10th Grade Literature - Unit 4 Study Sheet

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Unit 4 of the 10th grade literature course.

Irony

A broad concept that underscores the paradoxical, expressing a contradiction between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.

Structural Irony

An overarching feature of a work that generates two layers of meaning (one literal and one implied) throughout the entire work.

Dramatic Irony

A situation where the reader or audience is aware of a plot development that the character in the story is unaware of.

Paradox

A situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory qualities.

Situational Irony

An event that is the opposite of what one would expect, often leading to a pointed message.

Hyperbole

Intentional exaggeration used for emphasis or effect.

Understatement

Restraint or lack of emphasis for rhetorical effect, the opposite of hyperbole.

Litotes

A form of understatement that asserts something by denying its contrary.

Allusion

A reference to a well-known story, event, person, or object to make a comparison in the reader's mind.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often using the words 'like' or 'as'.

Perspective Reversal

A situational irony formed by viewing man from the perspective of creatures he assumes he is superior to.