Vocab 2

Question 1

Poesy

Answer 1

Poetry

Question 2

Epic

Answer 2

A long poem about the deeds of great people or a nations history.

Question 3

Idyll

Answer 3

A simple written description of rural life and pastoral scenes.

Question 4

Couplet

Answer 4

Two successive lines in poetry rhyming with each other.

Question 5

Doggerel

Answer 5

Undignified or trivial verse, or verse that is badly constructed.

Question 6

Caesura

Answer 6

A break or pause in a line of poetry.

Question 7

Epilogue

Answer 7

A concluding section of a book or play, usually addressed to the audience.

Question 8

Anthology

Answer 8

A collection of selected literary works.

Question 9

Tome

Answer 9

A large, heavy book.

Question 10

Disquisition

Answer 10

A detailed, rather formal discussion or essay.

Question 11

Allegory

Answer 11

A story in which people, things, or events have symbolic meanings.

Question 12

Hyperbole

Answer 12

Great exaggeration for effect.

Question 13

Personification

Answer 13

An attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects; or an embodiment or perfect example.

Question 14

Irony

Answer 14

An inconsistency between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen, or between what appears to be the case and what is the case.

Question 15

Paradox

Answer 15

A statement that seems self-contradictory but that may be true.

Question 16

Pun

Answer 16

A play on words that have the same or similar sounds but different meanings.

Question 17

Browse

Answer 17

To glance through a book, library, or store in a leisurely, casual way.

Question 18

Peruse

Answer 18

To read carefully or thoroughly.

Question 19

Collate

Answer 19

To make a detailed comparison between pieces of writing; or to put in order pages of a manuscript.

Question 20

Plagiarism

Answer 20

Stealing words or ideas from another and passing then off as ones own.

Question 21

Elocution

Answer 21

The art of speaking clearly and expressively before an audience.

Question 22

Declaim

Answer 22

To speak in an elaborate, rhetorical manner or deliver on a voice strong with emotion.

Question 23

Forensic

Answer 23

Pertaining to public debate.

Question 24

Prose

Answer 24

Speech or writing without metrical structure, as opposed to poetry.

Question 25

Repartee

Answer 25

A quick, witty reply or conversation.

Question 26

Colloquy

Answer 26

A conversation, conference, or dialogue.

Question 27

Soliloquy

Answer 27

A monologue; or the act of talking to oneself, usually in a play.

Question 28

Symposium

Answer 28

A conference at which a particular subject is discussed.

Question 29

Prate

Answer 29

To chatter, babble, or talk foolishly and at length.

Question 30

Reticence

Answer 30

The state of quality of being quiet, reserved, or uncommunicative.

Question 31

Mummery

Answer 31

A masked performance; or a ridiculous performance or empty show.

Question 32

Tableau

Answer 32

A vivid picture or representation; or a representation of a scene by the grouping of silent, motionless persons in appropriate poses.

Question 33

Syntax

Answer 33

Sentence structure, or the arrangement of words in a sentence.

Question 34

Collocation

Answer 34

A grouping or arrangement especially of words.

Question 35

Idiom

Answer 35

A correct expression that is unusual in form or meaning.

Question 36

Diphthong

Answer 36

Two vowels united into a single, complex sound.

Question 37

Lexicon

Answer 37

A dictionary or vocabulary book, particularly Greek, Hebrew, or Latin; or a special vocabulary.

Question 38

Italic

Answer 38

A style of type in which the letters slant.

Question 39

Caret

Answer 39

A sign used for marking a place in writing where something has to be put in.

Question 40

Parenthesis

Answer 40

Explanatory words inserted in a sentence; or the punctuation setting off such an expression.

Question 41

Cuneiform

Answer 41

Old Babylonian and Assyrian writing formed of wedge-shaped marks.

Question 42

Notation

Answer 42

A system of signs or symbols.

Question 43

Emendation

Answer 43

A correction or removal of errors, especially in a literary work.

Question 44

Prosaic

Answer 44

Unimaginative, commonplace, or dull.

Question 45

Stilted

Answer 45

Pompous or artificially formal.

Question 46

Terse

Answer 46

Concise, succinct, or to the point.

Question 47

Succinct

Answer 47

Compressed, concise, or terse.

Question 48

Discursive

Answer 48

Rambling, or wandering from topic to topic.

Question 49

Allude

Answer 49

To mention or refer to indirectly.

Question 50

Iterate

Answer 50

To repeat.

Question 51

Dictum

Answer 51

An authoritative statement, ruling, or formal pronouncement.

Question 52

Conundrum

Answer 52

A riddle, problem, or unanswerable question.

Question 53

Ineffable

Answer 53

That which cannot be expressed in speech.

Question 54

Epithet

Answer 54

A description name or title for a person.

Question 55

Pseudonym

Answer 55

A fictitious name or a pen name.

Question 56

Alto

Answer 56

The second-highest voice in four-part harmony.

Question 57

Treble

Answer 57

High-pitched or soprano. Threefold or treble.

Question 58

Ballad

Answer 58

A poem or song that tells a story in simple words.

Question 59

Recitative

Answer 59

Language uttered as in ordinary speech, but in musical tones.

Question 60

Libretto

Answer 60

The words or text of an opera or other long choral work.

Question 61

Descant

Answer 61

A melody sung or player in harmony with the main melody.

Question 62

Étude

Answer 62

A musical study for a solo instrument, designed to give practice in some point of technique.

Question 63

Thrum

Answer 63

To strum or play a stringed instrument monotonously; or a dull sound similar to strumming.

Question 64

Dulcet

Answer 64

Sweet, pleasant, or agreeable to the ear.

Question 65

Dissonant

Answer 65

Harsh or unharmonious in sound; not in agreement.