English Words (pgs 1&2) Flashcards
(27 cards)
Active Voice
pertains to any sentence with an active verb
Allegory
story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities
Alliteration
repetition of the same initial consonant sound of words that are close in proximity
Allusion
reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture; an indirect reference to something, usually from literature
Ambiguity
deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work
Analogy
comparison made between two things to show how they are alike
Anaphora
a deliberate repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row to help make the writer’s point more coherent
Anastrophe
inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence in order to create rhythm, emphasis, or euphony
Anecdote
brief story, tol to illustrate a point or serve as n example of something, often show character of an individual
Antagonist
opponent who struggles against or blocks the protagonist in a story; not always a human
Antimetabole
a figure of speech in which words or clauses from the first half of a sentence are repeated in the second half of the sentence in reverse order
Antithesis
figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting thought in parallel arrangement
Antihero
central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes
Anthropomorphism
a type of personification where human characteristics are attributed to an animal; fables almost always use this technique
Aphorism
bried, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or general truth
Apostrophe
calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea as if he/she/it can hear you or answer you; if the character is asking a deity or supernatural power for help or inspiration, it is called an invocation
Assonance
the repetition of similar vowel sounds of words that are in close proximity; usually only recognized in verse
Asyndeton
commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally
Ballad
a poem that is typically arranged in quatrains with the rhyme scheme ABAB
Blank Verse
This term is applied to any verse that doesn’t rhyme
Byronic Hero
a melancholy and rebellious young man, distressed by a terrible wrong he committed in the past
Cacophony
the usage of several unharmonious or dissonant sounds in a line or passage
Caesura
a pause for effect in the middle of a line of poetry, usually marked with a period, dash, or semi-colon
Canon
works generally considered by scholars, critics, and teachers to be the most important to study or read