| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Gossip | revolves around a person's personal business |
| Superstition | a belief that changes behavior |
| Urban Legend | story that may or may not be true, usually local |
| Fable | uses animals with human traits to teach a lesson |
| Fairy Tale | good vs. evil with a happy ending |
| Myth | story to explain why the world is the way it is and why things happen. Customs and rituals may be based on it |
| Epic Poem | an adventure poem about heroes who embody the characteristics of a particular culture |
| Direct Characterization | when an author tells you what to believe about a character |
| Indirect Characterization | when an author shows you about a character through appearence, thoughts, speech, actions, others' opinions, names |
| Homeric Simile | comparison between something unfamiliar to something more familiar (Hermes is like the bird on the water) |
| Blank verse | noble characters speak it unless they go crazy or lose their rank |
| Rhymed verse | highest form of poetry. Most noble characters, spirits, songs, instances of highest love. Hint: it rhymes! |
| Prose | unrhymed, unpatterned speech. Working class characters speak in it, unless pretending to be noble |
| Pun | play on words (grave man) |
| Sonnet | 14 lines of iambic pentameter with an abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme |
| Iambic Pentameter | the rhythm of blank verse. A line of 10 syllables including 5 pairs of unstressed/stressed syllables. |
| Metaphor | comparison of 2 unlike things (Juliet is the sun) |
| Simile | comparison of 2 unlike things using like or as (Juliet is hott like the sun) |
| Autobiography | story about self |
| Diary | day-to-day record of events |
| Memoir | the emphasis is not on the developing self but on people and events the author has known or witnessed. |
| Allusion | a reference in literature to another important person, place, or event |
| Tragedy | type of drama that shows the downfall of a noble or outstanding character, one who traditionally possesses a tragic flaw |
| Tragic Hero | one who evokes both pity and terror—person is not evil but you see characteristics of yourself in character. Through choice or circumstance, is caught up in a sequence of events which result in disaster |
| Tragic Flaw | a positive characteristic or trait that the character embodies but it usually leads to a downfall when taken to an extreme |
| Suspension of Disbelief | —"It refers to the willingness of a person to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible |
| Oxymoron | a type of contradiction that combines two terms ordinarily seen as opposites |
| Euphemism | a polite way of saying something unpleasant |
Combine with other sets
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