Spring Honors English Semester 2 Final Exam Vocabulary

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms for the Spring Honors English Semester 2 Final Exam Review.

Symbolism

A literary device that uses an object or idea to represent something else.

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Irony

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

Archetype

A typical character, action, or situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature.

Existentialism

The philosophical viewpoint that existence precedes essence and that humanity is responsible for creating its own values and meaning.

Absurdism

The quality of being inconsistent with reason or logic.

Allusion

A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance.

Metaphor

A figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another.

Tripartite Psych

Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche, including the id, ego, and superego.

Psychoanalytical Lens

Psychological school of thought that emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind in shaping behavior.

Marxist Theory

A social and political theory that analyzes class relations and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development.

Historical lens

A method of literary criticism that examines a text within its historical and cultural context.

Feminist/Gender lens

A critical approach that examines how gender shapes texts and how texts reflect gender norms and power dynamics.

Hamartia

Error of judgment or tragic flaw.

Peripeteia

A sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances.

Hubris

Excessive pride or self-confidence.

Anagnorisis

The point in the play when the tragic hero recognizes the truth of the situation.

Catharsis

The purging of the emotions of pity and fear.

Ethos

Ethical appeal; convincing an audience of the author’s credibility or character.

Pathos

Emotional appeal; persuading an audience by appealing to their emotions.

Logos

Logical appeal; using logic, reason, and evidence to persuade an audience.

Antithesis

A contrast or opposition between two things.

Anastrophe

Inversion of the usual order of words or clauses.

Asyndeton

Omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses.

Apposition

A noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it.

Antanaclasis

Repetition of a word in two different senses.

Anadiplosis

Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

Climax

Arranging words or phrases in order of increasing importance or impact.

Chiasmus

Words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

Ellipses

Omission of a word or words that are superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues.

Epistrophe

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Irony

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

Isocolon

Parallel phrases or clauses of similar structure and length.

Litotes

Ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary.

Metaphor

A figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another.

Paradox

A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

Parallelism

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

Polysyndeton

The use of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural.

Parenthesis

A word or phrase inserted as an explanation or afterthought into a passage that is grammatically complete without it, in writing usually marked off by curved brackets, dashes, or commas.

Personification

The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Simile

A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.