English Literature Review

Flashcards for English Literature exam review, covering literary terms, grammar, and time period beliefs.

Allegory

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

Repetition

Involves the deliberate reuse of words, phrases, or sounds to create emphasis, rhythm, and impact

Parallelism

Repeating grammatical structures in a sentence or series of sentences to create a rhythmic or balanced effect

Imagery

Writers use vivid language to create mental images in the reader's mind

Direct Metaphor

Explicitly state the comparison

Implied Metaphor

Suggest the comparison without explicitly stating it

Extended Metaphor

Compares two dissimilar things throughout a passage, chapter, or even an entire work.

Simile

Directly compares two unlike things using the words 'like' or 'as' to highlight a shared characteristic

Alliteration

Involves two or more words that appear close together and have the same initial stressed consonant syllable (beginning of the word sounds the same “good grief” “red rose”)

Assonance

Repetition of nearby vowel sounds within a sentence (“he claps his hands and stamps his feet”)

Oxymoron

Combines two contradictory or seemingly opposite terms to create a specific effect, often for emphasis, humor, or to reveal a deeper truth (“deafening silence”)

Personification

Assigns human qualities, emotions, or actions to inanimate objects, abstract ideas, or animals

Paradox

A statement or situation that seems contradictory or absurd, but upon closer examination, reveals a deeper, hidden truth or insight ('The more things change, the more they stay the same')

Analogy

Draws a comparison between two unlike things to highlight a shared similarity or relationship ('The world is a stage')

Understatement

Deliberately downplays the significance or severity of a situation, event, or idea

Hyperbole

Uses exaggeration for emphasis or effect

Anaphora

Involves the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, phrases, or sentences (martin luther king jrs “i have a dream speech”)

Anecdote

A short, interesting or amusing story or account, often used as a literary device to illustrate a point, reveal a character's personality, or add humor and interest to a narrative

Motif

A recurring element, like an image, word, phrase, idea, or object, that appears throughout a work (or several works by one author) and contributes to the overall theme or meaning

Symbol

Involves using objects, people, actions, or ideas to represent something else, often abstract concepts or ideas

Ethos

Refers to the credibility or character of a speaker or writer, aiming to establish their trustworthiness and build trust with the audience

Pathos

Refers to the appeal to emotion in persuasion

Logos

Appeals to the audience's sense of reason and logic

Semicolon

To connect two independent clauses that are closely related in meaning

Colon

To introduce a list, an explanation, a quotation, or to connect two independent clauses when the second clause elaborates on the first

Comma

To separate items in a series, connect two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, set off nonrestrictive clauses, and set off introductory phrases

Emdash

To set off parenthetical information or to indicate a break or change in thought within a sentence (“My brother—well, technically my half-brother—is coming to visit” 'He was traveling very quickly—the trees were a blur through the window—but the train showed no sign of slowing down’)

Tone

The author's attitude toward the subject, which can be conveyed through word choice, sentence structure, and stylistic elements. It influences how readers perceive the narrative and characters.

Iambic Pentameter

A metrical foot with five iambs, each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, commonly used in English poetry. It creates a rhythmic flow, ten syllables per line.

Sestet

A six-line stanza commonly used in poetry, particularly in sonnets, that often follows a specific rhyme scheme. It typically develops a theme or presents a resolution to the problem introduced in the octave.

Onomatopoeia

The formation of a word that phonetically imitates the sound it describes, such as "buzz" or "clang." It enhances the sensory experience of the text.

Enjambment

A poetic technique where a sentence or phrase runs over from one line to the next without a pause, creating a sense of continuation and urgency.

Purtitian

• Divine Intervention Original Sin Predestination Elect

• Faith Focused

• Scarlet Letter

• They live in moderation for everything but God. Selected few are elected before birth; hard work is needed. They deeply valued  independence, religion, and a simple life with god.

• Ultimate goal is becoming “one” with god,

Revolutionary

• God gave humans the ability to think

• People are innately born bad

• Innovation and ideas to improve the yourself and society 

• Rationalists - use logic and reason

• The Declaration of Independence

• All people have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom in all forms, especially religious.

• Ethos- credibility

• Pathos- feeling/emotions

• Logos- logic

• Numerous rhetorical devices

Romanticism

• 5 i’s- Individuality/inner experience, innocence, intuition, inspiration from nature, imagination.

• Early romantics - supernatural

• Fireside poets - family and life lessons

• Transcendentalists - nature and men are good

• The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls

• Reflected the ideas of individualism and inward thinking. They dreamed of learning from nature and using it to understand life and its purpose on a deeper level.

The Moderns

• Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson - transcendentalists ripples

• Oh Captain My Captain - Whitman

• Because I Could Not Stop For Death - Dickinson

• Introspection and innovation in literature

• Exploration of new poetic forms and themes

• Emphasized individuality and personal expression

• Responded to societal changes, including urbanization and industrialization.

Victorian

• Individualism

• Hard work and determination

• The idea of a fresh start

• Creoles

• The Awakening

• People in the gilded age held the idea of a fresh start and second chance. The growing work industry and acceptance of new immigration helped support the hope of a better life for themselves and their families.

Realism and Naturalism

• Realism - aimed to depict life accurately, focused on the everyday experiences of ordinary people, avoids romanticized views or thoughts.

• Naturalism - determinism, objective and a pessimistic view of life. Showed life for what it really was, focusing on societal and economic struggles of the everyday person with the influence of the environment and hereditary on the person. 

• To Build A Fire

• Affirms fate to be something that is fully in control of the individual and how they perceive nature along with its strengths held over humanity.

Modern Era

• Age of Technology

• Individualism

• Consumerism 

• Capitalism

• Entertainment

• The Great Gatsby

• Modern age dream is to be financially stable with a family and consumer luxuries.  Freedom was also the basis of the American dream in this era.

Tragic Hero

a tragic hero is a character, typically of high status, who is neither perfectly virtuous nor entirely wicked. They are a person of intermediate character, whose misfortune stems from a mistake or error in judgment not from depravity or vice. This mistake leads to their downfall, causing pity and fear in the audience

Archetype

a universal, recurring symbol, theme, or character type that represents a fundamental human experience

verbs of being

Verbs of being, also known as state-of-being verbs or linking verbs, describe the state or condition of a subject rather than an action. They show what something is, was, or will be, without indicating an action. Examples include "is," "am," "are," "was," "were," and "be"

Dialect v. Accent

An accent refers to the specific way someone pronounces words, while a dialect encompasses a wider range of linguistic features, including pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar