english quiz
The Absurd
Term to describe the human condition and represent literature as absurd
Achetype
recurrent narrative designs, patterns of action, character-types, themes, and imagines that are indentifiable. For example, femme fatale, hero, lover.
Allegory
a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning. Can be poltical/historial allergory or an allegory of ideas.
alliteration
repitition of a speech sound in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of words.
Allusion
referience to a literary or historical person, place, event, or literary work. Not explicity named.
Anaphora
repeition of words/phrase usually at beginning of sentence.
Antihero
protagonist who lacks or is the opposite conventional heroic qualities
aside
expresses innermost thoughts about someone/somone, audience hear not ppl on stage
Assonance
repeition of same or similar vowel sounds in sequence of nearby words
Atmosphere
the pervading tone or mood of piece of literary work
Blank verse
verse without rhyme, especially those using iambic pentameter.
cadence
the rhythmic sequence in natural speech or poetry.
caesura
strong pause occurs in the middle of line
Canon
non-religious texts that are deemed "major" or "classic." They're taught more frequently and printed more. Others are marginalized: apocryhpa
catharsis
Aristotle argued that tragedies leave audiences feeling relieved and even exalted instead of depressed. Tragedies induce catharsis, meaning to be purged of negative emotions pity and fear.
Cophony
purposefully jarring efffect of a sequence of words
Cliche
saying/phrase that is overused, has become common or unorginial
conflict
tension in a narravtive, may be internal, external.
Connotation
range of secondary/associated meanings/feelings
Consonance
repetition of consonant sounds throughout words seperated by different vowel sounds
Cosmic irony
when the cosmos/fates/gods intervene to give hope to a character then crush or
mock them.
Couplet
2 verse lines ending in rhyme
Denotation
specific meaning/refernce of a word
diction
word choice, good indiciator of tone, character, etc.
Dramatic irony
the audience has knowledge which the character does not
Elegy
poem with subject matter of change and loss but ends with consolation. Written in ABAB rhyme
End-stop
punctuation occurs end of the line.
Enjambment
occurs when a sentence overflows past the end of the line into the next – the syntax purposefully pushes past the flow of the line for effect.
Epic
hero poem, long verse narrative on a serious subject on a heroic figure on who the nation depends on
Epiphany
sudden flare of understanding
Epistolary
narrative told in the form of letters
Epithet
adjective defining a distinct quality
Ethos
persons/passage's overall character
Euphony
smooth, pleasant language
First person
limited to what the narrator knows, experiences, learns.
Flat
characters without individual details, no depth
Foil
character whose similarties to and contrast with the protagonist stress and higlight their personality.
Foreshadow
subtle hints about future events
Free verse
irregular line lengths, no rhume, natural speech
Genre
catergorization of literary works
Hyperbole
exxaggeration
Imagery
descriptions that appeal to sense perception
Internal rhymes
occur at the end of verse lines
Irony
meaning is implied through what is said rather than what it appears to mean
Juxtaposition
when two or more elements are deliberately placed together in order to emphasize their differences, reveal unexpected similarities, or to explore the relationship between the two.
Logos
logical thinking
Metaphor
two different things are equated to one another
Metonymy
word closely associated with something is used to refer to that thing
metre
rhythmical pattern of syllable in a verse
Motif
recurring concept, object, action, idea within a work. several motifs in one work
Ode
formal verse celebrates and directly address a noun
Onomatopoeia
words that resemble its sound
oxymoron
two seemingly contradictory terms
Paradox
statement that seems to be logically contradictory, yet turns out to be in some way true, or makes sense
Partial rhyme
sounds are close but not perfect
Pathetic fallacy
Weather to relfect mood/character
Pathos
quality evoking feeling
Personification
inamimate object endowed with human attributes/feelings
Physical setting
where/place
Prose
inclusive term for all spoken/written discourses that is not in metric lines/free verse
Pun
a play on words that are identical in sound or similar
Rhetoric
persuading language using rhetorical strategies
Rhyme
repeition of last stressed vowel and speech sounds
round
fully realized individuals, have conflicts/monolouges.
satire
act of diminishing subject by making it ridicolous, laughter used as weapon to shame subject
Second Person
address a person, typically the reader
setting
mirrors, mould, or challenges a characters and establishes mood, tone, and theme
Simile
comparision of two different things using like or as
Social setting
society/what
soliloquy
in drama, a character alone on stage speakers their innermost thoughts aloud
Sound devices
literary techniques used to stress certain sounds, creating a desired effect
Style
how speakers/writers say what they say
symbol
When a concrete person, object, or event reperesents an abstract idea. either built upon existing ones or made by author
Synecdoche
component part of something used to signify the whole or the whole is used to signify a part
Temporal setting
time/when
thematic idea/topic
One word or phrase to describe universal and/or minor concepts that occur across storytelling genres and traditions
theme
A statement about what one literary text is conveying about one thematic idea/topic. A complete sentence that elucidates your insights into the text’s message that you could apply to your own life philosophy.
Third person limited
limited to internal world of only one charcter
Third person omniscient
uses she, he, they, etc. knows everything about every characters thoughts, etc. can conceal or reveal any characters thoughts
tone
what we can discern about the author’s attitude towards the subject matter of the text that they are conveying to the reader at a given point. reveals attitude and assumptions
Tragedy
dramatic serious sequence of events resulting in a disastrous conclusion for the protagonist
tragic flaw/harmartia
flaw that ultimately leads to the hero’s downfall.
Tragic hero
Neither fully good nor bad but a mixture of both, and still higher than ordinary moral worth. The hero suffers a change in fortunes from happiness to misery due to his own mistakes.
True rhyme
sounds correspond exactly
Understatement
underrepresenting something as less that it is understood to be
Unreliable narrator
characters or actions do not seem to align with the reader or other characters
Verbal irony
what the speaker says is usually the opposite of what the speaker actually
values, intends to do, or believes