Mid-Term Study Guide for Literary, Vocab, and Grammar

Allegory

A story or tale with two or more levels of meaning

Deists

Believed in human perfectibility and praised God by doing good for others

Bildungsroman

A coming-of-age story

Epiphany

A moment of realization or self-understanding

Vernacular

Language spoken by a particular group of people (from a particular sector)

Stream-of-Consciousness

Style of writing that portrays the inner workings of a character's mind

Crucible

A severe test or trial

Irony

A discrepancy between appearances and reality

Deism

An informal, unorganized religious movement among the upper classes and intellectuals which held that God designed the universe according to scientific law

Oratory

The art of skilled, eloquent public speaking

Metaphor

Compares two things without using like or as

Allusion

reference to a famous person, place, event, or another literary work

Argument by analogy

a type of reasoning that claims if two things are similar in some known ways, they are likely similar in another

Pseudonym

A fictitious name, especially a pen name

Motivation

The reasons for another character's behavior

Foil

A character who acts as a contrast to another

Tone

the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, its characters, or its audience

Theme

the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work

Diction

A speaker or writer's choice of words

Denouement

The conclusion or resolution of a story when mysteries are unraveled and conflicts are solved

Stereotype

A fixed conception of a character or an idea that does not allow for any individuality

Genre

a division or type of literature

Novel

a long work of fiction

Autobiography

An account of someone who writes an account about their own life

Biography

an account of someone's life written by someone else

Fiction

a literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not always based on fact

Tragedy

a story in which a heroic character comes to some unhappy end

Myth

an anonymous traditional story religious in nature that serves to explain a belief or phenomenon

Satire

a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or society in order to bring about change

Propaganda

writing or images that seek to persuade through emotional appeal rather than through logical proof

Pathos

Appeal to readers' feelings of pity or fear

Ad Hominem

an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue

Deduction

Reaching a probable conclusion based on given premises

Induction

Form a generalization from a set of specific examples

Ethos

Appeal to the reader's good sense, good will, and desire to do the right thing

Post Hoc

Ergo Propter Hoc, Cites an unrelated event that occurred earlier as the cause of a current situation

Red Herring

Use of an irrelevant point to divert attention from the real issue

Scapegoat

A person that bears the blame for another

Simile

Compares two things using like or as. Example: The dawn comes up like thunder.

Oxymoron

Combines two contradictory terms to create a deeper meaning. Example: Parting is such sweet sorrow

Metonymy

Figure of speech where a writer replaces the name of a thing with something closely related. Example: Pay tribute to the crown

Synecdoche

Figure of speech when part of something is used to represent a whole or vice versa. Example: I have a hundred mouths to feed

Apostrophe

Used when the speaker directly addresses an abstract idea as if they could respond for dramatic effect. Example: Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful

Personification

Giving something nonliving human traits or qualities. Example: April shakes out her rain-drenched hair.

Hyperbole

Uses extreme exaggeration for emphasis. Example: I sweated rivers of blood.

Hasty Generalization

Draws a conclusion about an entire group based on evidence too scant or insufficient

Either/Or Argument

The writer asserts that there are only two possibilities, but in reality, there are more

Ad Populum

Claims something is true or good simply because many people believe it

Herculean

tremendous in size, strength, difficulty, or effort

Cynical

doubting the goodness and sincerity of human motives

Pandemonium

utter confusion or wild uproar

Maudlin

excessively sentimental

Labyrinth

intricate network of passages

complicated situation

maze

Catholic

set of beliefs that are broad-minded or universal

Philistine

describes a materialistic person who does not appreciate artistic and intellectual activities

Mesmerize

fascinate or hypnotize

Alliteration

Repeated consonant sounds to create a rhythm or emphasis

Parallelism

Repeated grammatical structure (words, phrases, clauses) to create emphasis or rhythm

Rhetorical Question

A question used for effect not to be answered

Repetition

Words, sounds, and phrases are used multiple times to emphasize key points

Parallel Construction

the grammatical rule of using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance

Participles

a verb form (ending in "-ing" or "-ed/-en") that acts like an adjective, describing nouns/pronouns, or forms continuous/perfect verb tenses

Participial phrases

begins with an -ing (present participle) or -ed (past participle) verb form and functions as an adjective modifying a noun

Absolute phrases

modifies the entire sentence and typically consists of a noun followed by a participle or participial phrase

Replacing "to be" verbs

Replacing "to be" verbs (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been) makes writing stronger and more direct by using vivid action verbs

Adjectives out of order

descriptive adjectives are moved from their usual position before a noun to after the noun

Gerund Phrase

an -ing verb form and functions as a noun

Infinitive Phrase

always starts with "to" followed by the base form of a verb.

Appositive Phrase

a noun phrase that renames another noun next to it

Prepositional Phrase

starts with a preposition and typically ends with a noun or pronoun (the object of the preposition).

Noun phrase

a word or group of words that functions in a sentence as subject, object, or prepositional object.

Adverb phrase

a group of words that functions as a single adverb, modifying a verb, adjective, or another adverb

Adjective phrase

a group of words that functions as a single adjective to modify a noun or pronoun