Literary Terms

Question 1

Absurdism

Answer 1

The idea that human existence is irrational and meaningless

Question 2

Anachronism

Answer 2

Placing something in a time period where it wasn’t in existence

Question 3

Anagnorisis

Answer 3

An epiphany experienced by a protagonist

Question 4

Anaphora

Answer 4

Repeating a word or phrase in the beginning of a successive clause

Question 5

Ancillary characters

Answer 5

secondary characters

Question 6

Angst

Answer 6

Feeling of deep anxiety and dread pertaining to human condition or exsistence

Question 7

Antecedent Action

Answer 7

Events leading up to climax

Question 8

Anticlimax

Answer 8

Disappointing and underwhelming resolution

Question 9

Antithesis

Answer 9

“To be or not to be”

Question 10

Aphorism

Answer 10

Statement that expresses a general truth or principle

Question 11

Assertion

Answer 11

Statement with confidence but without proof

Question 12

Bildungsroman

Answer 12

Novel that focuses on the moral growth of a protagonist’s life

Question 13

Blank verse

Answer 13

Unrhymed iambic pentameter poetry

Question 14

Blocking

Answer 14

Movement and positioning of characters on stage

Question 15

Cacophony

Answer 15

Harsh sounds used for artistic effect (sounds of battle)

Question 16

Caesura

Answer 16

Pause or break in line of poetry

Question 17

caricature

Answer 17

exaggerated protrayal of person’s facial features

Question 18

catharsis

Answer 18

Release of tension by audience

Question 19

Chiasmus

Answer 19

Order of words in first clause is reversed in second

Question 20

Chorus

Answer 20

Characters who are commentators/narrators

Question 21

Colloquial

Answer 21

Informal language, everyday conversation

Question 22

Conceit

Answer 22

Extends metaphor that relates two unrelated things

Question 23

Concrete poetry

Answer 23

Visual arrangement of words that contribute to meaning in a poem

Question 24

Denouement

Answer 24

Resolution or conclusion of a story’s plot

Question 25

Deus Ex Machina

Answer 25

An unsolvable problem is solved by an unexpected entity (supernatural)

Question 26

Didacticism

Answer 26

Intentional teaching of morals using literature

Question 27

Elegy

Answer 27

Poem or song done in lamentation

Question 28

Enjambment

Answer 28

Continuation from one line to another without pause

Question 29

Ethos

Answer 29

Appeal to credibility

Question 30

Eulogy

Answer 30

Praise speech delivered for the dead

Question 31

Euphemism

Answer 31

Word substituted for another that is harsh or blunt

Question 32

Euphony

Answer 32

pleasant, harmonious sound

Question 33

Existentialism

Answer 33

belief that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice

Question 34

Exposition

Answer 34

provides background information

Question 35

fable

Answer 35

short story with moral

Question 36

Foil

Answer 36

character contrast

Question 37

Framing

Answer 37

Structure where something is presented

Question 38

Free verse

Answer 38

Poetry that doesn't follow rhyme or meter scheme

Question 39

Hamartia

Answer 39

fatal flaw

Question 40

Huris

Answer 40

Excessive pride and arrogance

Question 41

Iambic rhythm

Answer 41

The unstressed and stressed pattern of rhythm

Question 42

In media res

Answer 42

Starting a stay in middle of action instead of beginning

Question 43

Indirect characterization

Answer 43

character traits that are not immediately present

Question 44

Kinesthetic images

Answer 44

words that evoke a physical sensation

Question 45

Limited omniscient POV

Answer 45

story that is told from a single character without insight

Question 46

Lyric

Answer 46

Poetry that expresses thoughts and feelings

Question 47

Malapropism

Answer 47

Funny misuse of word

Question 48

Melodrama

Answer 48

dramatic mark, absurd statement

Question 49

Metonymy

Answer 49

A word or phrase is substituted without another that is closely associated

Question 50

Octet

Answer 50

Stanzas of 8 lines

Question 51

Oedipus complex

Answer 51

Unconscious desire for opposite sex parent

Question 52

Omniscient point of veiw

Answer 52

narrator knows thoughts and feelings of characters

Question 53

Parody

Answer 53

humorous imitation with prepare of satire or ridicule

Question 54

Pastoral

Answer 54

Indealizes rural life and nature

Question 55

Peripeteia

Answer 55

Sudden reversal of fortune

Question 56

Plausibility

Answer 56

Quality of being believable or realistic

Question 57

Premise

Answer 57

Underlying context

Question 58

Prologue

Answer 58

Introductory section of literature

Question 59

Quatrain

Answer 59

Stanza of four lines

Question 60

Raisonneur

Answer 60

Character in a play who expresses the author's moral perspective

Question 61

Rhetoric

Answer 61

Art of persuasive speaking or writing

Question 62

Scrim

Answer 62

thin, transparent fabric used as background

Question 63

Sestet

Answer 63

stanza of six lines

Question 64

Sight rhyme

Answer 64

Words that look alike but are pronounced differently

Question 65

Situational irony

Answer 65

Outcome is opposite than what is expected

Question 66

Slant rhyme

Answer 66

Words that have similar sounds

Question 67

Sonnet

Answer 67

14 line poem with rhyme meter

Question 68

Stock character

Answer 68

stereotypical character

Question 69

Synecdoche

Answer 69

reference to part which represents the whole

Question 70

Verbal irony

Answer 70

when speaker says one thing but means the opposite

Question 71

Verisimilitude

Answer 71

Appearance of being true and real