Pre-AP Language Arts Final Literary Terms
About this set
Created by:
magicboy118 on December 14, 2009
Subjects:
Pre-AP English 10, language arts, english, literary terms
Description:
All of the literary terms and definitions for Ms. Neely's class. I know her list has 47 words and mine has 45, but she duplicated 2 words so it has all of them.
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45 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Vernacular | the everyday or common language of a geographic area or the native language of commoners in a country as opposed to a prestigious dead language maintained artificially in schools or in literary texts. |
| Colloquial | a word or phrase used everyday in plain and relaxed speech, but rarely found in formal writing |
| Assonance | repetition of vowel sounds in a series of words |
| Consonance | repetition of consonant sound within a series of words to produce a harmonious effect |
| Alliteration | practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound |
| Iambic pentameter | a lightly stressed syllable followed by a heavily stressed syllable |
| Irony | the result of a statement saying one thing while meaning the opposite. Its purpose is usually to criticize. |
| Byronic Hero (Tragic Hero) | an idealized but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of Lord Byron, characterized by his ex-lover Lady Caroline lamb as being "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". |
| Polysyndeton | the use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted |
| Paradox | a statement which contradicts itself. It may seem almost absurd. Although it may seem to be at odds with ordinary experience, it usually turns out to have a coherent meaning, and reveals truth which is normally hidden |
| Climax | the moment in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the crisis reaches its point of greatest intensity and is thereafter resolved. It is also the peak of emotional response from a reader or spectator and usually the turning point in the action |
| Verisimilitude | the sense that what one reads is "real," or at least realistic and believable. For instance, the reader possesses a sense of this when reading a story in which a character cuts his finger, and the finger bleeds. If the character's cut finger had produced sparks of fire rather than blood, the story would not possess this |
| Dynamic character | also called a round character; this is one whose personality changes or evolves over the course of a narrative or appears to have the capacity for such change |
| Zeitgeist | the preferences, fashions, and trends that characterize the intangible essence of a specific historical period. |
| Foreshadowing | Suggesting, hinting, indicating, or showing what will occur later in a narrative. It often provides hints about what will happen next. |
| Connotation | The extra tinge or taint of meaning each word carries beyond the minimal, strict definition found in a dictionary (Opposite of denotation) |
| Denotation | The minimal, strict definition of a word as found in a dictionary, disregarding any historical or emotional connotation. (Opposite of connotation) |
| Static character | A simplified character who does not change or alter his or her personality over the course of a narrative. Also called flat characters if they have little visible personality or if the author provides little characterization for them. (Opposite of dynamic character) |
| Exposition | The use of authorial discussion to explain or summarize background material rather than revealing this information through gradual narrative detail. |
| Point of view | The way a story gets told and who tells it. It is the method of narration that determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story unfolds. It governs the reader's access to the story. |
| Diction | The choice of a particular word as opposed to others. |
| Foil | A character that serves by contrast to highlight or emphasize opposing traits in another character. |
| Flashback | A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events--usually in the form of a character's memories, dreams, narration |
| Symbol | A word, place, character, or object that means something beyond what it is on a literal level. |
| Rhythm | The varying speed, loudness, pitch, elevation, intensity, and expressiveness of speech, especially poetry. In verse it is normally regular; in prose it may or may not be regular |
| Tragedy | A serious play in which the chief character, by some peculiarity of psychology, passes through a series of misfortunes leading to a final, devastating catastrophe |
| Figurative language | A deviation from what speakers of a language understand as the ordinary or standard use of words in order to achieve some special meaning or effect |
| Tone | the reflection in a work of the author's attitude toward his or her subject. Comparable to voice in speech, and may be described as brusque, friendly, imperious, insinuating, teasing, etc. |
| Oxymoron | a form of paradox which combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression. This combination usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader into awareness. |
| Catastrophe | The "turning downward" of the plot in a classical tragedy. By tradition, this occurs in the fourth act of the play after the climax. |
| Syntax | the orderly arrangement of words into sentences to express ideas, i.e., the standard word order and sentence structure of a language, as opposed to diction (the actual choice of words) or content (the meaning of individual words) |
| Roman a clef | A narrative that represents actual historical characters and events in the form of fiction. Usually in this fictional setting, the author presents descriptions of real contemporary figures but uses fictitious names for them. However, the character's common traits and mannerisms would be so well-known that readers "in the know" would recognize them. |
| Stream of consciousness | a technique that allows the reader to see the continuous, chaotic flow of half formed and discontinuous thoughts, memories, sense impressions, random associations, images, feelings, and reflections that constitute a character's consciousness |
| Motif | A conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature. |
| Freytag's pyramid | A diagram of dramatic structure, one which shows complication and emotional tension rising like one side of a pyramid toward its apex, which represents the climax of action. Once the climax is over, the descending side of the pyramid depicts the decrease in tension and complication as the drama reaches its conclusion and denouement. |
| Anaphora | The intentional repetition of beginning clauses in order to create an artistic effect. For instance, Churchill declared, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on the end. We shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost shall be." The repetition of "We shall..." creates a rhetorical effect of solidarity and determination. |
| Asyndeton | The artistic elimination of conjunctions in a sentence to create a particular effect |
| Personification | A trope in which abstractions, animals, ideas, and inanimate objects are given human character, traits, abilities, or reactions. It is particularly common in poetry, but it appears in nearly all types of artful writing |
| Metaphor | A comparison or analogy stated in such a way as to imply that one object is another one, figuratively speaking without using like or as |
| Pathos | This is a writer or speaker's attempt to inspire an emotional reaction in an audience--usually a deep feeling of suffering, but sometimes joy, pride, anger, humor, patriotism, or any of a dozen other emotions |
| Grotesque | general adjective for the strange, fantastic, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or bizarre, and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks. |
| Hyperbole | a deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration. It may be used either for serious or comic effect |
| Satire | any form of literature that blends ironic humor and with with criticism directed at a particular folly, vice, or stupidity. It seeks to correct, improve, or reform through ridicule. |
| Analogy | a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification |
| Metonymy | Using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea. IE "The pen is mightier than the sword" to suggest that the power of education and writing is more potent for changing the world than military force |
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