Term 1- Key Vocab

Question 1

Antithesis

Answer 1

Opposition; use of contrast can sharpen ideas

Question 2

Asyndeton

Answer 2

List separated by commas/semi colons rather than conjunctions

Question 3

Blank verse

Answer 3

Unrhymed iambic pentameter- usually used by higher status characters

Question 4

Body politic

Answer 4

Collective term for people of nation, state or society (monarch at ‘head’)

Question 5

Caesura

Answer 5

A break or pause in line of verse, dictated by rhythmic pause or punctuation

Question 6

Catharsis

Answer 6

Powerful emotions like pity and fear are purged through watching tragedy

Question 7

Catholic

Answer 7

Roman catholic church, led by pope- henry VIII broke away from it

Question 8

Chaos

Answer 8

State of confusion or disorder

Question 9

Doubling

Answer 9

Pairs/repetition in twos

Question 10

Early modern

Answer 10

1400s-1700s: beginning of modernity-scepticism, anxiety, progress, change

Question 11

Elizabethan

Answer 11

Reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603)

Question 12

End stopping

Answer 12

Sense and meter coincide with the pause at the end of a line or verse

Question 13

Enjambment

Answer 13

Running on of sense from one line of verse to another

Question 14

Hamartia

Answer 14

Greek: The error/flaw that leads to downfall (action or character)

Question 15

Freudian

Answer 15

With reference to the psychoanalytic theories of Freud eg Oedipal

Question 16

Hierarchy

Answer 16

System where things/people are ranked according to status, authority etc

Question 17

Humanism

Answer 17

Man as focus; physical, worldly life prioritised over spiritual or supernatural

Question 18

Humours theory

Answer 18

An excess or deficiency of any of the four bodily fluids results in imbalance

Question 19

Iambic pentameter

Answer 19

10 syllable line of alternately stressed syllables

Question 20

Imagery

Answer 20

Language to represent objects, actions, feelings, thoughts, ideas etc

Question 21

In medias res

Answer 21

Latin: in the middle of things

Question 22

Antagonist

Answer 22

Opposed the hero or protagonist

Question 23

Introspection

Answer 23

Examination of one’s thoughts and feelings

Question 24

Jacobean

Answer 24

Reign of James I (1603-1625)

Question 25

Lexical patterns

Answer 25

Patterns in vocabulary (lexis)

Question 26

Machiavellian

Answer 26

Cunning, scheming or unscrupulous, especially in politics (the prince 1532)

Question 27

Malcontent

Answer 27

Figure who is dissatisfied, rebellious; defined by difference from others

Question 28

Medieval

Answer 28

Middle ages; 11th to 14th century; feudal; hierarchical; fixed order

Question 29

Meta-theatrical

Answer 29

Plays that refer back to themselves; play within a play; self-conscious

Question 30

Meter

Answer 30

Pattern of unstressed/stressed syllables

Question 31

Misogynistic

Answer 31

Person who hates or doesn't trust women

Question 32

Mortality

Answer 32

Awareness of being mortal/ susceptible to death

Question 33

Order

Answer 33

Sequencing or arranging of people/things in relation to each other

Question 34

Pathe mathe

Answer 34

Greek: through suffering comes understanding

Question 35

Patriarchy

Answer 35

A social system in which males hold primary power

Question 36

Polysyndeton

Answer 36

Opposite of asyndeton; repetition or conjunctions in a list

Question 37

Prose

Answer 37

Direct, unadorned form of language; spoken or written

Question 38

Protagonist

Answer 38

Originally, the first actor, but now the equivalent of hero/ central character

Question 39

Protestant

Answer 39

A member of Western Christian Churches, separate from RC church

Question 40

Puns

Answer 40

A figure of speech which involves a play on words

Question 41

Register

Answer 41

Variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular setting

Question 42

Renaissance

Answer 42

1400s-1600s rebirth and interest in the culture of Ancient Greece and Rome

Question 43

Scepticism

Answer 43

Any questioning attitude towards knowledge, opinions, beliefs, 'facts'

Question 44

Secular

Answer 44

Not connected with religious or spiritual matters

Question 45

Senecan tragedy

Answer 45

Dramas influenced by seneca; revenge, ghosts, disaster, blood etc

Question 46

Sensationalism

Answer 46

Presentation of stories to provoke excitement at the expense of accuracy

Question 47

Soliloquy

Answer 47

Where character alone on stage expresses inner thoughts and feelings

Question 48

Stichomythia

Answer 48

Dialogue of alternating single lines, usually in drama

Question 49

Synecdoche

Answer 49

Figure of speech where a part represents the whole (eg crown = monarch)

Question 50

Transgression

Answer 50

Act that goes against rule, law, conduct

Question 51

Transitional

Answer 51

Going through a period of change/transition

Question 52

Meritocracy

Answer 52

People are judged on what they can offer/ have achieved (society today)