

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dialect

Back 17

the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons

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diction

Back 18

the choice of a particular word as opposed to others

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ethos

Back 19

the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than his or her thought or emotion

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evaluation

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to examine and judge carefully

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evidence

Back 21

that which tends to prove or disprove something

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frame narrative

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the result of inserting one or more small stories within the body of a larger story that encompasses the smaller ones

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freudian criticism

Back 23

a psychoanalytical approach to literature that seeks to understand the elements of a story or character in a story by applying the tripartite model of the psyche developed by the late nineteenth-century psychologist, Sigmund Freud

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genre

Back 24

a type or category of literature or film marked by certain shared features

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imagery

Back 25

"mental pictures" that readers experience with a passage of literature

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irony

Back 26

a speaker makes a statement in which its actual meaning differs sharply from the meaning that the words express

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juvenile literature

Back 27

books suitable for children

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juxtaposition

Back 28

The arrangement of two or more things side-by-side or in similar narrative moments for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, suspense, or character development

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MLA

Back 29

the standard writing format used in American college English classes

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metaphor

Back 30

a comparison or analogy stated in such a way as to imply that one object is another one, figuratively speaking

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meter

Back 31

a recognizable though varying pattern of stressed syllables alternating with syllables of less stress

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metonymy

Back 32

using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea

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motif

Back 33

a conspicuous recurring element which appears frequently in works of literature

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narrative

Back 34

the story or account

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open poetic form

Back 35

a poem of variable length, one which can consist of as many lines as the poet wishes to write

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pidgin

Back 36

a simplified, limited language combining features from many languages and used among persons who share no common language amongst themselves

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plot

Back 37

the structure and relationship of actions and events in a work of fiction

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point of view

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the way a story gets told and who tells it

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regional literature

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literature that accurately seeks to portray or is associated with a particular geographic region or people

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rhyme scheme

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the pattern of rhyme

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simile

Back 41

an analogy or comparison implied by using an adverb such as like or as

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slave narrative

Back 42

a narrative, often autobiographical in origin, about a slave's life

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slang

Back 43

informal diction or the use of vocabulary considered inconsistent with the preferred formal wording common among the educated or elite in a culture

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symbolism

Back 44

frequent use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean something beyond what they are on a literal level

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synecdoche

Back 45

a rhetorical trope involving a part of an object representing the whole, or the whole of an object representing a part

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theme

Back 46

a central idea or statement that unifies and controls an entire literary work

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tone

Back 47

the means of creating a relationship or conveying an attitude or mood