Lit Terms #2

Front 1

Circumlocution

Back 1

: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served

Front 2

Classicism

Back 2

: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance

Front 3

Cliché

Back 3

: a phrase or situation overused within society

Front 4

Climax

Back 4

: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved

Front 5

Colloquialism

Back 5

: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation

Front 6

Comedy

Back 6

: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter

Front 7

Conflict

Back 7

: struggle or problem in a story causing tension

Front 8

Connotation

Back 8

: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition

Front 9

Contrast

Back 9

: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity

Front 10

Denotation

Back 10

: plain dictionary definition

Front 11

Denouement (pronounced day-new-mahn)

Back 11

: loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion

Front 12

Dialect

Back 12

: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.

Front 13

Dialectics

Back 13

: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.

Front 14

Dichotomy

Back 14

: split or break between two opposing things.

Front 15

Diction

Back 15

: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.

Front 16

Didactic

Back 16

: having to do with the transmission of information; education.

Front 17

Dogmatic

Back 17

: rigid in beliefs and principles.

Front 18

Elegy

Back 18

: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.

Front 19

Epic

Back 19

: a long narrative poem unified by a hero who reflects the customs, mores, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on circumlocution).

Front 20

Epigram

Back 20

: witty aphorism.