English literary terms

Exam

Alliteration-need to know

repeating first sound “she sells sea shells”

Allusion- need to know

reference to a well known work (ex: allude to the Odyssey: Lotus)

Anaphora-need to know

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of lines/verses

Antagonist-need to know

the bad guy

Archetype

a model, paradigm, example

Assonance

repeating sound

Audience

the readers/watchers. Who the author’s writing for

Blank verse

unrhymed five stress lines

Characterization

round, flat, all things an author does to create a character

Cliche

overused expression

Connotation

the feeling a word evokes

Conflict-need to know

the problem, set-up in the exposition, causing rising action

a. external-problem btwn 2 characters or character and force

b. internal-problem inside a character (moral dilemma)

Couplet

2 lines in a row rhyme (twinkle twinkle little star)

Denotation

dictionary definition of a word

Diction-need to know

word choice

Dramatic Irony- NEED TO KNOW!

when the audience knows something the character doesn’t

Enjambment

when the meaning of a line of poetry goes onto the next.

Epic

long narrative poem, on grand scale, about heroes, embody history/values of a nation

Euphemism

a nice way of saying something sad (passed away=death)

Figurative language-need to know

similes, metaphors, imagert, etc.

Flashback

organizational technique, include a moment from the past

Foil

a character or situation with opposite elements to the main, brings out/highlights

Foreshadowing- NEED TO KNOW

setting up what’s to come

Free verse

no regular meter/rhyme

Hyperbole- NEED TO KNOW

exaggeration

“My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite”- drama queen Juliet

Iambic Pentameter

five stress/line with iambs

a. (was this the face that launched a thousand ships?)

Imagery

appeal to sight, sound, taste, touch, or smell

Inference

to figure out by looking at evidence- read between the lines

In media res

in the middle of things

Irony (verbal situational, dramatic)-need to know

verbal- when the meaning is opposed to the words

Situational- when what is expected does not match up with what is happening

Dramatic- when audience knows what character doesn’t

Metaphor-need to know

comparison without using like/as

Meter

the rhythm

Mise en scene

setting

Mood

The way the writer feels

Narrative poem

poem that’s a story

Onomatopoeia

when a word means what it sounds like

“pop” “bang”

Paradox-need to know

seems to be self-contradictory but really contains truth in opposition

a. (be cruel to be kind)

Parallel Structure

phrases/sentences of the same construction next to each other

Ex: Her children like to swim, hike and ride dirt bikes

Parts of a plot

exposition, rising action, climax, denouement, resolution

personification-need to know

giving human traits to non-human things

Point of view (POV)

first person, third person omniscient, third person limited

Propoganda

spreading a particular idea/belief

Prose/Verse

prose is not poetry. Verse is poetry

Prose- "I walked about all alone over the hillsides- no rhyming

Verse of poetry-, "I wandered lonely as a cloud/that floats on high o'er vales and hills

Pun-need to know

a play on words

Ex:

Repetition

repeating for a purpose

Setting

where/when it takes place

Simile-need to know

compare using like or as

Slant Rhyme

it rhymes closely, but not quite

Stage directions

the directions in a play that are just for the actors to know/do. Audience doesn’t hear these

stereotype

something that might be true but is not the whole story

Symbolism

using a symbol to express an idea

Syntax

word order

Tone

the way an author feels

theme-need to know

what it’s about in ONE word