English Literature Exam

Front 1

Connotation

Back 1

The implied meaning of a word.

Front 2

Aphorism

Back 2

a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme of balance

Front 3

Anaphora

Back 3

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences

Front 4

Epigram

Back 4

a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying

Front 5

Anecdote

Back 5

a brief narrative the focuses on a particular incident or event

Front 6

Asyndeton

Back 6

a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions

Front 7

Chiasmus

Back 7

A verbal pattern (a type of antithesis) in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed.

Front 8

Allusion

Back 8

Allusion is a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or ficticious, or to a work of art. Casual reference to a famous historical or literary figure or event.
An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.

Front 9

Conceit

Back 9

an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs an entire poem or poetic passage.

Front 10

Antithesis

Back 10

opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction.

Front 11

cliche

Back 11

phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty

Front 12

hyperbole

Back 12

exaggeration or overstatement.

Front 13

litotes

Back 13

a form of understatement, always deliberate and with the intention of subtle emphasis.

"That does not surprise me"
..meaning it does

Front 14

adage

Back 14

a short but memorable saying that holds some important fact of experience that is considered true by many people, or that has gained some credibility through its long use.

Front 15

allegory

Back 15

a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy

Front 16

apostrophe

Back 16

Apostrophe is when an absent person, an abstract concept, or an important object is directly addressed.

Front 17

colloquialism

Back 17

the use of informal expressions appropriate to everyday speech rather than to the formality of writing, and differing in pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar.