terms

Question 1

ambiguity

Answer 1

when an author leaves out details/info or is unclear about an event so the reader will use his/her imagination to fill the blanks

Question 2

apostrophe

Answer 2

when a character speaks to a character or object that is not present or is unable to respond.

Question 3

blank verse

Answer 3

name for unrhymed iambic pentameter

Question 4

deus ex machina

Answer 4

term referring to a character or force that appears at the end of a story or play to help resolve conflict. Word means “god from a machine.”

Question 5

doppelganger

Answer 5

the alter ego of a character-the suppressed side of one’s personality that is usually unaccepted by society (ex. jekyll and hyde)

Question 6

elegy

Answer 6

a poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person.

Question 7

enjambment

Answer 7

the continuation of reading one line of a poem to the next with no pause, a run-on line.

Question 8

epilogue

Answer 8

play: a short poem or speech spoken directly to the audience following the conclusion
novel: a short explanation at the end of the book which indicates what happens after the plot ends

Question 9

epistolary

Answer 9

novel that tells the story by using letters written from one character to another

Question 10

euphonism

Answer 10

the act of substituting a harsh, blunt, or offensive comment for a more politically accepted or positive one. (short=vertically challenged)

Question 11

expansion

Answer 11

adds an unstressed syllable and a contraction or elision removes an unstressed syllable in order to maintain the rhythmic meter of a line. it explains some words frequently used in poetry such as th’ in place of the, o’er in place of over, and ‘tis or ‘twas in place of it is or it was.

Question 12

feminine ending

Answer 12

term that refers to an unstressed extra syllable at the end of a line of iambic pentameter.

Question 13

flat character

Answer 13

a literary character whose personality can be defined by 1 or 2 traits and does not change over the course of the story (minor or insignificant characters)

Question 14

foil

Answer 14

a character that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another.

Question 15

foot

Answer 15

metrical length of a line is determined by the # of feet it contains. The most common feet have 2 to 3 syllables, with 1 stressed.

Question 16

monometer

Answer 16

1 foot

Question 17

dimeter

Answer 17

two feet

Question 18

trimeter

Answer 18

three feet

Question 19

tetrameter

Answer 19

four feet

Question 20

pentameter

Answer 20

five feet

Question 21

hexameter

Answer 21

six feet

Question 22

heptameter

Answer 22

seven feet

Question 23

iamb

Answer 23

two syllables: first unstressed and the second one stressed. iambic foot is most common in english poetry

Question 24

trochee

Answer 24

two syllables: first is stressed and second unstressed

Question 25

dactyl

Answer 25

three syllables: first stressed and other two unstressed

Question 26

anapest

Answer 26

three syllables: first two unstressed and the last one stressed

Question 27

free verse

Answer 27

verse that contains a variety of line lengths, unrhymed, and has no traditional meter

Question 28

gothic novel

Answer 28

genre of fiction characterized by mystery and supernatural horror, often set in a dark castle or other medieval setting

Question 29

hubris

Answer 29

(in greek tragedies) refers to excessive pride that usually leads to the hero's downfall (percy jackson)

Question 30

illocution

Answer 30

language that avoids meaning of the words; writing this way means that there are two stories that only the reader would know about

Question 31

in medias res

Answer 31

story that begins in the middle of things

Question 32

inversion

Answer 32

disgression from ordinary word order (ex: saying "came the rain" instead of "the rain came")

Question 33

masculine ending

Answer 33

stressed extra syllable at the end of a line

Question 34

metonymy

Answer 34

use of a word in a phrase to represent something else (ex: the Lamb = Jesus)

Question 35

motif

Answer 35

dominant theme or central idea

Question 36

first person narration

Answer 36

narrator is a character in the story

Question 37

third person objective narration

Answer 37

narrator does not tell what anyone is thinking

Question 38

third person limited narration

Answer 38

narrator is able to tell the thoughts of one character

Question 39

third person omniscient narration

Answer 39

narrator is able to tell the thoughts of any character

Question 40

novella

Answer 40

short novel usually under 100 pages

Question 41

neutral language

Answer 41

language opposite from emotive language as it is literal or even objective in nature

Question 42

oblique rhyme

Answer 42

imperfect rhyme scheme

Question 43

ode

Answer 43

lyric poem of some length, usually serious and having elevated style and formal stanza structure. odes celebrate something and john keats is known for his odes

Question 44

poetic justice

Answer 44

rewarding of virtue and punishment of vice. happy ending

Question 45

prologue

Answer 45

introduction/preface like poems to introduce a play

Question 46

rites of passage

Answer 46

incident which creates tremendous growth meaning a transition from teen to adult

Question 47

round character

Answer 47

character that is developed over a book and they are major characters

Question 48

soliloquy

Answer 48

dramatic or literary form of disclosure where there character talks to themself and reveals their thoughts without actually talking to anyone

Question 49

volta

Answer 49

sudden change of thought and it happens in sonnets

Question 50

genre

Answer 50

category of artistic composition of literature or music, marked by its distinctive style, form or content

Question 51

flashback

Answer 51

when a character remembers a past event that is relevant to the story

Question 52

sonnet

Answer 52

poem with 14 lines: 3 quatrains and 1 couplet (the American version) with a volta

Question 53

memoir

Answer 53

an account of the personal experiences of an author

Question 54

epic

Answer 54

an extended narrative poem in elevated language, celebrating a hero

Question 55

verbal irony

Answer 55

when something is said, but usually the opposite is meant

Question 56

meter

Answer 56

the measured arrangement of words in poetry

Question 57

denouement

Answer 57

the final resolution/clarification of the plot

Question 58

irony

Answer 58

when one thing should occur, but something else (usually the opposite) happens

Question 59

euphony

Answer 59

a succession of words that is pleasing to the ear (alliteration, consonance, etc) in poetry and prose

Question 60

diction

Answer 60

word choice

Question 61

similie

Answer 61

an indirect comparison using "like", "as", "resembles" or "than"

Question 62

slang

Answer 62

casual and playful speech made up of short-lived coinages

Question 63

convention

Answer 63

an understanding between the reader and the writer about certain details that don't have to be explained

Question 64

fables

Answer 64

a short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point with animals that talk and act like humans

Question 65

couplet

Answer 65

two rhyming lines

Question 66

figurative language

Answer 66

speech that departs from the literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect

Question 67

cosmic irony

Answer 67

when a higher power toys with human expectations

Question 68

satire

Answer 68

literary work that attacks human vice or folly using irony in order to change the issue

Question 69

dramatic irony

Answer 69

when the audience knows something the characters don't

Question 70

rhyme scheme

Answer 70

assigning letters to demonstrate rhyming lines in a poem

Question 71

connotation

Answer 71

idea or meaning suggested with a word (bat=evil)

Question 72

pun

Answer 72

play on words; when they have multiple meanings or spellings that can be used in a humorous way