English Vocab Words (Shakespeare Class)

Front 1

Allegory

Back 1

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. Characters can represent hope or freedom, or historical figures.

Front 2

Alliteration

Back 2

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words. Such repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, and/or supply a musical sound.

Front 3

Allusion

Back 3

A direct or indirect reference to something in history, literature, religion, or mythology. This enriches the work with an economy of words.

Front 4

Ambiguity

Back 4

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

Front 5

Anadiplosis

Back 5

The reputation of a key word, especially the last one, at the beginning of the next sentence or clause. "He gave his life; life was all he had to give."

Front 6

Analogy

Back 6

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. It can explain something unfamiliar and it can certainly make writing more vivid, imaginative, or intellectually satisfying.

Front 7

Anapest

Back 7

A foot in poetry with two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable.

Front 8

Anaphora

Back 8

The rhetorical device of repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences for emphasis and rhythm.

Front 9

Anathema

Back 9

A thing or person greatly detested; a character in literature who acts as a curse to another.

Front 10

Antecedent

Back 10

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

Front 11

Anticlimax

Back 11

Using a sequence of ideas that abruptly diminish in importance or in dignity at the end of a sentence or a story, usually for satirical effect.

Front 12

Antimetabole

Back 12

Repeating words or phrases in reverse order for surprise or emphasis.

Front 13

Antithesis

Back 13

A contrast or opposition of thoughts, usually in two phrases, clauses, or sentences. The exact opposite.

Front 14

Aphorism

Back 14

A terse statement of known authorship, which expresses a general truth or a moral principle.

Front 15

Apostrophe

Back 15

A figure of speech, which directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, or a thing, which can not answer. The effect may add or emotional intensity.

Front 16

Archetype

Back 16

The original pattern or model from which all other things of the same kind are made; a perfect type or group.

Front 17

Assonance

Back 17

The repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words.

Front 18

Asyndeton

Back 18

The practice of leaving out the usual conjunctions between coordinate sentence elements.

Front 19

Atmosphere

Back 19

The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the style.

Front 20

Attitude

Back 20

The position or posture assumed in connection with an action, feeling, or mood; a manner of acting, feeling, or thinking that shows one's disposition or opinion or mental state of mind.

Front 21

Balanced Sentence

Back 21

The phrases or clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness of structure, meaning, or length: e.g. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters."

Front 22

Clause

Back 22

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. Independent clauses stand alone as sentences. Dependent or subordinate clauses cannot do so and must be accompanied by an independent clause. "Because I practiced hard, my AP scores were high."

Front 23

Colloquial/Colloquialism

Back 23

The use of slang or informalities in writing, giving the writing a familiar and conversational tone. Not usually acceptable for formal writing, they can include local and regional dialects.

Front 24

Consonance

Back 24

The repetition of consonant sounds within a series of words to create a harmonious effect: "At each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds."

Front 25

Diction

Back 25

Related to style, it refers to a writer's choice of words, in regards to their clarity, their correctness, and their effectiveness. You should be able to describe a writer's ______ and understand how it completes the purpose. Look for ornate/plain or formal/informal contrasts, for example.

Front 26

Ellipses

Back 26

The omission of a word or words necessary for grammatical construction, but understood in context. "If possible" for "If it is possible," for example. Or to show a lapse of time by three periods "..."

Front 27

Euphemism

Back 27

From the Greek "good speech," the substitution of an agreeable word for a more offensive one, "earthly remains" for "corpse."

Front 28

Genre

Back 28

Kinds or types of literature, like poetry, drama, novel, short story, romance.

Front 29

Homily

Back 29

A solemn and moralizing talk or writing, a sermon(especially a long and boring one).

Front 30

Inverted Order of a Sentence

Back 30

Constructing a sentence so the predicate comes before the subject: "In spring comes rain."

Front 31

Bathos

Back 31

An abrupt change from the lofty to the ordinary or trivial in writing or speech.

Front 32

Blank Verse

Back 32

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. An iamb is a poetic foot consisting of one weak stress followed by one strong stress. A pentameter line has five poetic feet.

Front 33

Cacophony

Back 33

Harsh sound, jarring sound, dissonance.

Front 34

Caesura

Back 34

A pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry.

Front 35

Chiasmus

Back 35

Similar to antimetabole, but reversing the grammatical elements instead of just the words, for example.

Front 36

Cliche

Back 36

An overused, worn-out, hackneyed expression that used to be fresh but is no more.

Front 37

Climax

Back 37

Arranging of words, clauses, or sentences in the order of their importance, the least forcible coming first and the others rising in power until the last.

Front 38

Complex Sentence

Back 38

It contains one subject and one independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses. "You said that you would tell the truth."

Front 39

Compound Sentence

Back 39

It contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction or a semicolon. "The singer bowed to the audience, but she sang no encores."

Front 40

Compound-Complex Sentence

Back 40

It contains two or more independent clauses and one or more subordinate clauses. "The singer bowed while the audience applauded, but she sang no encores."

Front 41

Conceit

Back 41

A fanciful expression in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy.

Front 42

Connotation

Back 42

The non-literal, associative meaning of a word.

Front 43

Dactyl

Back 43

A foot in poetry with one stressed syllables.

Front 44

Declarative Sentence

Back 44

A sentence that makes a statement.

Front 45

Denotation

Back 45

The strict dictionary meaning of a word.

Front 46

Device

Back 46

Something used to gain an artistic effect.

Front 47

Didactic

Back 47

Having the primary aim of teaching or instructing, using morals or ethics.

Front 48

Dimeter

Back 48

A verse written in two-foot lines.

Front 49

Dirge

Back 49

A funeral hymn or poem or musical composition.

Front 50

Elegy

Back 50

A poem or song of lament for the dead.

Front 51

Juxtaposition

Back 51

A poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unrelated words or phrases are placed next to each other.

Front 52

Infer

Back 52

To conclude or decide from something known or assumed; to derive by reasoning.

Front 53

Verbal Irony

Back 53

To contrast what is said from what is intended.

Front 54

Invective

Back 54

A violent verbal attack.

Front 55

Dramatic Irony

Back 55

A character expects a different outcome than the audience knows is coming.

Front 56

Imagery

Back 56

Anything in a literary work that calls up sensations of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, temperature, or pressure.

Front 57

Language

Back 57

The entire body of words in a text.

Front 58

Situational Irony

Back 58

The opposite of what is expected happens.

Front 59

Iamb

Back 59

A foot in poetry with one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable; the most common foot.

Front 60

hyperbole

Back 60

an exaggerated way of saying something poetically.

Front 61

Literal

Back 61

Words in ordinary meaning.

Front 62

Figurative

Back 62

Words in analogous meaning; figurative language - any device used to produce non-literal.

Front 63

Litotes

Back 63

Understatement employed for the purpose of enhancing the effect of the ideas expresses, containing a negative.

Front 64

Metonymy

Back 64

The use of the name of one thing for that of another associated with or suggested by it.

Front 65

lyric

Back 65

A melodic poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker.

Front 66

Mood

Back 66

The atmosphere of a work.

Front 67

Motif

Back 67

A principle theme or subject.

Front 68

Loose Sentence

Back 68

A sentence that makes sense if brought to a close before its actual ending.

Front 69

Monometer

Back 69

A verse written in one-foot lines.

Front 70

Mock Heroic

Back 70

Mocking heroic manner.

Front 71

Myth

Back 71

A fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or the heroes or the causes of natural phenomena.

Front 72

Metaphor

Back 72

An implied comparison.

Front 73

Natural Order

Back 73

Constructing a sentence so the subject comes before the predicate.

Front 74

Oxymoron

Back 74

A figure of speech in which opposites or contradictory ideas or terms are combined.

Front 75

Paradox

Back 75

A statement that seems contradictory or unbelievable but can be resolved to make sense.

Front 76

Novel

Back 76

A fictional narrative long enough to be published in a book.

Front 77

Onomatopoeia

Back 77

The use of words to sound like what they mean.

Front 78

Parallelism

Back 78

Repeated uses of phrases, clauses, sentences, or paragraphs that are similar in structure or meaning.

Front 79

Pedantic

Back 79

An unnecessary display of scholarship lacking in judgment or sense of proportion.

Front 80

Parable

Back 80

A brief story, with human characters, that teaches a moral lesson.

Front 81

Narrative

Back 81

The telling of a story, the plot.

Front 82

Parody

Back 82

A literary work that makes fun of another work or type of work.

Front 83

Enjambment

Back 83

In poetry, the running on of a sentence from one line or couplet to the next, with little or no pause.

Front 84

Epistle

Back 84

A literary letter, a formal composition written in the form of a letter.

Front 85

Epic

Back 85

A long narrative poem in a dignified style about the deeds of a historical hero.

Front 86

Euphony

Back 86

The quality of having a pleasing sound.

Front 87

Extended Metaphor

Back 87

A metaphor developed at length.

Front 88

Fable

Back 88

A brief story, usually with animal characters, that conveys a moral.

Front 89

Epitaph

Back 89

An inscription on a tombstone or a short composition as a tribute to a dead person.

Front 90

Epigram

Back 90

A short, witty, pointed statement.

Front 91

Epanalepsis

Back 91

Opening and closing a sentence with the same word or phrase.

Front 92

Extended Parallelism

Back 92

The repetition of words or grammatical elements to achieve accumulated force or rhythm.

Front 93

Repetition

Back 93

A device in which words, sounds, and ideas are used more than once to enhance effect.

Front 94

Prosody

Back 94

The science or art of versification.

Front 95

Personification

Back 95

The treatment of an object or an abstract idea as if it were a person.

Front 96

Periodic Statement

Back 96

A sentence that makes sense only when the end is reached.

Front 97

Point of View

Back 97

The person or intelligence created by a writer to tell a story.

Front 98

Prose

Back 98

The ordinary form of written and spoken language.

Front 99

Rhetoric

Back 99

The skill of using spoken or written communication effectively; the art of persuasion.

Front 100

Rhetoric Modes

Back 100

Types of rhetorical approaches.

Front 101

Pun

Back 101

Play on words.

Front 102

Pentameter

Back 102

A verse written in five-foot lines.