Unit 3 - American Literature

Term
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NOSTALGIC
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Terms in this set (14)
NOSTALGIC
Those days of simple innocence centered around the joys of discovering all that the teacher had planned for the day. Then there was recess...sweet, amazing recess.

sentimental yearning for happiness felt in former place, time, etc.
Image: NOSTALGIC
REVERENTIAL
Those special students truly deserve additional kudos for being kind to everyone, having a positive attitude, selflessly volunteering, and making everyone around them better. They are the heartbeat of the school.

deep respect/awe; veneration.
Image: REVERENTIAL
SARCASTIC
Eliminating arts in school? Students will thrive on uniformity and constant pressure with no need to unwind with stress-relieving music, art, or hobbies. It makes complete sense.

full of harsh or bitter derision or irony; sharply ironical taunting, sneering, remarks
Image: SARCASTIC
CYNICAL
I have been teaching for years, and I can tell you that students just don't want to learn. They all want a good grade with no effort and do not care if they actually learn anything. Society is doomed.

believing people are selfish and dishonest
Image: CYNICAL
ANAPHORA
*It takes practice to learn to write well; it takes stretching your comfort zone to improve your writing; it takes revision to truly make your essays great.

The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses
Image: ANAPHORA
REPETITION
I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low..." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Repeated word, phrase, sentence, etc. - for emphasis, clarity, amplification, emotion
Image: REPETITION
SIMILE
*"Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep." - Carl Sandburg

a figure of speech that uses "like" or "as" to compare two unlike things
Image: SIMILE
RHETORICAL QUESTION
"Are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of ripping children from their parents' arms? Or are we a nation that values families, and works to keep them together?" - President Obama

A question asked more to produce and effect than to summon an answer
Image: RHETORICAL QUESTION
ANTITHESIS
*"Serenity now; insanity later." - Lloyd Braun
*"Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe
*"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way ..." - A Tale of Two Cities

Figure of balance in which two contrasting ideas are intentionally juxtaposed, usually through parallel structure; a contrasting of opposing ideas in adjacent phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Image: ANTITHESIS
ABHOR - ABHORRENT - ABHORRENCE
*He abhors the way people leave their trash at the picnic sites in the park.
*The abhorrence he feels towards politicians is obvious by the horrible things he says about them.
*"Stinky," "drooling," and "leperous" demonstrate his abhorrence of ...

(v/adj/n): v1: to regard with extreme repugnance : loathe
n1a : the act or state of abhorring
nb : the feeling of one who abhors
Image: ABHOR - ABHORRENT - ABHORRENCE
ARDUOUS*He went through a long and arduous training program. *It was an arduous journey across miles of desert. *Repetition of "stressful," "frustrating," and "pulling teeth" demonstrate how arduous a job teaching can be. (adj): 1a : hard to accomplish or achieve : difficult b : marked by great labor or effort : strenuous 2: hard to climb : steepBUTTRESSThe treaty will buttress the cause of peace. The theory has been buttressed by the results of the experiment. *Describing movie viewers as "sneezers," "wheezers," spasmodic," and "psychotic" buttresses his argument that inconsiderate people can ruin a movie. (v): to furnish or shore up; also : support, strengthen <arguments buttressed by solid facts>ENDEAVOR*The school endeavors to teach students to be good citizens. *They endeavored to create a government that truly serves its people. (v): 1: to strive to achieve or reach 2: to attempt (as the fulfillment of an obligation) by exertion of effort 3: to work with set purposeEPIPHANY*Seeing her father again when she was an adult was an epiphany that changed her whole view of her childhood. *"I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read" could cause some English teachers to have an epiphany about the books they teach and the way they teach them. (n): 1a: a sudden perception of the nature or meaning of something b: an intuitive grasp of reality usually simple and striking

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