Section 1
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Last updated
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Date created
Mar 1, 2020
Cards (124)
Section 1
(50 cards)
aside
a brief speech or comment that an actor makes to the audience, supposedly without being heard by the other actors on stage; often used for melodramatic or comedic effect
interior monologue
writing that records the conversation that occurs inside a character's head
ode
a long lyric poem, usually serious and elevated in tone; often written to praise someone or something
allusion
a reference to another work or famous figure assumed to be well known enough to be recognized by the reader
foreshadowing
the use of a hint or clue to suggest a larger event that occurs later in the work
aphorism
a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life
internal rhyme
a rhyme occurring within a line of poetry, as in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven": Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
onomatopoeia
the use of words that sound like what they mean, such as hiss and boom
meter
the repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry
lyric
a type of brief poem that expresses the personal emotions and thoughts of a single speaker (most common type of poetry)
naturalism
a literary movement that grew out of realism in France, the United States, and England in the nineteenth centuries; it portrays humans as having no free will, being driven by the natural forces of heredity, environment, and animalistic urges over which they have no control (Stephen Crane and Jack London)
hubris
the excessive pride or ambition that leads a tragic hero to disregard warnings of impending doom, eventually causing his or her downfall
end rhyme
a rhyme that comes at the end of lines of poetry; for example: Her voice, soft and lovely when she sings, Came to me last night in a dream. In my head her voice still rings, How pleasant last night must seem.
dissonance
the grating of sounds that are harsh or do not go together
free verse
poetry that is written without a regular meter, usually without rhyme
ballad
a long narrative poem that presents a single dramatic episode, which is often tragic or violent
exposition
the immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse
anecdote
a short, simple narrative of an incident
epic
a long narrative poem about a serious or profound subject in a dignified style; usually featuring heroic characters and deeds important in legends; two famous examples include the Iliad and the Odyssey, both written by the Greek poet Homer
diction
the author's choice of words that creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning
imagery
words or phrases that use a collection of images to appeal to one or more of the five senses in order to create a mental picture
colloquialism
a word used in everyday conversation and informal writing that is sometimes inappropriate in formal writing
consonance
the repetition of identical consonant sounds before and after different vowel sounds, as in boost/best; can also be seen within several compound words, such as fulfill and ping-pong
inversion
reversing the customary order of elements in a sentence or phrase; used effectively in many cases such as posing a question: "Are you going to the store?" Often used ineffectively in poetry, making it seem artificial and stilted, "to the hounds she rode, with her flags behind her streaming"
figurative language
language that contains figures of speech such as similes and metaphors in order to create associations that are imaginative rather than literal
assonance
the repetition of vowel sounds between different consonants, such as in neigh and fade
foil
a character who, by contrast, highlights the characteristics of another character
anachronism
an event, object, person, or thing that is out of order in time; some of these are unintentional, such as when an actor performing Shakespeare forgets to take off his watch; others are deliberately used to achieve a humorous or satiric effect, such as the sustained anachronism of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
description
the picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch; one of the four modes of discourse
metonymy
a figure of speech that uses the name of an object, person, or idea to represent something with which it is associated, such as using "the crown" to refer to a monarch
foot
the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables that makes up the basic rhythmic unit of a line of poetry
irony
a situation or statement in which the actual outcome or meaning is opposite to what was expected
epigram
a concise, witty saying in poetry or prose that either stands alone or is part of a larger work; may also refer to a short poem of this type
narration
the telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama; one of the four modes of discourse
discourse
spoken or written language, including literary works; the four traditionally classified modes of this are description, exposition, narration, and persuasion
euphony
a succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose; the opposite of cacophony
mood
the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage (not to be confused with tone)
iamb
one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable, as in dis-turb
analogy
a comparison of two similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship, such as comparing the work of a heart to that of a pump
metaphor
a figure of speech which one thing is referred to as another; for example, "my love is a fragile flower"
accent
the stress given a syllable in pronunciation
gothic
referring to a type of novel that emerged in the eighteenth century that uses mystery, suspense, and sensational and supernatural occurrences to evoke terror
alliteration
the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another; for example, "beautiful blossoms blooming between the bushes"
objectivity
an impersonal presentation of events and characters
allegory
an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to read beneath the surface story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric
blank verse
poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter; a favorite form used by Shakespeare
genre
a type of literary work, such as a novel or poem; there are also subs such as science fiction novel and sonnet, without the larger ones
cacophony
harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony
apostrophe
the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction either to begin a poem or to make a dramatic break in thought somewhere within the poem (usually in poetry but sometimes in prose) Ex. "Oh, mountain!"
hyperbole
a deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis
Section 2
(50 cards)
romanticism
a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement that began in the eighteenth century as a reaction against neoclassicism; the focal points of the movement are imagination, emotion, and freedom, stressing subjectivity, individuality, the love and worship of nature, and a fascination with the past
couplet
the simplest stanza, consisting of two rhymed lines
cinquain
five line stanza
caesura
a pause or break in a line of verse. Originally, in classical literature, this characteristically divided a foot between two works, usually near the middle of a line.
synechdoche
a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole, such as using "boards" to mean "a stage" or "wheels" to mean "a car"
villanelle
a lyric poem consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain
simile
a figure of speech that uses like, as, or as if to make a direct comparison between two essentially different objects, actions, or qualities; for example, "the sky looked like an artist's canvas"
tone
the characteristic emotion or attitude of an author toward the characters, subject, and audience
tercet
three lines, usually having the same rhyme
first person narrator
a narrator, referred to as "I," who is a character in the story and relates the actions through his or her own perspective, also revealing his or her own thoughts
stock character
a standard character who may be stereotypes, such as the miser or the fool, or universally recognized, like the hard-boiled private eye in detective stories
personification
the attribution of human qualities to a nonhuman or inanimate object
elision
the omission of a letter or syllable as a means of contraction, generally to achieve a uniform metrical pattern, but sometimes to smooth the pronunciation; most such omissions are marked with an apostrophe. Alexander uses elision in "Sound and Sense": "Flies o'er th' unbending corn...."
pastoral
a poem about idealized rural life, or shepherds, or both; also called an idyll
protagonist
the main character of a literary work
Petrarchan sonnet
one of the most important types of sonnets, composed of an octave with an abba abba rhyme scheme, and ending in a sestet with a cde cde rhyme scheme; also called an Italian sonnet
sestet
six line stanza
rhyme
a similarity of accented sounds between two words, such as sad/mad
persuasion
one of the four modes of discourse; language intended to convince through appeals ot reason or emotion; also called argument
parallelism
the technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side to side and making them similar in form
realism
a nineteenth-century literary movement in Europe and the United States that stressed accuracy in the portrayal of life, focusing on characters with whom middle-class readers could easily identify
tragic flaw
the one weakness that causes the downfall of the hero in a tragedy
litotes
a figure of speech in which a positive is stated by negating its opposite. Some examples of these: no small victory, not a bad idea, not unhappy. ________, which is a form of understatement, is the opposite of hyperbole
stanza
a group of lines in the formal pattern of a poem
subjectivity
a personal presentation of events and characters, influenced by the author's feelings and opinions
oxymoron
a figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases, such as "wise fool"
theme
the central idea or "message" of a literary work
sarcasm
harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone; less subtle than irony
speaker
the voice of a poem; an author may speak as himself or herself or as a fictitious character
refrain
a line or group of lines that is periodically repeated throughout a poem
stereotype
a character who represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group and lacks individuality
existentialism
a group of attitudes (current in philosophical, religious, and artistic thought during and after the Second World War) that emphasizes existence rather than essence and sees the inadequacy of human reason to explain the enigma of the universe as the basic philosophical question.
attitude
an author's, speaker's, character's opinion of or feelings toward a subject. Attitudes may shift either slightly or from on extreme to the other. Authors often create readers' attitudes by manipulating characters' attitudes.
objective narrator
a third person narrator who only reports what would be visible to a camera; thoughts and feelings are only revealed if a character speaks of them
sonnet
a fourteen-line lyric poem in iambic pentameter
detail
items or parts that form a larger picture or story. Authors choose or select details to create effects in their works or evoke responses from the reader.
octave
eight line stanza
omniscient narrator
a third person narrator, referred to as "he," "she," or "they," who is able to see into each character's mind and understands all the action
terza rima
a three-line stanza, supposedly devised by Dante with rhyme scheme aba bcb cdc ded and so forth. In other words one rhyme sound is used for the first and third lines of each stanza, and a new rhyme introduced for the second line, this new rhyme, in turn, being used for the first and third lines of the next stanza. The opening of Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" is written in this.
symbolism
the use of symbols, or anything that is meant to be taken both literally and as representative of a higher and more complex significance
point of view
the perspective from which a story is presented
limited omniscient narrator
a third person narrator who only reports the thoughts of one character, and generally only what that one character sees
regionalism
an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographic locale, using the locale and its influences as a major part of the plot
syntax
the structure of a sentence; the juxtaposition of words in a sentence. Discussion of syntax in a work could include discussion of the length or brevity of sentences, the kinds of sentences (declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, imperative sentences, rhetorical questions; simple, complex, or compound sentences) and the impact on the reader of the author's choice of sentence structure.
aubade
a lyric about a dawn or a morning serenade, a song of lovers parting at dawn.
quatrain
four line stanza
style
an author's characteristic manner of expression
stream of consciousness narrator
like a first person narrator, but instead placing the reader inside the character's head, making the reader privy to the continuous, chaotic flow of disconnected, half-formed thoughts and impressions as they flow through the character's consciousness
enjambment
the continuation of a complete idea (a sentence or clause) from one line or couplet of a poem to the next line or couplet without a pause. This occurs in run-on lines and offers contrast to end-stopped lines.
elegy
a poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful.
Section 3
(24 cards)