Literary Terms Flashcard

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Diction

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The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.

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Choice...

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Elevated

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Situated or placed higher than the surrounding area.

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Raised...

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Formal

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Being in accordance with the usual requirements, customs, etc.; conventional:

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Accordance...Etiquette....

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Scholarly

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Of, like, or befitting a scholar

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AP....

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Standard

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Something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model.

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Has to be approved..

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Colloquial

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Characteristic of or appropriate to ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing; informal.

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Opposite of Formal....

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Low (Diction)

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A term identifying diction that involves conversational or familiar language, contractions, slang, elision, and grammatical errors designed to convey a relaxed tone

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Relaxed....

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Dialect

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A variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.

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Social....

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Slang

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Very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language

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“Bruh...”

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Vulgar

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Characterized by ignorance of or lack of good breeding or taste

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Peasant...

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Abstract

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Thought of apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances

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Poverty...

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Archaic

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Marked by the characteristics of an earlier period; antiquated

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Another word for Old fashioned...

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Bombast

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Speech too pompous for an occasion; pretentious words.

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Obsolete..

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Cliché

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A trite or hackneyed plot, character development, use of color, musical expression, etc.

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“Sadder but Wiser..”

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Concrete

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Constituting an actual thing or instance; real

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“Cat, Teacher, water....”

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Connotation

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The associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning

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Home “A place of warmth, comfort, and affection..”

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Denotation

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A word that names or signifies something specific

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Wind...

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Didactic

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Intended for instruction; instructive

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A didactic speaker...

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Double entendre

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A word or expression used in a given context so that it can be understood in two ways, especially when one meaning is risque.

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Epithet

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Any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality

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“Richard the Lion-Hearted” is an epithet of Richard I.

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Euphemism

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The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.

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“To pass away”

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Jargon

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The language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group

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Medical Jargon

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Literal Language

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Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory

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"dreadful"

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Figurative Lanuage

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Language that contains or uses figures of speech, especially metaphors.

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She's drowning in a sea of grief.

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Malapropism

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An act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

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Poetic Language

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A form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language

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Flowery Language

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uses too many complicated words or phrases in an attempt to sound skilful

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Portmanteau

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a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others

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Brunch, Motel.....

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Atmosphere

Back 29

a surrounding or pervading mood, environment, or influence

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Mood

Back 30

a distinctive emotional quality or character

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Character

Back 31

moral or ethical quality

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Antagonist

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A person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another.

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Archetype

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a very typical example of a certain person or thing

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Dynamic Character

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who undergoes an important inner change, as a change in personality or attitude

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Flat Character

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two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work

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Foil

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a character who contrasts with another character

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Protagonist

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the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

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Round character

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extremely realistic, behaving and speaking in a "real life" manner.

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Static Character

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one who doesn't undergo any significant change in character, personality or perspective over the course of a story

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Stock Character

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stereotypical fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or film, whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition.

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Direct Characterization

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tells the audience what the personality of the character is.

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Indirect Characterization

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the process by which the writer shows the character's personality through speech, actions and appearance

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Motivation

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reasons that underlie behavior that is characterized by willingness and volition

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Plot

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a causal sequence of events, the "why" for the things that happen in the story.

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Setting

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both the time and geographic location within a narrative or within a work of fiction.

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Theme

Back 46

the central topic a text treats

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Tone

Back 47

the way the author expresses his attitude through his writing

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Voice

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the quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character

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Exposition

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It is the writer's way to give background information to the audience about the setting and the characters of the story.

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Suspense

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the sense of anticipation or worry that the author makes the reader feel.

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Rising Action

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a story leading up to the most exciting part of a story.

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Flashback

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an earlier moment is portrayed in a story or when a past experience is remembered.

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Flash Forward

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an interruption in the continuity of a story, play, film, etc. by an episode portraying a chronologically later occurrence

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Foreshadowing

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a literary device used by authors, writers, and filmmakers to enhance the storyline and to create more suspense.

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Complication

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a complication is an undesired development that makes something harder or makes something worse.

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Conflict

Back 56

a conflict is a fight or disagreement.

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External Conflict

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A conflict that is between a character and an external force, such as another character.

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Internal Conflict

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A conflict that is internal to a character.

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Turning Point

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a turning point is a point in time when something happens that causes a shift or an irrevocable change in direction

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Dialogue

Back 60

conversation, or an exchange of ideas.

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Climax

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the most intense or highest point of something, or an orgasm.

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Epiphany

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a sudden and profound understanding of something.

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Falling Action

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parts of a story after the climax and before the very end.

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Resolution

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a plan for something to be done.

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Conclusion

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the last part of something or an opinion reached after some thought.

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Denouement

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the resolution in the plot.

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Frame Story

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A narrative introducing or containing one or more other narratives that are the primary focus of the work as a whole.

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Speaker

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The definition of a speaker is a spokesperson or a person giving a speech.

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Point of View

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Point of view is a way in which a person looks at the world or the angle from which a specific situation should be viewed.

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First Person

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First person is defined as pronouns and verbs that refer to the speaker.

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Third Person

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the form of a pronoun (as she) or verb (as is) that refers to the person(s) or thing(s) spoken of in a given utterance

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Omniscient Narrator

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having infinite knowledge; knowing all things

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Limited Third Person

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It is called a third-person limited narrator because the narrator is limited to the perspective of just one character.

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Objective Narrator

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The third-person objective employs a narrator who tells a story without describing any character's thoughts, opinions, or feelings; instead, it gives an objective, unbiased point of view.

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Allegory

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The definition of an allegory is a story in which people, things or happenings have a symbolic meaning.

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Allusion

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The definition of an allusion is a statement that hints at something rather than being direct.

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Ambiguity

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The definition of ambiguity is a word or sentence that is not clear about the intention or meaning. the quality or state of being ambiguous

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Anachronism

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The definition of anachronism is a person or thing that is placed in a time period where it does not fit.

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Apostrophe

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The definition of an apostrophe is the punctuation that is used to indicate possession, pluralization of abbreviations, and as an indicator of the exclusion of letters such as in a contraction.

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Dead Metaphor

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A figure of speech whose metaphorical meaning has become so familiar over time that its literal meaning is forgotten or goes unnoticed, as in arrive at a conclusion or cast a glance.

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Conceit

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The definition of conceit is a strong, exaggerated opinion of one's self.

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Kenning

Back 82

knowledge or recognition

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Extended Metaphor

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A metaphor that is continued over multiple sentences.

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Hyperbole

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The definition of hyperbole is a description that is exaggerated for emphasis.

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Caesura

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The definition of a caesura is a break or pause, generally in a speech, song, poem.

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Imagery

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The definition of imagery is pictures created by the mind or from memory.

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Metaphor

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The definition of a metaphor is a word or phrase used to compare two unlike objects, ideas, thoughts or feelings to provide a clearer description.

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Litote

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ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary

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Metonymy

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The definition of a metonymy is a figure of speech in which one thing is replaced with a word closely associated with it.

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Motif

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The definition of a motif is a primary or recurring theme.

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Montage

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The definition of a montage is a collection of similar elements such as film, pictures or video from different sources.

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Oxymoron

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The definition of an oxymoron is a combination of contradictory words.

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Paradox

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The definition of a paradox is something that seems contradictory or unbelievable, but may or may not be true.

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Personification

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Personification is giving human characteristics to non-living things or ideas.

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Similie

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the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid

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Symbol

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The definition of a symbol is something that stands for or represents something else.

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Synesthesia

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sensation felt in one part of the body when another part is stimulated

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Synechdoche

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a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “Cleveland's baseball team”).

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Sylepsis

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a figure of speech in which a word is applied to two others in different senses (e.g., caught the train and a bad cold ) or to two others of which it grammatically suits only one (e.g., neither they nor it is working ).

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Understatement

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An understatement is when something is said that is far less than what is true.