Lit Terms

Question 1

abstract diction

Answer 1

words to describe ideas, emotions, conditions, or concepts that are intangible or difficult to define precisely.

Question 2

allusion

Answer 2

reference to historical, mythical, or literary person, place or thing

Question 3

antagonist

Answer 3

The character who opposes the main character

Question 4

apostrophe

Answer 4

directly addressing an absent person, abstract concept, inanimate object

Question 5

colloquial diction

Answer 5

a word or phrase used in conversational language but not in formal speech or writing

Question 6

concrete diction

Answer 6

words that describe physical qualities or conditions

Question 7

connotation

Answer 7

the emotional associations evoked by a word

Question 8

couplet

Answer 8

two consecutive rhyming lines with same meter

Question 9

denotation

Answer 9

exact, literal, “dictionary” definition of a word

Question 10

diction

Answer 10

word choice

Question 11

end rhyme

Answer 11

a rhyme that occurs in the last syllable of verses

Question 12

epigraph

Answer 12

a quotation at the beginning of a poem, short story, or other text that introduces or refers to the larger themesr of the text

Question 13

figurative language

Answer 13

words or phrases that describe one thing in terms of something else (simile, metaphor, personification, etc.)

Question 14

first person p.o.v

Answer 14

narrator is a person in the story (I, we)

Question 15

flashback

Answer 15

scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event

Question 16

foreshadowing

Answer 16

hint of what is to come, usually negative

Question 17

iambic pentameter

Answer 17

5 footed line of 2-syllable feet with a unstressed/stressed pattern

Question 18

imagery

Answer 18

words that appeal to the five senses

Question 19

irony

Answer 19

The opposite of what is expected.

Question 20

limited p.o.v

Answer 20

author is restricted to the minds of a few or a single character

Question 21

metaphor

Answer 21

implied comparison

Question 22

meter

Answer 22

pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables in poetry

Question 23

mood

Answer 23

the overall atmosphere of work

Question 24

motif

Answer 24

recurring images, ideas, topics, or literary devices that can help to develop the theme(s) of a novel

Question 25

objective tone

Answer 25

the writer shows no bias

Question 26

octave

Answer 26

8-line stanza

Question 27

omniscient p.o.v

Answer 27

author can enter the minds of all characters

Question 28

personification

Answer 28

attributing human qualities to inanimate objects

Question 29

point of view

Answer 29

the perspective from which the narrative is told

Question 30

polysyndeton

Answer 30

the repeated use of conjunctions in a sentence (especially when they are not necessary)

Question 31

protagonist

Answer 31

central character

Question 32

quatrain

Answer 32

4-line stanza

Question 33

rhyme scheme

Answer 33

pattern of rhyme in a stanza

Question 34

sestet

Answer 34

6-line stanza

Question 35

setting

Answer 35

the time and place in which events in a narrative occur

Question 36

simile

Answer 36

comparison of two dissimilar things using "like" or "as"

Question 37

sonnet

Answer 37

a poem which typically expresses a single, complete thought or idea in 14 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter

Question 38

speaker

Answer 38

the narrative voice in a poem who speaks of his/her situations or feelings; the author of a poem is not necessarily the speaker.

Question 39

stanza

Answer 39

group of lines forming a division in a poem

Question 40

subjective tone

Answer 40

the writer exhibits a bias, pro or con

Question 41

symbol

Answer 41

a concrete object that represents an abstract quality or idea

Question 42

theme

Answer 42

main idea/ central message/author's insight into life

Question 43

third person p.o.v

Answer 43

narrator is not part of the story (he, she, they)

Question 44

tone

Answer 44

author's attitude towards subject

Question 45

volta

Answer 45

a shift in a poem's tone, subject, or logic that gains power from a matching shift in structure