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Literature Review Terms
Literature Terms for English Midterm
38
Literature
Not Applicable
01/09/2004

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Term
Allusion
Definition
A reference in one work of literature to a person, place, or event in another work of literature.
Term
Alliteration
Definition
The repition of similar sounds, usually consonants or consonant clusters, in a group of words.
Examples: "safe and sound," "brown as a berry," and "the more the merrier"
Term
Aside
Definition
Words spoken by a character in a play, usually in an undertone, not intended to be heard by other characters on the stage.
Term
Blank Verse
Definition
Verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter, where each line usually contains ten syllables and every other syllable is stressed.
Term
Characters
Definition
Persons-or animals, things, or natural forces presented as persons-appearing in a short story, novel, play or narrative poem.
Term
Climax
Definition
The point that is the greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative.
Term
Conflict
Definition
A struggle between two opposing forces or characters in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem.
Term
Couplet
Definition
Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
Term
Drama
Definition
A story acted out, usually on a stage, by actors and actresses who take the parts of specific characters.
Term
4 Types of Conflict
Definition
(1) A person agianst another person.
(2) A person agianst society.
(3) A person agianst nature.
(4) Two elements or ideas struggling for mastery within a person.
Term
Dramatic Irony
Definition
A device whereby the audience (or reader) understands more of the situation or of what is being said than the character is aware of.
Term
Exposition
Definition
The kind of writing that is intented primarily to present information.
Term
Falling Action
Definition
All of the action in a play that follows a turning point. It leads to the resolution or the conclusion of the play.
Term
Heroic Couplet
Definition
Two consecutive lines of rhyming poetry that are written in iambic pentameter and that contain a complete thought. There is usually one pause at the end of the first line, and another heavier pause at the end of the second line.
Term
Iambic Pantameter
Definition
The most common verse line in English poetry. It is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Term
Imagery
Definition
Language that appeals to any sense or any combination of senses.
Term
Metaphor
Definition
A comparison between two unlike things wtih the intent of giving added meaning to one of them. It DOES NOT use the connective word such as like, as, than, or resembles to state a comparison.
Term
Monologue
Definition
A long, uninterrupted speech that is spoken in the presence of other characters.
Term
Narrator
Definition
One who narrates, or tells, a story.
Term
Types of Narrators
Definition
First-person: someone who is either a major of minor character.
Third-person: someone who is not in the story at all.
Third-person omniscient: "all knowing." They are able to enter into the minds of the all of the characters in the story.
Term
Personification
Definition
A figure of speech in which an animal, an object, a natural force, or an idea is given personality, or described as if it were human.
Term
Plot
Definition
The sequence of events or happenings in a literary work.
(1) Exposition
(2) Conflict
(3) Climax
(4) Resolution
Term
Point of View
Definition
The vatage point from which a narrative is told.
Term
Pun
Definition
Usually, the humerous use of a word or phrase to suggest two meanings at the same time.
Term
Resolution
Definition
The outcome of the conflict in a play or story.
Term
Rising Action
Definition
Those events in a play that lead to a turning point in the action.
Term
Setting
Definition
The time and place of action in a narrative.
Term
Short Story
Definition
Narrative prose fiction that is shorter than a novel.
Term
Simile
Definition
A comparison made between two dissimilar things through the use of a specific word of comparison, such as like, as, than or resembles. The comparison must be between two essentially unlike things.
Term
Soliloquy
Definition
A speech, usually lengthy, in which a character, alone on stage, expresses his or her thoughts aloud.
Term
Theme
Definition
The main idea or the basic meaning of a literary work.
Term
The Most Dangerous Game
Definition
Richard Connell
Term
The Lady, or the Tiger?
Definition
Frank R. Stockton
Term
The Musgrave Ritual
Definition
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Term
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Definition
James Thurber
Term
The Cask of Amontillado
Definition
Edgar Allan Poe
Term
Romeo and Juliet
Definition
William Shakespeare
Term
Thunder on Sycamore Street
Definition
Reginald Rose
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