Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Maxim
|
A concise statement, usually drawn from experience and inculcating some practical advice.
|
|
|
Metaphor
|
An analogy identifying one object with another and ascribing to the first object one or more of the qualities of the second.
|
|
|
Metonymy
|
The substitution of the name of an object closely associated with a word for the word itself (e.g., "the crown" for the monarchy).
|
|
|
Milieu
|
A person's social environment
|
|
|
Mock Epic
|
A literary for that burlesques the epic by treating a trivial subject in the "grand style" or uses the epic formulas to make a trivial subject ridiculous by ludicrously overstating it.
|
|
|
Mood
|
The emotional-intellectual attitude of the author toward the subject.
|
|
|
Motif
|
A simple element that serves as a basis for expanding narrative; or less strictly, a conventional situation, device, interest, or incident.
|
|
|
Muse
|
A woman, or a force personified as a woman, who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.
|
|
|
Narcissism
|
Excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance.
|
|
|
Naturalism
|
Late 19th, early 20th centuries: The basic assumption that everything real exists in nature- the application of scientific determinism to literature.
|
|
|
Nemesis
|
Applies to divine retribution, when an evil act brings about its own punishment. The term is also applied to both the agent and act of merited punishment.
|
|
|
Neoclassicism
|
Dominated during the Restoration and 18th century: views humankind as limited, dualistic, imperfect. Reverence for order and rules. A rebirth of classical thought of Greek/Roman influence.
|
|
|
Nihilism
|
The rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless.
"We believe in nothing Lebowski." |
|
|
Objective Correlative
|
A pattern of objects, actions, or events, or a situation that can serve effectively to awaken the reader to an emotional response without being a direct statement of that subjective emotion.
|
|
|
Oedipus Complex
|
Named for the Thebean king Oedipus who "unknowingly" killed his father and married his mother. The sexual love a male child feels for his mother (Freudian).
|
|
|
Onomatopoeia
|
Words that by their sound suggest their meaning: "buzz," "hiss," "sizzle."
|
|
|
Oxymoron
|
A self-contradictory combination of words or smaller verbal units; usually noun-noun, adj-adj,... "bittersweet," "jumbo shrimp"
|
|
|
Pantheism
|
Worship that admits or tolerates all gods.
|
|
|
Paradox
|
A statement that although seemingly contradictory or absurd may actually be well-founded or true.
|
|
|
Parody
|
A composition imitating another-usually serious- piece. Deisgned to ridicule a work or its style or author.
|
|
|
Pastoral
|
A poetic treatment of shepherds and rustic life.
|
|
|
Pathetic Fallacy
|
The tendency to credit nature with human emotions... any false emotionalism resulting in a too impassioned description of nature.
|
|
|
Pathos
|
the quality in art and literature that stimulates pity, sorrow, or tenderness.
|
|
|
Peripety (Reversal)
|
A reversal of fortune for the protagonist.
|
|
|
Persona
|
Literally, a mask. Used for the second self created by an author and through whom the narrative is told.
|
|
|
Personification
|
A figure that endows animals, ideas, abstractions, and inanimate objects with human form, personality, intelligence, and emotion.
|
|
|
Picaresque
|
An episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero.
|
|
|
Platonic
|
Associated with Plato or his ideas
- (of love or friendship) intimate and affectionate but not sexual - Confined to words, theories, or ideals, and not leading to practical action. |
|
|
Poetic Justice
|
That ideal judgement that rewards virtue and punished vice.
|
|
|
Poetic License
|
The privilege- sometimes claimed by poets- of departing from normal order, diction, rhyme, or pronunciation.
|
