Leamy- English 12 Exam Terms P-W
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63 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 paradox | a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. |
| parallelism | phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other |
| parody | an artistic work that imitates the style of another work for comic effect |
| passive voice | the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb |
| pastoral | a literary work idealizing the rural life (especially the life of shepherds) |
| pathos | a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others |
| personal essay | The author assumes a tone of intimacy with his audience, tends to deal with everyday things rather than with public affairs or specialized topics, and writes in a relaxed, self-revelatory, and often whimsical fashion |
| personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |
| persuasive essay | contains a thesis and a series of arguments presented to convince readers to believe or act in a certain way |
| persuasive technique | a method used in a speaking or writing to get an audience to agree with the speaker or writer's point of view. eg. loaded language, facts, case studies, etc. |
| plot | the sequence of events in a literary work, usually connected through a cause and effect relationship |
| point of view | In literature, the perspective from which a story is told. |
| pro and con argument | an argument that features positive and negative points on a certain topic |
| prologue | The opening speech or dialogue of a play, especially a classic Greek play, that usually gives the exposition necessary to follow the subsequent action. Today the term also refers to the introduction to any literary work. |
| propaganda | a negative term for writing designed to sway opinion rather than present information; spreading of ideas that help a cause or hurt an opposing cause |
| protagonist | the principal character in a work of fiction |
| proverb | a popular saying that is meant to express something wise or true |
| purpose | one's intention or objective in a speech or piece of writing |
| pun | a humorous play on words |
| quatrain | a stanza of four lines |
| question and answer | organizational structure of text where a question is posed or asked and then answered |
| refrain | a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song |
| repetition | repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis |
| research | systematic investigation to establish facts |
| resolution | the final unraveling or solution of the plot |
| rhetorical question | a question asked for an effect, not actually requiring an answer |
| rhyme | be similar in sound, especially with respect to the last syllable (masculine rhyme) or two syllables (feminine rhyme) |
| rhyme scheme | the pattern of end rhymes in a poem, eg. abab cdcd |
| rhythm | the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry or in everyday speech |
| rising action | A series of events that builds from the conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends with the climax. |
| round character | a character who is well developed by the author and who many characteristics |
| sarcasm | from the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," a simple form of verbal irony in which it is obvious from context and tone that the speaker means the opposite of what he or she says |
| satire | form of literature in which irony, sarcasm, humour, and ridicule are employed to attack human vice and folly with the purpose of amending it |
| sestet | a rhythmic group of six lines of verse; the final six lines of a sonnet, following the octave and the volta |
| setting | the time, place, and environment in which action takes place |
| simile | a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') |
| slang | informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions |
| soliloquy | in drama, a character speaks alone on stage to allow his/her thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to the audience |
| sonnet | normally a fourteen-line iambic pentameter poem. The conventional Italian, or Petrarchan sonnet is rhymed abba, abba, cde, cde; the English, or Shakespearean, sonnet is rhymed abab, cdcd, efef, gg. |
| speaker | the person speaking in the poem, like the narrator in prose - not always the poet |
| stanza | an arrangement of a certain number of lines, sometimes having a fixed length, meter, or rhyme scheme, forming a division of a poem. |
| stream of consciousness | a style of writing in which the author tries to reproduce the random flow of thoughts in the human mind |
| statistical evidence | information that summarizes a large number of cases and is expressed in numbers that is used to support a claim |
| static character | a character that does not change from the beginning of the story to the end |
| stereotype | a generalization that is used to characterize a person without acknowledging individual differences |
| stock character | A character type that appears repeatedly in a particular literary genre, one which has certain conventional attributes or attitudes. |
| story within a story | employs a narrative technique whereby an introductory main story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage for a fictive narrative or organizing a set of shorter stories, each of which is a story within a story. This kind of story leads readers from the first story into the smaller one within it. |
| style | the choices a writer makes; the combination of distinctive features of a literary work that make it unique to the writer |
| stylistic technique | the specific technique/s used by an author in his or her writing, eg. syntax, diction, etc. |
| subjective | influenced by personal opinion, biased |
| surprise ending | a conclusion that violates the expectations of the reader but in a way that is both logical and believable. |
| suspense | Uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story |
| symbol | something that stands for itself at a literal level but which also suggests something (or several things) at the same time; frequently a concrete object or animal that represents a quality or abstract idea |
| symbolism | the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. |
| theme | a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work |
| thesis | The basic argument advanced by a speaker or writer who then attempts to prove it; the subject or major argument of a speech or composition. |
| thesis statement | a statement of the central idea in a work, may be explicit or implicit |
| third person point of view | the narrator is not a character in the story and is "all knowing" able to reveal the thoughts and feelings of any character and to describe events from the viewpoint of any character |
| tone | the writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject of a story, toward a character, or toward the audience (the readers). |
| understatement | the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended. |
| voice | The fluency, rhythm and liveliness in writing that makes it unique to the writer |
| wit | intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights |
| tragedy | drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance |
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