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Literary Terms
terms for english III
43
Language - English
Not Applicable
08/31/2004

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Term
allegory
Definition
a story or narrative that teaches a moral/truth
Term
alliteration
Definition
repetition of a successtion of words with the same sound/letter
ex: the river running around the rock
Term
allusion
Definition
a reference—whether explicit or implied, to history, the Bible, myth, literature, painting, music, and so on--that suggests the meaning or generalized implication of details in the story, poem, or play.
Term
antagonist
Definition
a neutral term for a character who opposes the leading male or female character. See hero/heroine and protagonist.
Term
archetype
Definition
a plot or character element that recurs in cultural or cross-cultural myths such as "the quest" or "descent into the underworld" or "scapegoat."
Term
character
Definition
(1) a fictional personage who acts, appears, or is referred to in a work; (2) a combination of a person's qualities, especially moral qualities, so that such terms as "good" and "bad," "strong" and "weak," often apply. See nature and personality.
Term
round character
Definition
complex characters, often major characters, who can grow and change and "surprise convincingly"—that is, act in a way that you did not expect from what had gone before but now accept as possible, even probable, and "realistic."
Term
flat character
Definition
a fictional character, often but not always a minor character, who is relatively simple, who is presented as having few, though sometimes dominant, traits, and who thus does not change much in the course of a story. See round character.
Term
epic
Definition
a poem that celebrates, in a continuous narrative, the achievements of mighty heroes and heroines, usually in founding a nation or developing a culture, and uses elevated language and a grand, high style.
Term
figurative language
Definition
usually applied to language that uses figures of speech. Figurative language heightens meaning by implicitly or explicitly representing something in terms of some other thing, the assumption being that the "other thing" will be more familiar to the reader.
Term
foreshadowing
Definition
writers use of hints or clues to indicate events meaning of words
Term
genre
Definition
distinct types in which literary works can be grouped
Term
hyperbole
Definition
figure of speechin which trust is exaggerated for humorous effect
Term
imagery
Definition
broadly defined, any sensory detail or evocation in a work; more narrowly, the use of figurative language to evoke a feeling, to call to mind an idea, or to describe an object.
Term
dramatic irony
Definition
a plot device in which a character holds a position or has an expectation that is reversed or fulfilled in a way that the character did not expect but that we, as readers or as audience members, have anticipated because our knowledge of events or individuals is more complete than the character's.
Term
verbal irony
Definition
someone states one thing but means the other
Term
tragic irony
Definition
character uses words and say one thing but the reader knows the truth (specific)
Term
metaphor
Definition
figure of speech that compares two things that have something in common
Term
first person point of view
Definition
narrator is the main character
Term
second person point of view
Definition
narrator addresses the reader intimately to you
Term
third person point of view
Definition
events related by a voice outside the action
Term
onomatopeia
Definition
name making
ex: buzz, honk
Term
oxymoron
Definition
contrandict itself
ex: jumbo shrimp
Term
parable
Definition
breif story meant to teach a lesson or illustrate a moral truth
Term
personification
Definition
object,animal, or idea is given human characteristics
Term
protagonist
Definition
the main character in a work, who may be male or female, heroic or not heroic. See hero/heroine, antihero, and antagonist. Protagonist is the most neutral term.
Term
setting
Definition
time and place were action occurs
Term
simile
Definition
compared two things with like or as
Term
symbol
Definition
a person, place, thing, event, or pattern in a literary work that designates itself and at the same time figuratively represents or "stands for" something else. Often the thing or idea represented is more abstract, general, non- or superrational, the symbol more concrete and particular.
Term
theme
Definition
ideas the author shares with reader (lesson)
Term
tone
Definition
attitude towards his or her subject and theme
Term
understatement
Definition
description of a person, event, or idea that greatly plays down the importance of the subject
Term
voice
Definition
the acknowledged or unacknowledged source of the words of the story; the speaker; the "person" telling the story.
Term
alpha
Definition
beginning, first of anything
Term
anti
Definition
against
Term
bene
Definition
good, well
Term
circum
Definition
around, about
Term
uni
Definition
one
Term
able
Definition
capable, given to, relayable
Term
ence
Definition
an act of, process, quality or state
Term
fic
Definition
making or causing
Term
less
Definition
without, unable to be acted on
Term
ry
Definition
state or condition art or pratice collection
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