Vocab 7 Flashcards
(15 cards)
a reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familiar.
Allusion
the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexact.
Ambiguity
An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype. Examples: Quest story, mentor character, etc.
Archetype
an emotional release which brings about renewal of the self or welcome relief from anxiety, tension, etc.
Catharsis
a rhetorical or literary device in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form as in the example: Maria walked in; out strolled Sam.
Chiasmus
an extended, elaborate or unexpected metaphor in which the dissimilarity between the two things compared is so obvious that the effect is surprising, as in “Marriage is like getting a root canal.”
Conceit
two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. The last two lines in an Elizabethan sonnet.
“Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow”
Couplet
In Greek “description”; a poem that presents a vivid description of a work of art.
Ekphrasis
a chapter at the end of a work of literature that concludes the work.
Epilogue
a type of literature (poetry, drama, fiction, etc.)
Genre
the substitution of the name of one thing or object for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated (such as “crown” representing a monarchin “lands belonging to the crown”)
Metonymy
a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole (such as fifty sail for fifty ships) or the whole for a part (such as society for high society)
“wheels” can refer to a car. “I just for new wheels.”
Synecdoche
the blending of human senses to describe something. Phrases like a “loud dress” or a “chilly gaze” blend our sensory modalities. The term is derived from the neurological condition of the same name, where some people experience an actual link between their senses, where one sense stimulates another—for instance, they may feel like they hear a color, smell a shape, or taste a texture.
Synesthesia
the arrangement of words to make a sentence. Analysis of syntax includes punctuation, word order, sentence length, and sentence variety.
Syntax
The position that a writer undertakes to prove or support conveying an interpretation of a work.
Thesis
