SAT Lit Terminology

Question 1

narrative elements

Answer 1

exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement

Question 2

characterization

Answer 2

development of personality (static vs. dynamic, roundness vs. flatness)

Question 3

foil character

Answer 3

one whose function is to emphasize the personality traits of another character

Question 4

tragic hero

Answer 4

protagonist of a tragedy, downfall because of tragic flaw

Question 5

antihero

Answer 5

protagonist with villainous traits

Question 6

theme

Answer 6

idea/observation set forth by the story as a universal truth

Question 7

personification

Answer 7

gives the idea/animal/inanimate object HUMAN QUALITIES (not animalistic)

Question 8

anthropomorphism

Answer 8

the animal/god/inanimate object is ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING HUMAN

Question 9

zoomorphism

Answer 9

gives the human/idea/inanimate object ANIMALISTIC QUALITIES

Question 10

apostrophe

Answer 10

speaker’s direct address to a non-human or absent human entity

Question 11

hyperbole

Answer 11

exaggeration

Question 12

metonymy

Answer 12

when a part of something is used to refer to the whole entity, or a whole entity is used to refer to part of something (ex. nice wheels!)

Question 13

synechdote

Answer 13

when a thing refers to something else that it’s closely associated with, but unlike synecdoche, the part does not have to refer to the whole, or vice versa (ex. nice ride!)

Question 14

irony

Answer 14

verbal (words mean something different from what is said), situational (opposite of expected happens), dramatic (audience knows something the characters don’t)

Question 15

paradox

Answer 15

seeming contradiction with a greater truth

Question 16

3 elements of balance

Answer 16

repetition, parallelism (gramatical or thematic consistency), antithesis (pairing of opposites to make a point)

Question 17

assonance

Answer 17

repeated vowel sound within words

Question 18

consonance

Answer 18

repeated consonant sound within words

Question 19

meter

Answer 19

the set rhythm of a poem

Question 20

iambic pentameter

Answer 20

iamb = 2 syllables (not necc. in one word), penta = 5 iambs per line

Question 21

couplet

Answer 21

2 consecutive rhyming line

Question 22

heroic couplet

Answer 22

couplet + iambic pentameter

Question 23

sonnet

Answer 23

14 lines of iambic pentameter + specific rhyme scheme

Question 24

blank verse

Answer 24

iambic pentameter without rhyme

Question 25

sprung rhythm

Answer 25

rhyming but varying meters (ie random stresses and accents)

Question 26

ode

Answer 26

praises something still in existance

Question 27

elegy

Answer 27

honours someone dead

Question 28

ballad (what is it, tone, how many lines/stanza, rhyme scheme, meter)

Answer 28

narrative poem, usually tragicomic tone, usually 4 line stanzas, ABCBDEFE, rocking back and forth meter

Question 29

concrete/emblematic poetry

Answer 29

makes a picture

Question 30

3rd person types

Answer 30

observer (not a character, can't read thoughts), limited omniscient (not a character, can read thoughts of 1 character), omniscient (not a character, can read all thoughts)

Question 31

narrative distance

Answer 31

physically and psychologically (sympathetic or nah)

Question 32

voice

Answer 32

consider style of writing, audience, and purpose

Question 33

poetry modes

Answer 33

narrative, discursive (expands on a topic), imagistic (describes an image), lyric (songlike quality bc of rhythm/meter)

Question 34

preclude

Answer 34

prevent

Question 35

refute

Answer 35

disprove

Question 36

aphorism

Answer 36

a pithy/concise observation containing a general truth

Question 37

types of verse

Answer 37

rhyming, blank (iambic pentameter without rhyme), or free (no rhyme/meter)

Question 38

anastrophe

Answer 38

inverting a sentence to match rhyme scheme

Question 39

3 types of persuasion

Answer 39

logos (logic), pathos (emotions), ethos (ethics)

Question 40

tenacious

Answer 40

firm and clinging to an idea

Question 41

caprice

Answer 41

sudden change in mood or behaviour