English 10 Final 2025

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Simile example

"He is as hungry as a horse"

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds

Alliteration example

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.

Apostrophe example

Mark Antony's address to the dead Caesar in Julius Caesar

Catalogs

a collection of people, objects, ideas, and other elements in list form within poetry or prose.

Catalogs example

Dialect

a form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group (used in regionalism)

Dialect example

coke vs. pop, lift vs. elevator, torch vs. flashlight

Dramatic irony

when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't

Dramatic irony example

The reader knows the killer is in the shed, the characters in the story don't.

Metaphor

A comparison without using like or as

Metaphor example

The snow is a white blanket.

Flashback

a scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story.

Foreshadowing

A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.

Foreshadowing example

the rosebush at the beginning of the Scarlet Letter and the picture of David and Bathsheba in Dimmesdale's bedroom

Free verse

poetry with no rhyme scheme or set meter(length)

Hyperbole

exaggeration

Hyperbole example

I've told you a million times.

Imagery

Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)

Imagery example

It was dark and dim in the forest

lyric poetry

A short poem in which a single speaker expresses personal thoughts and feelings

rhyme scheme

A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem

rhyme scheme example

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

situational irony

irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.

situational irony example

A fire station burns down

onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

onomatopoeia example

Bang! The plate crashed to the floor

parallelism

Repeating grammatical structures that correspond to each other

parallelism example

like father, like son

stream of consciousness

a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind.

stream of consciousness example

maybe I should eat lunch now... I'm hungry (thinking in head)

point of view

the perspective from which a story is told

point of view example

first person, second person, third person

Quatrain

4 line stanza

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Symbol example

The dove is a symbol of peace.

Verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

Verbal irony example

"The rotten trash needs to go outside because it smells so unbelievably good."

Transcendentalism

A philosophy pioneered by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1830's and 1840's, in which each person has direct communication with God and Nature, and there is no need for organized churches. It incorporated the ideas that mind goes beyond matter, intuition is valuable, that each soul is part of the Great Spirit, and each person is part of a reality where only the invisible is truly real. Promoted individualism, self-reliance, and freedom from social constraints, and emphasized emotions.

3 key values of Transcendentalism

Individualism, Idealism, and Divinity in Nature

Beliefs of Transcendentalism

-Humans are inherently good. -Society and its institutions are corrupting (ie: government and religion). -Spirituality should come from the self, not from organized religion. -Insight and experience are more important than logic. -Nature is beautiful and should NOT BE ALTERED by humans in any way

Individualism

Humans are best when they think for themselves

Idealism

the importance of creativity and imagination

Divinity in Nature

Nature is sacred and divine

Realism

A nineteenth century movement in art and literature which rejected Romanticism and the idealization of life and focused on rendering a "faithful representation of reality".

4 characteristics of Realism

1. Objective writing about ordinary characters in ordinary situations' "real life". 2.The characters are more important than action and plot; complex ethical choices are often the subject. 3.Characters appear in their real complexity of temperament and motive. 4.More focus on the aspirations of a rising middle-class

Sub-movements in Realism

Naturalism and Regionalism/Local Color

4 characteristics of Naturalism

1)More pessimistic than Realism. 2)Naturalist writers believed that larger forces were at work: Nature, Fate, and Heredity. 3)The writing focused on hardship, whether it was war, the frontier, or urbanization. 4)Depicted real people in real situations

3 themes of Naturalism

Survival, Determinism, Violence

Regionalism

fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region

Local color

relies on minor details and dialects that give a place its character

3 characteristics of Regionalism

1)All about "local flavor" or "local color". 2)The South and the West were good subject matter for local color writing. 3)Regional stories often contain humor and small-town characteristics

5 themes of Regionalism or Local Color

1. Antipathy towards change. 2. Nostalgia for a past golden age. 3. Celebration of community. 4. Tension between urban ways and old-fashioned rural values. 5. Outsiders or interlopers

Modernism

1915-1946. A search for new ideas.Could no longer trust the ideas of a world that was capable of war.

3 characteristics of Modernism

Individualism and lack of faith in the American Dream

Author of "Civil Disobedience" and "Walden"

Henry David Thoreau

Meaning of "Civil Disobedience"

the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest.

Meaning of "Walden"

To live a simple, deliberate, and self-reliant life, prioritizing essential experiences and connecting deeply with nature. All you need is: food, shelter, clothing, and fuel

Author of "Self-Reliance"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Meaning of "Self-Reliance"

Individualism, people must believe in their own intuition and reject the opinions of others in order to transcend the bounds of the physical world

Author of "Song of Myself", "I Hear America Singing"

Walt Whitman

Meaning of "Song of Myself"

A celebration of the individual and the interconnectedness of all things

Meaning of "I Hear America Singing"

Celebrates the diverse and vibrant voices of the American people, particularly the working class, and their individual contributions to the nation's identity

Author of "A Certain Slant of Light" , "I heard a fly buzz-when I died"

"Because I Could Not Stop for Death", "I taste a liquor never brewed"

Emily Dickerson

Meaning of "A Certain Slant of Light"

Religion and death

Meaning of "I heard a fly buzz-when I died"

The exploration and travel towards death

Meaning of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"

Death takes the speaker on a carriage ride to her own burial place. At the end she tells us this happened a long time ago and that she has been dead for centuries. The poem is a philosophical exploration of the experience of death and the afterlife.

Meaning of "I taste a liquor never brewed"

Description: Intoxication shows how beauty of nature makes her feel. So high she's leaning against the sun.

Author of "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"

Mark Twain

Meaning of "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"

satirizes the culture of the California Gold Rush and the human tendency to gamble and be easily tricked

Author of "To Build a Fire"

Jack London

Meaning of "To Build a Fire"

man lives a solitary existence which is subject to the relentless, unforgiving forces of nature

Author of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Ambrose Bierce

Meaning of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"

Realism, the difference between reality and perception, especially in the face of imminent death. Showcases that nature does not care if you live nor die

Author of "Roman Fever"

Edith Wharton

Meaning of "Roman Fever"

jealousy, friendship, irony, and the complexities of female relationships

What is the situational irony in Roman Fever?

Alida's manipulative actions, intended to hurt Grace, actually lead to Grace's affair with Delphin and the birth of her daughter, Barbara

Author of "We Wear the Mask"

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Meaning of "We Wear the Mask"

speaks to the experience of being a member of an oppressed group

Author of "Richard Bone" and "Lucinda Matlock"

Edgar Lee Masters

Meaning of "Richard Bone"

A man was paid to chisel false hoods onto peoples grave

Meaning of "Lucinda Matlock"

loving life and living it to the fullest

Author of "Richard Cory" and "Luke Havergal"

Edwin Arlington Robinson

Meaning of "Richard Cory"

is a poem about a man who walks around town and looks like he has it all, such as money and good looks

Meaning of "Luke Havergal"

lose of a lover due to death

Author of "The Great Gatsby"

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Meaning of "The Great Gatsby"

American Dream, reliving the past is impossible, obsession of toxic love and money

Author of A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry

Meaning of A Raisin in the Sun

Dreams can become a reality, the American dream, hope

Quote: "But go, and if you listen she will call"

Luke Havergal by Robinson (1)

Quote: "They had come over across the divide from Indian creek country, while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting logs in the spring"

To Build a Fire by Jack London (1)

Quote: "As the historian does who writes/Without knowing the truth or/ Because he is influenced to hide it"

Richard Bone by Masters (1)

Quote: "O great Christ, our cries to thee from tortured souls arise"

We Wear the Mask by Dunbar

Quote: "Kicking up m-o-r-e dust, and raising m-o-r-e racket with her coughing and sneezing"

The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain (1)

Quote: "He had power only to feel, and feeling was torment"

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce (1)

Quote: "But still I chiseled whatever they paid me to chisel"

Richard Bone by Masters (2)

Quote: "He feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sounds like the shock of a cannon"

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce (2)

Quote: "I spun, I wove, I kept the house, I nursed the sick, I made the garden"

Lucinda Matlock by Masters (1)