English Literature Vocabulary

Flashcards for English Literature Terms

Didactic

Intended to teach or instruct.

Exposition/Expository

A comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory.

Theme

The central topic or idea explored in a text.

Imagery

Visually descriptive or figurative language.

Symbols

Things that represent or stand for something else.

Tone

The general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.

Purpose

The reason for which something is done or created.

Anaphora

The use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence, to avoid repetition

Allusion

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Consonance

The recurrence of similar sounds, esp. consonants, in close proximity.

Omniscient

Knowing everything.

Rhetoric

The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing.

Narration

The action or process of narrating a story.

Persuasion

The action or fact of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something.

Style

A distinctive manner of expression.

Juxtaposition

The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

Antithesis

A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.

Motif

A recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., esp. in a literary, artistic, or musical work.

Archetypes

A very typical example of a certain person or thing.

Irony

The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

Connotation

An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Apostrophe

An exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person (typically one who is dead or absent) or thing (typically one that is personified).

Catharsis

The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.

Logos

An appeal based on logic or reason.

Paradox

A statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

Pathos

A quality that evokes pity or sadness.

Satire

The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices.

Ethos

An appeal to ethics.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Diction

The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.

Motivation

The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.

Shift

A change in position, direction, or tendency.

Pun

A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Sarcasm

The use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

Metonymy

The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant.

Parallelism

The use of successive verbal constructions in poetry or prose that correspond in grammatical structure, sound, meter, meaning, etc.

Colloquialism

A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.