English Vocab Words Grades 9-11

Front 1

a reference to a familiar literary or historical person or event, used to make the idea more easily understood

Back 1

Allusion

Front 2

a comparison of two things made to explain something unfamiliar through its similarities to something familiar

Back 2

Analogy

Front 3

the major character in a narrative or drama who works against the hero/ protagonist

Back 3

Antagonist

Front 4

a device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play

Back 4

Aside

Front 5

the process of roughing out the moves to be made by the actors especially as not to "block" another's performance

Back 5

Blocking

Front 6

the process by which an author creates vivid, believable characters in a work of art

Back 6

Characterization

Front 7

the turning point in a narrative, the moment when the conflict is at its most intense

Back 7

climax

Front 8

is the issue to be resolved in the story

Back 8

conflict

Front 9

the impression that a word gives beyond its defined meaning.

Back 9

connotation

Front 10

the definition of a word, apart from the impressions or feelings it creates in the reader

Back 10

denotation

Front 11

the selection and arrangement of words in a literary work

Back 11

diction

Front 12

writing intended to explain the nature of an idea, thing, or theme

Back 12

exposition

Front 13

a device used in lit. to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments

Back 13

foreshadowing

Front 14

the array of images in a literary work

Back 14

imagery

Front 15

the effect of language in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated

Back 15

irony

Front 16

a figure of speech that expresses an idea through the image of another object

Back 16

metaphor

Front 17

the prevailing emotions of a work or of the author in his or her creation of the work

Back 17

mood

Front 18

a verse or prose accounting of an event or sequence of events, real or invented

Back 18

narrative

Front 19

a figure of speech that gives human qualities to abstract ideas, animals, and inanimate objects

Back 19

personification

Front 20

this term refers to the pattern of events in narrative or drama

Back 20

plot

Front 21

the vantage point or perspective from which a story is told

Back 21

point of view

Front 22

the central character of a story who serves as a focus for its themes and incidents and as the principal raionale for its development

Back 22

protagonist

Front 23

the portion of a story following the climax, in which the conflict is resoved

Back 23

resolution

Front 24

the part of a drama where the plot becomes increasingly complicated

Back 24

rising action

Front 25

this term gernerally refers to a poem in which words sound identical or very similar and appear in parallel positions in two or more lines

Back 25

rhyme

Front 26

the time place and culture in which the action of a narrative takes place

Back 26

setting

Front 27

a comparison, usually using like or as

Back 27

simile

Front 28

a monologue in a drama used to give the audience information and to develop the speaker's character

Back 28

soliloquy

Front 29

a playwright's descriptive or interpretive comments that provide readers with information about the dialogue, setting, and action of a play

Back 29

stage direction

Front 30

a subdivision of a poem consisting of lines grouped together

Back 30

stanza

Front 31

something that suggests or stands for something else without losing its original identity

Back 31

symbol

Front 32

the main point of a work of literature

Back 32

theme

Front 33

both an essay and the point argued in the essay

Back 33

thesis

Front 34

a poetic device where the first consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in words or syllables are repeated

Back 34

alliteration

Front 35

a person in a story

Back 35

character

Front 36

a character in a work of literature whose physical or psychological qualities contrast strongly with, and therefore highlight, the corresponding qualities of another character

Back 36

foil

Front 37

a figure of speech in which an overstatement or exaggeration occurs

Back 37

hyperbole

Front 38

a theme, character type, image, metaphor, or other verbal element that reoccurs throughout a single work

Back 38

motif

Front 39

often considered dynamic since they have the capacity to change or act unpredictably

Back 39

round character

Front 40

indistinguishable from their group or class, usually minor characters

Back 40

flat character

Front 41

one who changes little if at all

Back 41

static character

Front 42

one who is modified by actions and experiences

Back 42

dynamic character

Front 43

allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or situation, all of which can be supported by the context of a work

Back 43

ambiguity

Front 44

the repetition of similar vowel sounds in poetry

Back 44

assonance

Front 45

an unpleasant combination of sounds

Back 45

cacaphony

Front 46

a pleasant combination of sounds

Back 46

euphony

Front 47

a literary work which is amusing and ends happily

Back 47

comedy

Front 48

the final unraveling of a plot, the solution of a mystery, an explanation or outcome.

Back 48

denouement

Front 49

excessive pride or self-confidence that leads a protagonist to disregard a divine wraning or to violate an important moral law

Back 49

hubris or hybris

Front 50

the placement of two things closely together to establish comparisons or contrasts

Back 50

juxtaposition

Front 51

the frame or surface of the work may be conventionally realistic, but contrasting elements-such as the supernatural, myth, drea, fantasy-invade the realism and change the whole basis of the art

Back 51

magical realism/magic realism

Front 52

a statement that appears illogical or contradictory at first, but may actually point to an underlying truth

Back 52

paradox

Front 53

a term designating the appropriateness of a given style to a given situation

Back 53

register

Front 54

a work that uses ridicule, humor, and wit to criticize and provoke change in human nature and institiutions.

Back 54

satire

Front 55

satire that speaks directly to the reader or to a character in the work

Back 55

formal/ direct satire

Front 56

satire that relies upon the ridiculous behavior of its characters to make its point

Back 56

indirect

Front 57

a type of drama which is pre-eminently the story of one person, the hero...story leads up to and includes the death or moral destruction of the protagonist

Back 57

tragedy

Front 58

the author's attitude toward his or her audience may be deduced from the ____ of his work

Back 58

tone

Front 59

may create distance or convey politeness

Back 59

formal tone

Front 60

may encourade a friendly, intimate, or intrusive feeling in the reader

Back 60

informal tone

Front 61

a statement which lessens or minimizes the importance of what is meant

Back 61

understatement