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135 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Alexandrine
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line of 12 syllables, usually in French poetry
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Allegory
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story with more than one meaning, usually moral or religious
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Alliteration
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two or more words beginning with the same sound
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Allusion
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indirect or passing reference
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Anapest
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two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one (by the light / of the moon)
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Antagonist
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primary character in a drama or novel with whom the hero is in conflict
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Anticlimax
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event following the climax, slightly less important than the climax
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Antihero
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protagonist who lacks heroic qualities such as strength, valor, spirit
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Archetype
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basic model; a prototype representing essential characteristics
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Assonance
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repetition of vowel sounds with different consonant sounds (same, main)
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Ballad
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story in verse form passed orally from one generation to the next, usually set to music
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Bathos
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a writer in attempting to describe the sublime, descends to the absurd
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Black Comedy
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shows cynicism and despair, uses sardonic humor
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Blank verse
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unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter
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Caesura
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a pause in a line indicated by a punctuation mark
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Climax
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highest point of the action
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Closed Couplet
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pair of rhyming lines that form a complete sentence
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Closet drama
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play in verse form, to be read but not staged
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Comedy
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light, amusing story with a happy ending
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Comedy of Manners
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comedy which ridicules the social customs of a period
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Comic Relief
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humorous interludes, usually found in tragedy, which relieve tension and heighten the tragic element
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Commedia dell'arte
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early Italian form od drama, featuring boisterous, improvised dialogue
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Consonance
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some consonant sound is repeated in a line (moon, made, said, seed)
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Couplet
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pair of rhyming lines
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Dactyl
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a meterical foot of three syllables in which the first syllable receives the strongest stress (hickory / dickory)
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Denouncement
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conclusion to a story
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Dime novel
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sheap form of melodramatic fiction popular in the late 19th century
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Dimeter
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metrical line of two feet
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Dissonance
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a pattern of disharmonious sounds in words or rhythms
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Double rhyme
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two rhyming syllables (very, bury)
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Drama
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dialogue between two or more persons presented by actors on a stage
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Dramatic monologue
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in which only one character speaks
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Elegy
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verse which expresses a lament for the dead
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Elision
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two syllalbes are combined into one (e'en for even)
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English or Shakespearean
sonnet |
contains arhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg in a 14-line form
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Epic
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in which the actions of a hero are described
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Epigram
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short poem or saying, dealing with a single thought or event
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Exposition
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formal speech or writing which answers a question; setting forth of the meaning or purpose of a work
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Fable
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story in which humans are represented by animal characters, and which teached a moral or lession
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Farce
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provokes amusement and uses exaggerated actions, characters, and situations
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Folktale
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story handed down by word of mouth from one generation to another
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Foot
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group of syllables serving as a unit or meter
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Foreshadowing
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Foreshadowing
arrangement of events in a narrative so that later events are prepared for; a suggestion at the beginning that indicates the outcome or end |
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Formal essay
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non-fiction article which presents information in an impersonal way
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Free verse
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without meter or rhyme
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Gothic novel
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novel of the late 18th and early 19th century featuring a tale of romance or horror, containing elements of the
supernatural |
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Haiku
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lyric consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 respectively
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Harlequin
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character in comedy or pantomime, derives from the young lover, Arlecchino, in the commedia dell'arte
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Heroic couplets
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rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter
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Hexameter
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metrical line of six feet
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High comedy
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comedy with clever, amusing dialogue
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Hyperbole
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figure of speech containing an exaggeration (as old as the hills)
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Iamb
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two-syllable foot, the second syllable received more stress than the first
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Iambic pentameter
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line made up of five iambs
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Idyll
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description of a simple and charming scene, usually referring to country life
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Imagery
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pictures or feelings that language evokes in the mind of the reader
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Informal essay
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non-fiction article which reflects the author's personality
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Italain sonnet
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form of verse containing an octave followed by a sestet, a 14-line form in which the rhyme scheme is
abbaabbacdecde or cdcdcd |
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Kabuki
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Japanese, featuring all-male cast, colorful costumes and make-up, and lively acting style
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Limerik
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five-line form, humorous, with a rhyme scheme of aabba
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Limited point of view
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events are described from the point of view of a single character
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Low comedy
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slapstick comedy containing loud, boisterous actions and absurd situations
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Lyric poetry
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short, song-like verse, which reveals the thoughts and feeling of the speaker
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Madrigal
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lyric form, usually deals with love, can be set to music
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Malapropism
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the incorrect use of polysyllabic words
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Melodrama
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portrays a moral conflict
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Metaophor
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comparison between 2 unlike things to suggest a likeness between he two (a heart of gold)
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Meter
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patterned arrangement of syllables in verse form according to stress and length
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Monometer
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metrical line of one foot
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Motivation
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reason for a character's actions
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Narration
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story or account of events
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Nemesis
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the goddess (G.) of retributive justice; a just punishment
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Octometer
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metrical line of 8 feet
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Octave
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8-line stanza
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Ode
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elaborate lyric of high praise and noble feeling
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Omniscent point of view
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events are described from the point of view of several characters
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Onomatopeia
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word whose sound suggests the sound it refers to (the swish of a broom
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Open couplet
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pair of rhyming lines that continues the sentence from one pair of lines to another
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Oxymoron
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figure of speech containing contradictory meanings and words (cruel kindness)
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Palindrome
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word or sentence which reads the same backwards and forwards
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Panegyric
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speech or poem in lavish praise of a person or group
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Parable
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religious story which contains a moral or lesson
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Paradox
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statement that says 2 opposite things
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Parody
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the ideas of a writer are imitated through word and style to make them ridiculous
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Passion play
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presents the death and resurrection of a god, usually of Jesus Christ
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Pastoral
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lyric form, portrays the shepherds and country life
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Pathos
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evoking of tenderness, pity, or sorrow in a work
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Personification
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representation of a thing as a person; implying human qualities
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Picaresque story
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Spanish literay form of the 1500s describing the events surrounding a picaro - a shrewd, dishonest hero
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Platitude
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dull, commonplace remark (you can't have your cake and eat it)
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Plot
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series of events occurring within a perios of time, consisting of the exposition, rising action, climax, and
denouement |
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Poetic justice
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good is properly rewarded, evil punished
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Point of view
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story can be presented in the first person in which the narrator is part of the story; or in the third person, in which
the narrator is distant from the action |
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Portmanteau w
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ord formed by combining two or more words (Jabberwocky
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Protagonist
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main character in a drama or novel around whom the action centers
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Quatrain
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4-line stanza
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Realism
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litery movement during the 1800s which stressed truth and accuracy
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Rhyme
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sounds are repeated within or at the ends of lines
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Rhyme scheme
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if the words at the ends of two or more lines rhyme, the letter represents the first rhyme sound, b the second, c the
third, and so on |
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Rising action
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builds on the given information to create suspense
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Romance
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long, narrative describing an adventure story about chivalric heroes
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Romantic comedy
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story about love which leads to a happy ending
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Romanticism
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literary movement during 1700 - mid-1800s, which praised human emotions, the beauty and goodness of the
universe |
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Rondel
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13 or 14-line verse in which the first and second lines are repeated at the middle and end (ABba abAB abbaAB
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Satire
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use of irony, ridicule, or sarcasm to expose and attack human vices
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Scanning
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marking poetry to find its metrical pattern
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Sctology
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an interest in the treatment of obscene matter, espacially in literature
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Sestet
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final six lines of a sonnet; stanza of six lines
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Setting
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time and place in which a story occurs
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Simile
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comparison between 2 unlike things usually introduced by like or as
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Sonnet
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verse of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter and containing a certain arrangement of rhymes
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Spondee
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metrical foot composed of two heavily accented syllables (death's door)
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Stress meters
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number of stressed syllables in a line
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Style
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manner in which a writer uses words to create literature
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Surrealism
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movement originating in France during the 1920s; the expression of the unconscious mind in art and literature
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Syllabic meter
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number of syllables in a line
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Syncdoche
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figure of speech in which the part stands for the whole (Vancouver won the match; Vancouver stands for the team)
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Tanka
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Japanese lyric form of 31 syllables in lines of 5,7,5,7, and 7 syllables respectively
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Tautology
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repetition of words or ideas (you, yourself, personally…)
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Theater of the Absurd
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depicts the confusing and illogical elements of life
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Theme
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main idea of a literary work, develops from the interaction of plot and character
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Tradegy
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story of a person or persons who face misfortune and which ends in disaster (Hamlet)
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Tragi-comedy
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serious situation that ends happily
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Trochee
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metrical foot of two syllables: the first accented, the second unaccented
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Yellow journalism
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sensational journalism during the 1880s in America
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3000 BC - Literature types
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Early literature (fables, epics, histories, hymns, myths)
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800-475 BC - Literature types
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Lyric age (epic poetry, lyric poetry)
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475 to 300 BC - Literature types
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Attic age (tragedy, comedy stories)
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300 to 146 BC - Literature types
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Alexandrian age (pastorla poetry)
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146 BC to 529 AD - Literature types
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Greco-Roman age (drama, myths, anthologies)
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400-1400 AD - Literature type
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Middle ages (legends, epic and lyric poetry, romances)
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1300 - 1600 - Literature type
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Renaissance (sonnets, blank verse, plays, novels, essays)
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1600 - 1700 Literature type
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Age of Reason
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1750-1850 - Literature type
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Romanticism
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1850-1900 - Literature type
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Realism
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