Second Quarter Lit Terms

Front 1

ballad

Back 1

supernatural events, sensational/sordid/tragic subject matter, refrain, omission of details 1) incremental repitition 2) question-and-answer format 3) conventional phrases 4) a strong, simple beat

Front 2

aside

Back 2

a brief speech in which a character turns from the person being addressed to speak directly to the audience; a dramatic device for letting the audience know what a character pretends to think or feel

Front 3

catharsis

Back 3

a term used by Aristotle to describe some sort of emotional relesae experienced by the audience at the end of a successful tragedy

Front 4

foil character

Back 4

a minor character whose situation or actions parallel those of a major character and thus by contrast sets off or illuminates the major character; most often the contrast is complimentary to the major character

Front 5

flat character

Back 5

a character whose distinguishing moral qualities or personal traits are summed up in one or two traits

Front 6

stock character

Back 6

a stereotyped character: one whose nature is familiar to us from prototypes in previous lit.

Front 7

folk ballad

Back 7

a narrative poem designed to be sung, composed by an anonymous author, and transmitted orally for years or generations before being written down. it has usually undergone modification through the process of oral transmission

Front 8

couplet

Back 8

two successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme

Front 9

synthesthesia

Back 9

presentation of one sense experience in terms usually associated with another sensation

Front 10

round character

Back 10

a character whose distinguishing moral qualities or personal traits are complex and many-sided

Front 11

dynamic character

Back 11

a character who during the course of a work undergoes a permanent change in some distinguishing moral qualities or personal traits or outlook

Front 12

antithesis

Back 12

a contrast of ideas expressed in a grammatically balanced statement

Front 13

static character

Back 13

same sort of person at the end as in beginning

Front 14

comic relief

Back 14

a comic scene that follows a scene of seriosness and by contrast intensifies the emotions aroused by the serious scene

Front 15

summary

Back 15

sites the main points of main events in a text

Front 16

exemplum

Back 16

an anecdote that teaches a moral lesson

Front 17

kenning

Back 17

a metaphorical phrase or compound word used to name a person, place, thing, or event indirectly

Front 18

iambic pentameter

Back 18

a line of poetry made up of five iambs (metrical foot or unit of measure consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable)

Front 19

synesthesia

Back 19

a form used for descriptions of one kind of sensation in forms of another

Front 20

paraphrase

Back 20

a restatement of the content of a poem designed to make its prose meaning as clear as possible

Front 21

frame story

Back 21

an introductory narrative within one or more of the characters proceed to tell individual stories

Front 22

blank verse poetry

Back 22

written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Front 23

motivation

Back 23

the reasons for or forces behind the action of a character, revealed through characters' desires and moral nature and circumstances

Front 24

soliloquoy

Back 24

a long speech in which a character who is usually alone onstage expresses his or her private thoughts or feelings

Front 25

tragedy

Back 25

a play, novel, or other narrative depicting serious and important events, in which the main character comes to an unhappy end