Literary Definitions

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

A story or tale with two or more levels of meaning, a literal level, and one or more symbolic levels; the events, settings, and characters in an allegory are symbols for ideas or qualities (EX: “Masque of the Red Death”)

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or accented syllables

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Assonance

Answer 4

The repetition of vowel sounds in conjunction with the dissimilar consonant sounds

Question 5

Blank Verse

Answer 5

Unrhymed iambic pentameter (often used in Shakespearean plays)

Question 6

Caesura

Answer 6

Audible pause that breaks up a line of poetry; indicated by a punctuation mark

Question 7

Classicism

Answer 7

An approach to literature and other arts that stresses reason, balance, clarity, ideal beauty, and orderly form in imitation of the arts of ancient Greece and Rome

Question 8

Conceit

Answer 8

An extended comparison of two very unusual things (See Edward Taylor)

Question 9

Consonance

Answer 9

The repetition of similar consonant sounds at the end of words or accented syllables

Question 10

Couplet

Answer 10

A two line stanza or group of lines in a poem that are considered a unit. Typically these are rhyming lines

Question 11

Enjambment

Answer 11

The running of a thought from one line, couplet, stanza, to the next without a break

Question 12

Epigraph

Answer 12

A phrase, quote, or poem at the beginning of a piece of literature that serves as a preface or summary (see “Fall of the House of Usher)

Question 13

Extended Metaphor

Answer 13

A metaphor that encompasses several sentences of text (See “Sinners” by Edwards

Question 14

Folk Tale

Answer 14

Timeless story in which characters display little individuality and who tone is mildly humorous (Irving)

Question 15

Gothic Tale

Answer 15

Uses primitive, medieval, or mysterious elements, gloomy castles or supernatural evens (types are arabesque - mental horror / grotesque - physical horror)

Question 16

Hy;erbole

Answer 16

Deliberate exaggeration or overstatement (Bradstreet)

Question 17

Iambic

Answer 17

Meter of poetry with one unstressed syllable (short) followed by one stressed syllable (long)

Question 18

Iambic Tetrameter

Answer 18

Meter of poetry containing four feet (iambs) in a line / eight syllables (Bradstreet “Burning”)

Question 19

Iambic Pentameter

Answer 19

Meter of poetry containing five feet (iambs) in a line / ten syllables

Question 20

Irony

Answer 20

• Verbal: speakers says one thing and means another
• Dramatic: audience perceives something a character does not know
• Situational: discrepancy between the expected result and the actual result

Question 21

Imagery

Answer 21

Descriptive language that creates a mental image for a reader

Question 22

Inversion / Anastrophe

Answer 22

Reversal of usual syntax (order of words) in a syntax (“once upon a MIDNIGHT DREARY”)

Question 23

Litotes

Answer 23

Figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite (“That sounds like it might not be a bad idea”)

Question 24

Metaphor

Answer 24

A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as if it were something else (without “like” or “as”

Question 25

Meter

Answer 25

The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or number of syllables in a line

Question 26

Metonymy

Answer 26

The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant ("suit" for "business executive" / "the track" for horse racing / "the Crown" for the royal family)

Question 27

Ornate Style

Answer 27

Writing with difficult complex sentence structure and many allusions

Question 28

Oxymoron

Answer 28

A figure of speech by which a location produces an incongruous or self-contradicting effect (two words - "violent churchgoer" from Irving)

Question 29

Paradox

Answer 29

Self-contradicting statement that may hold a possible truth

Question 30

Parody

Answer 30

A humorous imitation of a serious piece of literature (they especially mimic the style)

Question 31

Persona

Answer 31

Mask to satisfy situation; perceived identity

Question 32

Personification

Answer 32

Giving human traits and acts to non-human things

Question 33

Persuasive Speech

Answer 33

Speech used in a manner to manipulate the recipient to think or act in a certain way (think of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry god") Often uses argumentative proofs such as Ethos (credibility), Pathos (emotion), and Logos (logic)

Question 34

Plain Style

Answer 34

Used to characterize speech or writing that is simple, direct, and unambiguous (associated with Puritanism)

Question 35

Propaganda

Answer 35

Material disseminated by the advocates of a doctrine or cause

Question 36

Rational Tale

Answer 36

Detective story (Poe)

Question 37

Rhyme: Repetition of Sounds

Answer 37

End rhyme: repetition of sounds within a line Internal Rhyme: repetition of sounds within a line Slant Rhyme: an almost-rhyme or an off rhyme (see "The Raven" for all kinds) Eye Rhyme: words that appear to rhyme to the eye but do not actually rhyme

Question 38

Romanticism

Answer 38

Writing designed to evoke strong emotional response (see handout / ptt on Romanticism)

Question 39

Setting

Answer 39

Environment (historical time, time of day, region, physical place, etc...) in which a story takes place

Question 40

Simile

Answer 40

Direct comparison of two subjects using like or as

Question 41

Stereotype

Answer 41

A simplified and standardized conception or image invested with a special meaning and held in common by members of a group

Question 42

Symbol

Answer 42

ANything that stands for or represents something else (can be objects, people, acts)

Question 43

Synecdoche

Answer 43

A figure of speech in which part is used for the whole ("All hands on deck") or ("Nice wheels")

Question 44

Theme

Answer 44

Implicit or current idea (should be more narrow and focused than "love" - for instance "love has the power to drive people to insanity")

Question 45

Tone

Answer 45

General quality or atmosphere; manner of expression