Literary Terms

Front 1

cacophony

Back 1

harsh, discordant sounds, unpleasant to the ear- used for effect

Front 2

carpe diem

Back 2

"sieze the day"- life is not a dress rehearsal

Front 3

chiasmus

Back 3

inverting a line that would usually be in parallel form

Front 4

colloquial

Back 4

slang, everyday conversation

Front 5

conceit

Back 5

a far-fetched comparison between two seemingly unlike things

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consonance

Back 6

same consonant sound in words with different vowel sounds

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conventional character

Back 7

character with traits that are expected or traditional

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couplet

Back 8

two successive rhyming lines of the same number of syllables, with matching rhythm

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dactyl

Back 9

foot of poetry with 3 syllables, one stressed and 2 short or unstressed

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denouement

Back 10

the outcome or clarification at the end of a story or play

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deus ex machina

Back 11

unlikely or improbable coincidence a cop-out ending

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didactic

Back 12

author's primary purpose is to instruct

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enjambment

Back 13

in poetry, the running over of a sentence into the next without stopping

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epigram

Back 14

short, clever poem with a witty turn of thought

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epigraph

Back 15

brief quote found at the beginning of a literary work, reflecting the theme

Front 16

epistolary novel

Back 16

a novel in letter form written by one or more of the characters

Front 17

euphony

Back 17

pleasant sounds, usually by "sh"

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farce

Back 18

kind of comedy that depends on exaggerated or improbable situations

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foll

Back 19

character whose personal characteristics enhance or contrast with the protagonist

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free verse

Back 20

poetry with no rhyme or rhythm

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genre

Back 21

poetry, prose, drama

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heroic couplet

Back 22

a ryhmed couplet with iambic pentameter

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hyperbole

Back 23

extreme exaggeration for literary effect- not interpreted literally

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in medias res

Back 24

a work that begins in the middle of the story

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inversion

Back 25

switching word order

Front 26

Italian sonnet

Back 26

14-line poem divided into 2 parts (8 then 6)

Front 27

litotes

Back 27

affirmation of an idea by using a negative understatement (opposite of hyperbole)

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lyric poem

Back 28

expresses feelings of a single speaker

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metonymy

Back 29

figure of speech that replaces the name of something with a word or phrase closely associated to it

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pastoral

Back 30

a poem representing shepherding

Front 31

quatrain

Back 31

4-line stanza

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sonnet

Back 32

14-line love poem in iambic pentameter

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stock character

Back 33

stereotypical character with certain characteristics

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synecdoche

Back 34

figure of speech where one part represents the entire object

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anachronism

Back 35

element in a story with is out of its time frame- usually humorous

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apotheosis

Back 36

elevating someone to the level of a god

Front 37

assonance

Back 37

repeated use of a vowel sound

Front 38

aubade

Back 38

poem or song about lovers who must leave one another in the early hours of morning

Front 39

ballad

Back 39

folk song or poem passed down that tells a possible true story