American Literature Terms

Question 1

A prose account that is made up rather than true.

Answer 1

Fiction

Question 2

A first person writing about an event.

Answer 2

Memoir

Question 3

A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society.

Answer 3

Myth

Question 4

A long fictional narrative written in prose, usually having many characters and a strong plot.

Answer 4

Novel

Question 5

A fictional narrative written in prose, which is shorter than a novel and usually takes place in only one setting with a few number of characters.

Answer 5

Short Story

Question 6

An exaggerated legend

Answer 6

Tall Tale

Question 7

A fairly short narrative poem written in a songlike stanza form

Answer 7

Ballad

Question 8

Brief, musical poems that convey the speakers feelings.

Answer 8

Lyric Poem

Question 9

The umbrella term used to refer to art expressed in writing.

Answer 9

Literature

Question 10

A category used to classify literary works, usually by form, technique or content (e.g., prose, poetry, drama).

Answer 10

Genre

Question 11

Any writing that is not poetry

Answer 11

Prose

Question 12

A type of literature in which words are selected and strung together for their beauty, sound, and power.

Answer 12

Poetry

Question 13

A piece of literature intended to be performed in front of an audience.

Answer 13

Drama

Question 14

A person’s account of his or her own life.

Answer 14

Autobiography

Question 15

A story about a person’s life written by another person.

Answer 15

Biography

Question 16

A piece of prose writing, usually short, that deals with a subject in a limited way and expresses a particular point of view.

Answer 16

Essay

Question 17

A brief story with a moral; often uses animals that act and speak like human beings

Answer 17

Fable

Question 18

A story originally passed from one generation to another by word of mouth only. The characters are usually all good or all bad and in the end are rewarded or punished as they deserve.

Answer 18

Folktale

Question 19

A narrative handed down from the past, containing historical elements and usually supernatural elements.

Answer 19

Legend

Question 20

Parts of a story that are amusing. Humor can be created through sarcasm, word play, and irony.

Answer 20

Humor

Question 21

A story in poetic form with characters, plot, and theme.

Answer 21

Narrative Poem

Question 22

A 14 line poem with a set rhythm and scheme.

Answer 22

Sonnet

Question 23

A character or force in conflict with the main character

Answer 23

Antagonist

Question 24

A struggle between opposing forces. The conflict can be either internal or external.

Answer 24

Conflict

Question 25

A series of related events in a story, each connected to the next.

Answer 25

Plot

Question 26

the perspective from which a story is told

Answer 26

Point of View

Question 27

Main character in the story

Answer 27

Protagonist

Question 28

A scene that breaks into the story to show an earlier part of the action, fill in missing information, explain the characters actions, and advance the plot.

Answer 28

Flash back

Question 29

A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.

Answer 29

Foreshadowing

Question 30

A line of poetry that contains five iambic feet.

Answer 30

Iambic Pentameter

Question 31

A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line

Answer 31

End Rhyme

Question 32

A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line

Answer 32

Internal Rhyme

Question 33

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Answer 33

Blank Rhyme

Question 34

A group of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

Answer 34

Foot

Question 35

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

Answer 35

Free Verse

Question 36

The beat or rhythm of a poem, created by a patter of stressed or unstressed syllables.

Answer 36

Meter

Question 37

A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem.

Answer 37

Refrain

Question 38

Identical or very similar recurring final sounds in words usually at the end of lines of a poem.

Answer 38

Rhyme

Question 39

The pattern of rhyming sounds at the end of lines in a poem

Answer 39

Rhyme Sceme

Question 40

A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that create a beat.

Answer 40

Rhythm

Question 41

A group of lines in a poem. Lines of poems are stanzas just like sentences are paragraphs.

Answer 41

Stanza

Question 42

A single line of poetry or a stanza.

Answer 42

Verse

Question 43

A reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

Answer 43

Allusion

Question 44

When the opposite of what is expected occurs.

Answer 44

Irony

Question 45

The strong feeling created in a literary work.

Answer 45

Mood

Question 46

The personality the writer presumes when telling the story.

Answer 46

Speaker

Question 47

An authors distinctive way of writing. Style includes word choice, sentence length, structure, figures of speech, and tone.

Answer 47

Style

Question 48

A feeling of tension or anticipation created in a work.

Answer 48

Suspense

Question 49

A person, place, or object that represents an abstract idea.

Answer 49

Symbol

Question 50

The works main idea- a general statement of life. Can usually be summed up in one sentence.

Answer 50

Theme

Question 51

The writers attitude towards his or her subject matter.

Answer 51

Tone

Question 52

The repeated use of phrases, clauses or sentences that are in similar structure.

Answer 52

Parallel Structure

Question 53

Words that carry strong emotional overtones.

Answer 53

Loaded Words

Question 54

A philosophical movement that began around 1840. It stressed individualism, intuition, nature, and self-reliance.

Answer 54

Transcendentalism

Question 55

The ordinary language of people in a particular region.

Answer 55

Vemacular