|
Act |
A major unit of action in a play |
|
Allegory |
Story in which characters stand for qualities/multiple levels
of meaning |
|
Alliteration |
Initial consonant repeats |
|
Allusion |
Indirect reference to a well known person, place, thing, or character |
|
Ambiguity |
More than one meaning |
|
Analogy |
Relationship comparison |
|
Anecdote |
Brief story based on single incident, usually humorous |
|
Animation |
Giving animal characteristics to non-living things |
|
Antagonist |
Person or force that opposes the main character |
|
Antihero |
Protagonist with negative qualities |
|
Aphorism |
A brief statement of truth about life |
|
Arabesque |
Psychology horror created by situation |
|
Aside |
In a play, a statement other characters do not hear/directed
at audience |
|
Assonance |
Repetition of vowel sounds |
|
Audience |
Those for whom a work is intended: different audiences =
different approaches |
|
Author’s Purpose |
Inform, entertain, persuade, express—may not be same
as reader’s understanding |
|
Autobiography |
Person’s own account of their life |
|
Ballad |
Narrative poem meant to be sung or recited in cadence |
|
Biography |
Account of someone else’s life |
|
Blank Verse |
Unrhymed iambic pentameter (5 feet/ di-dah) |
|
Cast of Characters |
List of characters in a play |
|
Character |
Physical, emotional, intellectual elements-dynamic characters
grow, static don’t |
|
Characterization |
Description or demonstration to develop character |
|
Cliché |
An overused saying |
|
Climax |
Point where forces in conflict meet; turning point |
|
Comedy |
A literary work that is intended to amuse; happy ending.
Opposite of tragedy |
|
Comic Relief |
Humor juxtaposed within a serious work |
|
Conceit |
The author’s idea behind a metaphor, especially if
highly individual |
|
Conflict |
Struggle between two or more forces |
|
Connotation |
Meaning of a word beyond exact definition—shades of
meaning or idiom |
|
Consonance |
Repetition of consonant sound not first letter of word |
|
Contrast |
Difference between items |
|
Creation Myth |
A story of how the world was formed |
|
Demonstration |
To show |
|
Denotation |
Exact meaning of a word |
|
Denouement |
Unwinding/falling action |
|
Description |
To tell/explain |
|
Dialect |
Dialogue or monologue with an accent |
|
Dialogue |
Conversation |
|
Diary |
Day to day account of personal feelings, actions |
|
Diction |
Choice of words |
|
Drama |
Dialogue and action are staged/presented |
|
Echoing |
Repetition of words or phrases |
|
Elegy |
Poem of tribute usually after a recent death |
|
Epic |
Long, narrative poem on serious subject or legend |
|
Epitaph |
Written tribute upon a death |
|
Essay |
Short non-fiction on a single subject |
|
Eulogy |
Tribute at death |
|
Exposition |
Background of a story usually presented at the beginning |
|
Extended metaphor |
A metaphor that continues through/overall a work with numerous
references to it |
|
External conflict |
Individual against outside force |
|
Fable |
Brief imaginary tale that ends with lesson or moral |
|
Falling action |
Unwinding; that which tumbles down from climax / Denouement |
|
Farce |
Exaggerated comedy with absurd elements |
|
Fiction |
Hasn’t happened in real life but could |
|
Figurative language |
Meaning beyond the literal-appeals to senses-figures of speech-metaphor,
etc. |
|
First person |
Where story is told by one character form their Point of
View |
|
Flashback |
Describes an earlier event within current ones |
|
Foil |
A character that contrasts with another, major one |
|
Folk Tale |
Short, simple story transmitted orally at first |
|
Foreshadowing |
Hints or clues of future |
|
Freitag’s Pyramid |
Classical story structure where Rising Action and falling
action are equal |
|
Free verse |
No set rhyme or structure |
|
Genre |
Sub-type of literature-science-fiction-horror-mystery etc. |
|
Gothic literature |
Grotesque and arabesque elements |
|
Grotesque |
Physical grossness/horror |
|
Haiku |
Japanese poetry, aims at response, 5,7,5 |
|
Humor |
Literature with main purpose of creating laughter |
|
Hyperbole |
Exaggeration |
|
Idiom |
Word or word group with a meaning different than simple definition
|
|
Imagery |
Appeals to the senses |
|
Impressionism |
To captures sense impressions in writing or art |
|
Internal Conflict |
Opposing forces within character |
|
Irony |
Unexpected idea |
|
Irony, dramatic |
Readers know more about character or situation than the characters |
|
Irony, situational |
Contrast between appearance/actuality regarding events |
|
Irony, verbal |
States one thing, means another |
|
Legend |
Mythic story with historical bias |
|
Light verse |
Humorous, or simple idea expressed in poetry |
|
Literary letter |
Correspondence regarded as being important for it’s
art, language, or device |
|
Local color |
Regional details that come alive |
|
Magical Realism |
Combines fantasy with reality and matter of fact tone |
|
Memoir |
A personal reminiscence/autobiographical |
|
Metaphor |
Milk-white snow- a direct comparison |
|
Microcosm |
A small world that is like a bigger one |
|
Monologue |
One person speaking |
|
Mood |
Emotional atmosphere |
|
Moral |
A stated lesson |
|
Motivation |
Stated or implied reason behind a behavior |
|
Myth |
A traditional story that is not real but is true |
|
Narrative |
Relates an event- to tell- has plot, character; usually conflict
& climax |
|
Narrator |
Voice that relates the events, sometimes removed form action |
|
Naturalism |
Accurate picture of life’s details with attention to
environment, instinct |
|
Nature writing |
Person experience nature written down-relates humanity to
nature |
|
Non-fiction |
Has happened |
|
Novel |
Fiction; a series of small climaxes (usually chapters) leading
to one major climax |
|
Onomatopoeia |
Woof, woof, attempt to duplicate a sound with a word or expression |
|
Oxymoron |
Two related, seemingly opposite words |
|
Parable |
A simple lesson story where every aspect corresponds to part
of a bigger issue |
|
Paradox |
A “true” statement that seems to contradict itself |
|
Parallelism |
Repeated grammatical form for related ideas |
|
Parody |
Imitation as criticism or humor |
|
Personification |
Human traits to non-human objects/animals |
|
Persuasive Writing |
Arguments to convince, educate, or inform |
|
Plot |
Sequence of events |
|
Poetry |
1+1>2 |
|
Point of View |
Narrative perspective-who tells 1st ="I"; 2nd
= "you", 3rd =he, she, they |
|
Primary sources |
Direct, firsthand accounts |
|
Prose |
Writing without regular rhythmic pattern |
|
Protagonist |
Usually the hero, but always main character of story, doer
of action |
|
Protest writing |
Aimed at expressing discontent with events, organizations,
etc. |
|
Realism |
Accurate account, unsentimental |
|
Refrain |
A repeated portion of a poem, usually at the end of a stanza |
|
Repetition |
Repeating sounds or words |
|
Resolution |
Falling action unwinds to conclusion—all ends are tied |
|
Rhetorical Question |
Has an expected answer |
|
Rhyme |
Similarity or match of sound |
|
Rhyme scheme |
Analysis of end rhyme using ABCD, etc. |
|
Rhyme, end |
Rhyme at the end of a line |
|
Rhyme feminine |
Multiple matching syllables |
|
Rhyme, internal |
Rhyme within a line |
|
Rhyme, masculine |
Last syllable rhyme |
|
Rhyme, slant |
Inexact or off-rhymes; half rhyme |
|
Rhythm |
The metric structure of a line of poetry-beats and feet |
|
Rising action |
Events in conflict that lead to a climax |
|
Romanticism |
Emotional. Larger than life, heroic characters mixed in great
events |
|
Sarcasm |
Verbal irony-mocks with the opposite of literal meaning |
|
Satire |
Ridicule to bring about improvement-can be witty to abrasive |
|
Science fiction |
Scientific basis of fictional story |
|
Setting |
Time, place, mood |
|
Short Story |
One major conflict, limited characters, limited setting |
|
Soliloquy |
One person speaking only for audience |
|
Simile |
Comparison using like/as |
|
Sonnet |
14 line poem/ 8 and 6 with specific rhyme scheme |
|
Sound devices |
Assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, etc. –can be heard |
|
Speaker |
Voice that talks to the reader |
|
Stanza |
Group of lines in a poem |
|
Stereotype |
Untrue generalization of a group or person |
|
Stream of consciousness |
Written as a series of thoughts tumbled together |
|
Structure |
Arrangement of parts-verses, stanzas, paragraphs, chapters,
order of thoughts, etc. |
|
Style |
How words, sentences are organized, how plain or rich with
devices |
|
Suspense |
Nervous uncertainty; tension |
|
Surprise ending |
Unexpected twist at the end |
|
Surrealism |
The imagination described as in dreams |
|
Symbol |
It represents something else |
|
Syntax |
Word order |
|
Syntax, inverted |
Reversal of expected word order |
|
Theme |
Meaning behind story |
|
Tone |
Attitude of the writer conveyed through writing |
|
Tragedy |
Downfall of a character in a significant situation |
|
Tragic Flaw |
A fault that brings down a character |
|
Tragic Character/Hero |
One flaw that causes a reversal of fortune/downfall |
|
Transcendentalism |
Greater truths exist |
|
Understatement |
Play down for emphasis-opposite of hyperbole-- |
|
Voice |
Unique human personality conveyed by writing-comes from diction,
syntax, fig. lang. |
