All Prose Flashcards
(182 cards)
1
Q
A story or poem in which characters and events represent abstract concepts or qualities; a systemic metaphor throughout a literary work.
A
Allegory
2
Q
Lord of the Flies
Animal Farm
The Crucible
A
Allegory
3
Q
Sally Sells Sea shells by the Sea shore
“… the sunlight came through the Leaves in Light patches on the grass.” (Hemingway 122)
A
Alliteration
4
Q
2 or more words in close proximity with the same initial sound to produce a particular effect.
A
Alliteration
5
Q
An indirect reference to something with which the reader is expected to be familiar. Usually biblical, historical, mythological, or literary references.
A
Allusion
6
Q
Reference to God(s)
Or
Biblical reference in The Sun Also Rises
A
Allusion
7
Q
“Isn’t it pretty to think so?” (Hemingway 251)
End of Inception
End of Lord of the Flies
A
Ambiguity
8
Q
An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way.
A
Ambiguity
9
Q
Assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence.
A
Anachronism
10
Q
Rose’s clothes in Doctor Who (in 1879 Scotland).
A
Anachronism
11
Q
Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.
A
Anaphora
12
Q
“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” - Winston Churchill
A
Anaphora
13
Q
A term used to describe both the individual and the collective anxiety-neurosis of the period following WWII.
A
Angst
14
Q
Post WWII only!
Suffering, anxiety
Camus
A
Angst
15
Q
A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses.
A
Antithesis
16
Q
“To be or not to be.”
“Goodbye because I love you.”
A
Antithesis
17
Q
An address to the dead as if living; to the inanimate as if animate; to the absent as if present; to the unborn as if alive.
A
Apostrophe
18
Q
“O Julius Caesar thou are mighty yet; thy spirit walks abroad.”
“Roll on, though deep and dark blue ocean, roll.”
A
Apostrophe
19
Q
A term formed by repeated experiences in the lives of our ancestors, expressed in myths, religion, fantasies, and literature; recurring in literature and evoke profound emotional responses in the reader.
A
Archetype
20
Q
Evil stepmother
MPDG (manic pixie dream girl) - bubbly, shallow, Peter pan syndrome, and help men without pursuing own happiness.
christ figure,
evil twin,
A
Archetype
21
Q
A dramatic convention by which an action directly addresses the audience but it is not supposed to be heard by the other actors on the stage.
A
Aside
22
Q
Macbeth to Banquo’s murderersat the banquet.
Romeo-“he jests at scars that never felt the wound”
A
Aside
23
Q
Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity.
A
Assonance
24
Q
“The voice of the sea speaks to the soul.” (Chopin 56)
A
Assonance
25
A series of words separated by commas (with no conjunction). The parts of a sentence are emphasized equally; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence.
Asyndeton
26
"I came, I saw, I conquered"
"As they went in under the light, I saw white hands, wavy hair, white faces, grimacing, gesturing, talking. With them was Brett" (Hemingway 28).
Asyndeton
27
Construction in which both halves of the sentence are about the same length and importance.
Balance
28
I waited patiently for the taxi; he drove nonchalantly by me.
Balance
29
Process by which an unhealthy emotional state produced by an imbalance of feelings is corrected and emotional health is restored.
*Peacefulness
Catharsis
30
"Isn't it pretty to think so?" (Hemingway)
Catharsis
31
The method an author uses to develop characters in a work. In direct characterization, the author straightforwardly states the character's traits. With indirect characterization, those traits are implied through what the character says, does, how the character dresses, interacts with other characters, etc.
Characterization
32
"He cared nothing for boxing, in fact he disliked it, but he learned it painfully and thoroughly to counteract the feeling of inferiority and shyness he had felt on being treated as a Jew at Princeton." (Hemingway)
Characterization
33
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
Chiasmus
34
Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern X Y Y X.
Chiasmus
35
Deals with the relations and intrigues of gentlemen and ladies living in a polished and sophisticated society; it evokes laughter mainly at the violations of social conventions and decorum and relies on the wit and humor of the dialogue for its effect.
Comedy of Manners
36
"Dinner for Schmucks"
| "Pride and Prejudice"
Comedy of Manners
37
Literary device that cuts tension in the middle of tragedy. Not just to be funny.
Comic Relief
38
Drunken Porter in Macbeth
Comic Relief
39
The drunken porter speech from Macbeth when he compares things such as Drinking and peeing, drinking and sleeping, and drinking and nose painting.
Conceit
40
Unusual or surprising comparison between two very different things. (a special kind of metaphor or complicated analogy.)
Conceit
41
Language that describes specific, observable things, people or places, rather than ideas or qualities.
Concrete Language
42
"After a while we came out of the mountains, and there were trees along both sides of the road, and a stream and ripe fields of grain, and the road went on, very white and straight ahead, and then lifted to a little rise, and off on the left was a hill with an old castle, with buildings close around it and a field Of grain going right up to the walls and shifting in the wind." (Hemingway)
Concrete Language
43
"What's the matter? You sick?"
| "Yes."
Connotation
44
1. Rather than the dictionary definition, the associations associated with a word
2. Implied meaning
Connotation
45
Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity.
Consonance
46
"Isn'T iT preTTy To think so?" (Hemingway)
Consonance
47
"Lechery, sir, it provokes and unprovokes; it provokes the desire but takes away the performance: therefore, much drink may be said to be an equivocator with lechery: it makes him, and it mars him; it sets him on, and it takes him off; it persuades him, and disheartens him; makes him stand to and not stand to; in conclusion, equivocates him in a sleep, and giving him the lie, leaves him." (Shakespeare)
Cumulative
48
Sentence which begins with the main idea and then expands on that idea with a series of details or other particulars.
Cumulative
49
Word choice, particularly as an element of style.
Diction
50
Hemingway's simple word choice: light, dark, hot, nice, pleasant
Diction
51
Teaches a specific lesson; the lesson is explicitly stated
Didactic
52
"Slow and steady wins the race"
| "Count no mortal happy till he had passed the final limit of his life secure from pain" (Sophocles)
Didactic
53
Oedipus before he knows the truth
| TSAR - Robert is called the steer when we know Jake is really the steer
Dramatic Irony
54
The reader is aware of something that the characters do not know
Dramatic Irony
55
A poem lamenting the death of a particular person
Elegy
56
"O Captain my captain..."
| "The Death of the Toad"
Elegy
57
Sentence structure which leaves out something in the second half
Elliptical
58
"If a plant cannot live according to nature, it dies, and so does man." (Thoreau)
Elliptical
59
Existential boredom, Post WWII, pointless life
Ennui
60
Weariness of existence
Ennui
61
A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work that suggests a theme.
Epigraph
62
"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever… The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose…”– Ecclesiastes
Epigraph
63
A major character's moment of realization or awareness
Epiphany
64
"How easy it is! To think of all the time I have lost splashing about like a baby!" (Chopin)
Epiphany
65
A single term used to modify the name of a person or thing
Epithet
66
"The Great" in Catherine the Great
| "O Captain my captain"
Epithet
67
Words used for sensitive topics
Euphemism
68
Bits, tushie, rump, behind, pass away, tight
Euphemism
69
Act of interpreting the meaning of a text
Explication
70
Edna's first swim is symbolic of her realization that she has the power to move her life according to her desires, and she wishes to push the boundaries of what society finds acceptable.
Explication
71
Background information, often early on in a narrative, sets up information about characters/conflicts
Exposition
72
"'You are burnt beyond recognition,' he added, looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage. She held up her hands, strong, shapely hands, and surveyed them critically, drawing up her fawn sleeves above the wrists. Looking at them reminded her of her rings, which she had given to her husband before leaving for the beach." (Chopin)
Exposition
73
A type of comedy in which one-dimensional characters are put into ludicrous situations; ordinary standards of probability and motivation are freely violated in order to evoke laughter.
Farce
74
Monty Python and Don Quixote
Farce
75
A product of a writers imagination, usually made up of characters, plot, setting, point of view, and theme
Fiction
76
Harry Potter, Hunger Games, The Sun Also Rises, The Awakening
Fiction
77
Similes and Metaphors (other things too)
Mme. Resiz and Edna's wings
Robert/Jake and a "steer"
Figurative Language
78
"The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings." (Chopin)
Figurative Language
79
A word or words that are inaccurate literally, but describe by calling to mind sensations or responses that the thing described evokes. This may be in the form of metaphors or similes, both non-literal comparison.
Figurative Language
80
A form of expression in which words are used out of the usual sense in order to make the meaning more specific.-put his foot down-kick the bucket-"people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"
Figure of Speech
81
Point of View:
“When I got up to go I found I had taken off my shoes. I hunted for them and found them and carried them down-stairs. I found my room and went inside and undressed and got into bed.” (Hemingway 199)
First Person Point of View
82
A character constructed around a single idea or quality; immediately recognizable.
Flat Character
83
Bill Gordon - TSAR
Madame Ratignolle - The Awakening
Creon - Oedipus the King
Flat Character
84
A character whose traits are the opposite of another and who thus emphasized the strengths and weaknesses of the other character.
Foil
85
Adele Ratignolle to Edna Pontellier
Foil
86
a literary form or type; classification. e.g. tragedy, comedy, novel, essay, poetry.
Genre
87
```
Drama
Fiction
Science-Fiction/Speculative Fiction
Tragedy
Comedy
Graphic Novel
Farce
```
Genre
88
Overwhelming pride or insolence that results in the misfortune of the protagonist of a tragedy.
Hubris
89
"I, Oedipus, whom all men call the Great"
Hubris
90
Conscious exaggeration used to heighten effect. Not intended literally, often humorous.
Hyperbole
91
"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
"He is older than dirt."
"I could sleep for 100 years!"
Hyperbole
92
A word or group of words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the senses. This is always a concrete representation.
Image
93
“The Jabberwock with eyes of flame,Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,And burbled as it came!” (14-16)
Victor’s description of Edna’s dinner party to Mariequita:“The flowers were in tubs, he said. The champagne was quaffed from huge golden goblets.” (Chopin 173)
Image
94
The use of images, especially in a pattern of related images, often figurative, to create a strong unified sensory impression.
Imagery
95
FIGURATIVE – the ‘effect’
Victor, of Edna’s dinner party:“Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board…” (Chopin 173)
Imagery
96
Variation of the normal word order (subject first, then verb, then complement) which puts a modifier or the verb as the first in the sentence. The element that appears first is emphasized more than the subject.
Inversion
97
“Jabberwocky”
| “Long time the manxome foe he sought""So rested he by the Tumtum tree,” (10-11)
Inversion
98
A discrepancy between expectation and reality.
Irony
99
That Gregor is more concerned about making it to work than the fact that he is now a ‘monstrous vermin’That Edna yearns for independence, but allows herself to be taken in by Alcee Arobin.
Irony
100
Opposite of hyperbole; it intensifies an idea understatement by stating through the opposite.
Litotes
101
Saying "It wasn't my best day" instead of "It was my worst day."
“I’ll open up immediately, this instant. A mild indisposition – an attack of dizziness – has kept me from getting up.” (Kafka 398)
“There are periods of despondency and suffering which take possession of me.” (Chopin 171)
Litotes
102
X is Y. A comparison of two things, often unrelated. A figurative verbal equation results where both "parts" illuminate one another. May occur in a single sentence, as a controlling image of the entire work, as obvious, or be implied.
Metaphor
103
"Talent is a cistern; genius is a fountain."Pilgrim at Sea by Par F. Lagerkvist
"But O beware the middle mind that purrs and never shows a tooth"
"Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board, while the other women were all of them youthful houris, possessed of incomparable charms.” (Chopin 173)
Metaphor
104
Designation of one thing with something closely associated with it. E. g. calling the head of a committee a CHAIR, a king the CROWN, etc.
Metonym
105
```
Thing associated = The whole
White House = the President
Press = newspaper/media/journalists
“Mr. Pontellier finally lit a cigar and began to smoke… He fixed his gaze upon a white sunshade that was advancing at snail’s pace from the beach.” (Chopin 44)
sunshade = woman
Tongue = language
drinking = consuming alcohol
```
Metonym
106
An atmosphere created by a writer's word choice (diction) and the details selected. Syntax is also a determiner because sentence strength, length, and complexity affect pacing.
Mood
107
describe on the quiz through diction and syntax:“Venus rising from the foam could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Mrs. Pontellier, blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board, while the other women were all of them youthful houris, possessed of incomparable charms.” (Chopin 173)
Mood
108
The lesson drawn from a fictional or nonfictional story. A heavily didactic story.
Moral
109
“The Tortoise and the Hare”
Slow and steady wins the race.
Oedipus the King
“Count no mortal happy till he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain.” (Sophocles 671)
Moral
110
A frequently recurrent character, incident, or concept in literature.
Motif
111
It has a PURPOSE
Water in The Awakening
Drinking in The Sun Also Rises
Motif
112
An extended piece of prose fiction.
Novel
113
The Awakening
| The Sun Also Rises
Novel
114
The use of a word whose pronunciation suggests its meaning.
Onomatopoeia
115
POW!
KNOCK!
THUMP!
SNICKER-SNACK!
Onomatopoeia
116
A rhetorical antithesis. Juxtaposing two contradictory terms, like "wise fool" or "deafening silence"
Oxymoron
117
jumbo shrimp
old news
alone together
"O heavy lightness! Serious vanity! Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!“ (Romeo and Juliet)
Oxymoron
118
A short, allegorical story from which a lesson may be drawn.
Parable
119
Some seeds thrown on rocky soil, so they don’t flourish… some thrown onto rich soil, so they grow (allegory for faith)
Parable
120
A seemingly contradictory statement or situation which is actually true. This rhetorical device is often used for emphasis or simply to attract attention.
Paradox
121
Gregor “closing his eyes” to avoid seeing his wriggling legs – no literal eyelids, but he blinds himself to the reality of his situation.
Paradox
122
Sentence construction which places in close proximity two or more equal grammatical constructions. May be as simple as listing two or three modifiers in a row to describe the same noun or verb; it may take the form of two or more of the same type of phrases (prepositional, participial, gerund, appositive) that modify the same noun or verb.
Parallelism
123
“When I got up to go I found I had taken off my shoes. I hunted for them and found them and carried them down-stairs.” (Hemingway 199)
Parallelism
124
Green Eggs and Hamlet
Parody
125
An exaggerated imitation of a usually more serious work for humorous purposes. The writer of a parody uses the quirks of style of the imitated piece in extreme or ridiculous ways.
Parody
126
Meant to evoke sorrow or pity
Pathos
127
Gregor's death
Pathos
128
Moment where a hero's fortunes reverse.
Peripety
129
Oedipus' discovery of the truth and the curse.
Peripety
130
When non-human things (animals, objects, etc.) are given human qualities.
Personification
131
Gregor: "In spite of his predicament, he couldn't suppress a smile at the thought."
Personification
132
The perspective from which a fictional or nonfictional story is told.
Point of View
133
“When I got up to go I found I had taken off my shoes. I hunted for them and found them and carried them down-stairs. I found my room and went inside and undressed and got into bed.” (Hemingway 199)
Polysyndeton
134
Sentence which uses "and" or another conjunction, with no commas, to separate the items in a series, usually appearing in the form X and Y and Z, stressing equally each member of the series. It makes the sentence slower and the items more emphatic than in the asyndeton.
Polysyndeton
135
The main character in a work of fiction.
Protagonist
136
Jake in The Sun Also Rises
| Gregor in The Metamorphosis
Protagonist
137
A Freudian slip is when you say one thing and mean a mother.
Two silk worms had a race; they ended up in a tie.
A backwards poet writes inverse.
Pun
138
A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings.
Pun
139
Point of View:
"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin."
Third Person Limited Point of View
140
For emphasis or effect“’Gregor, Gregor,’ he called, “What’s going on?” And after a short pause he urged again, with a deeper voice: “Gregor! Gregor!” (395)
Repetition
141
Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity.
Repetition
142
Opposite of flat, usually protagonistEdna, Gregor, Creon
Round Character
143
A character drawn with sufficient complexity to be able to surprise the reader without losing credibility.
Round Character
144
Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal”The Daily ShowDoonesbury
Satire
145
A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. Satire doesn't simply abuse (as with invective) or get personal (as with sarcasm). Satire usually targets groups or large concepts rather than individuals; its purpose is customarily to inspire change.
Satire
146
Creon’s treatment of TeiresiasHamlet ALL OVER THE PLACE
Sarcasm
147
A type of verbal irony in which, under the guise of praise, a caustic and bitter expression of strong and personal disapproval is given. Sarcasm is personal, jeering, and intended to hurt.
Sarcasm
148
late-19th C. New Orleansancient Thebes, outside of the palaceParis, Pamplona, San Sebastian, Madridan apartment in Prague
Setting
149
Locale and period in which the action takes place.
Setting
150
“damnation rises behind each child, Like a wave cresting out of the black northeast,When the long darkness under sea roars upAnd bursts drumming death upon the wind whipped sand.” (Sophocles )“She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known.” (Chopin )
Simile
151
A figurative comparison of two things, often dissimilar, using the connecting words: "like," "as," or "than."
Simile
152
“No man of woman born can harm Macbeth!” and then we learn that Macduff was born via caesarian section.Gregor’s father is lazy, yet by the end of the novella, takes pride in his work and appearance.
Situational Irony
153
Applies to works which contain elaborate expressions of the ironic spirit. Also, irony applies to both Hamlet's situation and to his famous soliloquy, "To be or nor to be."
Situational Irony
154
“Is this a dagger which I see before me,The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation,Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpableAs this which now I draw.” (Shakespeare II.i.33-41)
Soliloquy
155
When a character in a play speaks his thoughts aloud —usually by him or herself.
Soliloquy
156
Teiresias – the blind seer, prophet, fortune tellerIsmene – the weak-willed womanAlcee Arobin – the womanizer
Stock Character
157
Archetypal characters that recur repeatedly in various literary genres.
Stock Character
158
James Joyce’s UlyssesJ.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the RyeT.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club
Stream of Consciousness
159
Technique of writing that undertakes to reproduce the raw flow of consciousness, with the perceptions, thoughts, judgments, feelings, associations, and memories presented just as they occur without being tidied into grammatical sentences or given logical and narrative order.
Stream of Consciousness
160
Terse, simple sentences, and simple, repetitive diction that makes use of opposing terms.
Style
161
The choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes. In combination they create a work's manner of expression. Conscious and unconscious and may be altered to suit specific occasions. Often habitual and evolves over time.
Style
162
A thing, event, or person that represents or stands for some idea or event. Symbols also simultaneously retain their own literal meanings. A figure of speech in which a concrete object is used to stand for an abstract idea —e.g. the cross for Christianity.
Symbol
163
Conch in Lord of the FliesWater/Sea in The AwakeningOzymandias’ expression
Symbol
164
Part of something is used to stand for the whole —e.g. "threads" for clothes; "wheels" for cars
Synecdoche
165
“the hand that mocked, the heart that fed”“all hands on deck!”Glasses, when referring to eyeglasses.
Synecdoche
166
In grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship.
Syntax
167
Can involve inversion“the sculptor well those passions read”Particular patterns used again and again “I love thee…”
Syntax
168
A central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction, revealed and developed in the course of a story or explored through argument.
Theme
169
The MESSAGE, not just the subject.“Ozymandias” – Power is temporary, but art/words lasts forever.Metamorphosis – Our work is pointless, or those who should be grateful for us seldom are.Etc.
Theme
170
A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization of the sentence and global levels.
Tone
171
Hemingway’s feeling of isolation after WWISophocles’ feelings about moral responsibility to the godsChopin’s issues with women’s traditional roles
Tone
172
Representations of serious actions which turn out disastrously.
Tragedy
173
Just about everything we read…The AwakeningThe MetamorphosisAntigoneHamlet
Tragedy
174
Tragic error in judgment; a mistaken act which changes the fortune of the tragic hero from happiness to misery; also known as hamartia.
Tragic Flaw
175
Hubris, usually.OedipusCreon
Tragic Flaw
176
A work of fiction or nonfiction is said to be unified if all the parts are related to one central idea or organizing principle. Thus, unity is dependent upon coherence.
Unity
177
The Awakening freedom/independence“How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways” repetition, focus on love as a religious experience creates strong unity
Unity
178
When the reader is aware of a discrepancy between the real meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the writer's words.
Verbal Irony
179
"as pleasant and relaxed as a coiled rattlesnake" (Kurt Vonnegut from Breakfast of Champions)“O Tell it! Tell everyone! Think how they’ll hate you when it all comes out if they learn that you knew about it all the time!” Antigone to Ismene (Sophocles 1265)
Verbal Irony
180
A writer often adopts a fictional voice to tell a story. Voice is usually determined by a combination of subject matter and audience.
Voice
181
The writer uses one word to govern several successive words are clauses —e.g. She discovered New York and her world.
Zeugma
182
“You held your breath and the door for me” – Alanis Morissette“She was a thief, you got to believe: she stole my heart and my cat.” - So I Married an Axe Murderer “My teeth and ambitions are bared; be prepared!” - Scar
Zeugma
