Literary Terms For English 4 December 07

Front 1

persona

Back 1

fictional character created to be the narrator of a text

Front 2

genre

Back 2

category or kind of literature--identifiable and distinguishing characteristics

Front 3

parody

Back 3

using a distinctive and recognizable literary form for a different purpose than the one for which it was intended

Front 4

archaism

Back 4

deliberately old-fashioned word or term

Front 5

hyperbole

Back 5

exaggeration

Front 6

persuasion

Back 6

text with purpose of getting reader to accept writer's point of view as valid

Front 7

appeal

Back 7

part of the reader/viewer writer attempts to engage--mind, heart, conscience

Front 8

reversal

Back 8

turning a situation upside down--outcdome is opposite of what is expected

Front 9

irony

Back 9

discrepance between perception and reality

Front 10

imagery

Back 10

use of words that appeal to the senses or that are taken from a specific area of life (battle, hunting, athletics, etc.)

Front 11

satire

Back 11

literature with purpose of social criticism--point out flaws, failures of society (not an individual)

Front 12

penance

Back 12

the penalty one completes to make up for a sin or wrong-doing

Front 13

epiphany

Back 13

moment of illumination or understanding

Front 14

allusion

Back 14

reference to a body of knowledge (mythology, Bible, literature)--not explained in the text

Front 15

epitaph

Back 15

inscription on a monument or grave marker