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117 Cards in this Set

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ad misericordiam
An appeal to the audience's sympathy; an attempt to persuade another, using a hard-luck story rather than logic or reason. For example, if you slapped your little sister and then told your parents you did it because you're under a lot of stress at school.
"Oh Mom, everyone in class is going to the party. Do you want me to be left out?"
alliteration
The repetition of accented consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to each other, usually to create an effect, rhythm or emphasis.
Big, bad, baking dog. The noisy gnat knit nine sweaters.
allusion
A reference in literature or in art to previous literature, history, mythology, pop culture/current events or the Bible.
"It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew"
ambiguity
Quality of being intentionally unclear. Events or situations that are ambiguous can be interpreted in more than one way. This device is especailly beneficial in poetry, as it tends to grace the work with the richness and depth of multiple meanings.
"Thou still unravished bride of quietness"
anachronism
An element in a story that is out of its time frame; sometimes used to create a humorous or jarring effect. Beware: This can also occur because of careless or poor research on the author's part.
In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare mentions caps, which the Romans did not wear.
analogy
Clarifies or explains an unfamiliar concept or object, or one that cannot be put into words, by comparing it with one which is familiar. By explaining the abstract in terms of the concrete, this may force the reader to think more critically about a concept. They tend to appear more often in prose than poetry. They enliven writing by making it more interesting, etnertaining, and understandable. Simlies and metaphors are two specific types.
"Knowledge always desires increase: it is like a fire, which must first be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate itself."
analysis
The process of examining the components of a literary work.
Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" might make reference to the novel's Gothic setting, elements of suspense, author's style, romantic and feminist themes, the use of symbolism and figurative language and the novel's religious aspects.
anapest
The poetic foot (measure) that follows the pattern unaccented, unaccented, accented. The poet is usually trying to convey a rollicking, moving rhythm with this pattern.
"I am monarch of all I survey" (accent pattern)
anecdote
A short and often personal story used to emphasize a point, to develop a character or a theme, or to inject hummor.
Story in "The Great Gatsby" that describes Tom Buchanan's liaison with the chmabermaid during his honeymoon that speaks volumes about his character"
antagonist
A character who functions as a resisting force to the goals of the protagonist. This chracter is often a villain, but in a case where the protagonist is evil, they may be virtuous
Iago from "Othello" and Tybalt from "Romeo and Juliet"
antecedent
The word or phrase to which a pronoun refers. It often precedes a pronoun in prose (but not necessarily poetry)
anticlimax
An often disappointing, sudden end to an intense situation
antihero
A protagonist who carries the action of the literary piece but does not embody the classic characteristics of courage, strength, and nobility.
antithesis
A concept that is directly opposed to a previously presented idea.
aphorism
A terse statment that expresses a general truth or moral principle; sometimes considered a folk proverb
apostrophe
A rhetorical figure of direct address to a person, object of abstract entity.
apotheosis
Elevating someone to the level of a god
archetype
A character, situation or symbol that is familiar to people from all cultures because it occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion or folklore.
aside
A short speech or remark made by an actor to the audience rather than to the other characters, who do not hear him or her. Shakespeare's characters often share their thoughts with us in this way.
assonance
The repeated use of vowel sound
attitude
The author's feelings toward the topic he or she is writing about. Attitude, often used interchangeably with "tone," is usually revealed through word choice.
aubade
A poem or song about lovers who must leave one another in the early hours of the morning
ballad
A folk song or poem passed down orally that tells a story which may be derived from an actual incident or from legend or folklore. Usually composed in four-line stanzas (quatrains) with the rhyme scheme 'abcb'. They often contain a refrain
blank verse
Unrhymed poetry of iambic pentameter (five feet of two syllables each- unstressed and stressed); favored technique of Shakespeare
cacophony
Harsh, discordant sounds, unpleasant to the ear; the sound of nails scratching a blackboard
Used by poets for effect
carpe diem
Latin for 'seize the day'; frequent in 16th- and 17th- century court poetry. Expresses the idea that you only go around once; refers to the modern saying that "life is not a dress rehearsal"
catharsis
In his 'Poetics', Aristotle wrote that a tragedy should "arouse pity and fear in such a way as to accomplish [this] of such emotions in the audience." The term refers to an emotional cleansing or feeling of relief.
chiasmus*
The opposite of parallel construction; inverting the second of two phrases that would otherwise be in parallel form.
colloquial*
Of or relating to slang or regional dialect, used in familiar or everyday conversation. In writing, an informal style that reflects the way people spoke in a distinct time and/or place.
comic relief
Humor that provides a release of tension and breaks up a more serious episode.
conceit
A far-fetched comparison between two seemingly unlike things; an extended metaphor that gains appeal from its unusal or extraordinary comparison.
connotation
Associations a word calls to mind. House and home have the same denotation, or dictionary meaning, but not the same ________. The more _______ a piece is, the less objective its interpretation becomes. Careful, close reading often reveals the writer's intent.
consonance
Same consonant sound in words with different vowel sounds.
conventional character
A character with traits that are expected or traditional. Heroes are expected to be strong, adventurous and unafriad. Female characters often yearn for a husband, or once married, stay at home and care for their children; conventional men are adventurerers. If married, they tend to "wear the pants in the family."
couplet
Two successive rhyming lines of the same number of syllables, with matching cadence.
dactyl
Foot of poetry with three syllables, one stressed and two short or unstressed. Think of the waltz rhythm.
denotation
The dictionary or literal meaning of word or phrase.
denouement
The outcome or clarification at the end of a story of play; the winding down from the climax to the ending.
deus ex machina
Literally, when the gods intervene at the story's end to resolve a seemingly impossible conflict. Refers to an unlikely or improbable coincidence; a cop-out ending.
diction
The deliberate choice of a style of language for a desired effect or tone. Words chosen to achieve a particular effect that is formal, informal or colloquial.
didactic
A didactic story, speech, essay or play is one in which the author's primary purpose is to instruct, teach or moralize.
distortion
An exaggeration or stretching of the truth to achieve a desired effect.
enjambment
In poetry, the running over of a sentence from one verse or stanza into the next without stopping at the end of the first.
epigram
A short, clever poem with a witty turn of thought
epigraph
A brief quotation found at the beginning of a literary work, reflective of theme.
epiphany
Eureka! A sudden flash of insight. A startling discovery and/or apperance; a dramatic realization.
epistolary novel
A novel in letter form written by one or more of the characters. The novelist can use this technique to present varying first person points of view and does not need a narrator
essay
A short composition on a single topic expressing the view or interpretation of the writer on that topic. The word comes from the French word meaning "to attempt" or "to try". It is one of the oldest prose forms.
euphemism
Substitution of an inofffensive word or phrase for another that would be harsh, offensive or embarassing. It makes something sound better than it is but is usually more wordy than the original.
euphony
The quality of a pleasant or harmonious sound of a word or group of words as an intended effect. Often achieved through long vowels and some consonants such as "sh"
farce
A kind of comedy that depends on exaggerated or improbable situations, physical disasters, and sexual innuendo to amuse the audience. Many situation comedies on today might be called this.
figurative language
Unlike literal expression, this uses figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, metonymy, personification and hyperbole. It appeals to one's senses. Most poetry contains this.
first person
A character in the story tells the story using the pronoun I. This is a limited point of view since the narrator can relate only events that he or she sees or is told about.
flashback
Interruption of a narrative by the introduction of an earlier event or by an image of past experience.
flat character
A simple, one-dimensional character who remains the same, and about whom little or nothing is revealed throughout the course of the work. They may serve as symbols of types of people, similar to stereotypical characters.
foil
A character whose constrasting personal characteristics draw attention to, enhance or contrast with those of the main character. A character who, by displaying opposite traits, emphasizes certain aspects of another character.
foreshadowing
Foreshadowing hints at what is about to come. It is sometimes noticeable only in hindsight, but usually it is obvious enough to set the reader wondering.
free verse
Poetry that does not have regular rhythm or rhyme.
genre
The category into which a piece of writing can be classified- poetry, prose, drama. Each one has its own conventions and standards.
heroic couplet
In poetry, a rhymed couplet written in iambic pentameter (five feet, each with one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable).
hubris
Insolence, arrogance or pride. In Greek tragedy, the protagonist's hubris is usually the tragic flaw that leads to his or her downfall.
hyperbole
An extreme exaggeration for literary effect that is not meant to be interpreted literally.
iambic pentameter
A five-foot line made up of an unaccented followed by an accented syllable. It is the most common metric foot in English-language poetry.
imagery
Anything that afffects or appeals to the reader's senses: sight, sound, touch, taste or smell.
in medias res
In literature, a work that begins in the middle of the story.
interior monologue
A literary technique use in poetry and prose that reveals a character's unspoken thoughts and feelings. This may be presented directly by the character, or through a narrator.
internal rhyme
A rhyme that is within the line, rather than at the end. The rhyming may also be within two lines, but again, each rhyming word will be within its line, rather than at the beginning or end.
inversion
A switch in normal word order, often used for emphasis or for rhyme scheme.
Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet
Fourteen-line poem divided into two parts: the first is eight lines (abbaabba) and the second is six (cdcdcd or cdecde)
litotes
Affirmation of an idea by using a negative understatement. The opposite of hyperbole.
lyric poem
A fairly short, emotionally expressive poem that expresses the feelings and observations of a single speaker.
metamorphosis
A radical change in a character, either physical or emotional.
metaphor
A figure of speech which compares two dissimilar things, asserting that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. Compare analogy and simile.
meter
The rhymical pattern of a poem. Just as all words are pronounced with accented (or stressed) syllables and unaccented (or unstressed) syllables, lines or poetry are assigned similar rhythms. English poetry uses five basic metric feet.
metonymy
A figure of speech that replaces the name of something with a word or phrase closely associated with it. Similar to synecdoche.
myth
A story, usually with supernatural significance, that explains the origins or gods, heroes or natural phenomena. Although myths are fictional stories, they contain deeper truths, particularly about the nature of humankind.
narrative poem
A poem that tells a story
near, off or slant rhyme
A rhyme based on an imperfect or incomplete correspondence of end syllable dounds.
onomatopoeia
Words that imitate sounds
oxymoron
A figure of speech that combineas two contradictory words, placed side by side.
parable
A short story illuminating a moral or religious lesson.
paradox
A statement or situation that at first seems impossible or oxymoronic, but which solves itself and reveals meaning.
parallelism
The repeated use of the same grammatical structure in a sentence or a series of sentences.
parody
A comical imitation or a serious piece with the intenet f ridculing the author or his work.
pastoral
A poem, play or story that celebrates and idealizes the simple life of shepherds and shepherdesses. This highly conventional form was popular until the late 18th century. The term has also come to refer to an artistic work that portrays rural life in an idyllic or idealistic way.
periodic sentence
A sentence that delievers its point at the end; usually constructed as a subordinate clause followed by a main clause
pathos
The quality of a literary work or passage which appeals to the reader's or viewer's emotions- especially pity, compassion and sympathy. It is different from the pity one feels for a tragic hero in that the pathetic figure seems to suffer through no fault of his or her own.
personification
The attribution of human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object.
point of view
Perspective of the speaker or narrator in a literary work.
protagonist
The main or principal character in a work; often considered the hero or heroine.
pun
Humorous play on words that have several meanings or words that sound the same but have different meanings.
protagonist
The main or principal character in a work; often considered the hero or heroine
pun
Humorous play on words that have several meanings or words that sound the same but have different meanings.
quatrain
Four-line stanza
refrain
Repetition of a line, stanza or phrase.
repetition
A word or phrase used more than once to emphasize an idea.
repetition
A word or phrase used more than once to emphasize an idea.
rhetorical question
A question with an obvious answer, so no response is expected; used for emphasis or to make a point
satire
The use of humor to ridicule and expose the shortcomings and failings of society, individuals and institutions, often in the hope that change and reform are possible.
sestet
A six-line stanza of poetry; also, the last six lines of a sonnet
shift
In writing, a movement from one thought or idea to another; a change.
simile
A comparison of unlike things using the word like, as or so.
soliloquy
A character's speech to the audience, in which emotions and ideas are revealed. A monologue is a soliloquy only if the character is alone on the stage.
sonnet, English or Shakespearean
Traditionally, a fourteen-line love poem in iambic pentameter, but in contemporary poetry, themes and form vary. A conventional Shakespearean sonnet's prescribed rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The final couplet (gg) sums up or resolves the situation described in the previous lines.
stanza
A grouping of poetic lines; a deliberate arrangement of lines of poetry
stock character
A stereotypical character; a type. The audience expects the character to have certain characteristics. Similar to conventional character and flat character.
streams of consciousness
A form of writing which replicates the way the human mind works. Ideas are presented in random order; thoughts are often unfinished.
structure
The particular way in which parts of a written work are combined.
style
The way a writer uses language. Takes into account word choice, diction, figures or speech and so on. The writer's "voice".
symbol
A concrete object, scene or action which has deeper significance because it is associated with something else, often an impportant idea or theme in the work.
synecdoche
A figure of speech where one part represents the entire object or vise versa. (All hands on deck; lend me your ears)
syntax
The way in which words, phrases, and sentences are ordered and connected.
theme
The central idea of a literary work.
tone
Refers to the author's attitude toward the subject, and often sets the mood of the piece.
tongue in cheek
Expressing a thought in a way that appears to be sincere, but is actually joking.
tragic flaw
Traditionally, a defect in a hero or heroine that leads to his or her downfall.
transition/segue
The means to get from one portion of a poem or story to another; for instance, to another setting, to another character's viewpoint, to a later or earlier time period. It is a way of smoothly connecting different parts of a work. Authors often use transitional sentences or phrases to achieve this.