ib english literature vocab + devices ۫ ꣑ৎ

What is Foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing: Hints at future events in the text ("Dark clouds gather as a character sets out on a journey, hinting at trouble.").

What is Motif?

Motif: A recurring element (image, word, idea) building deeper meaning ("The repeated mention of broken glass symbolizes fragility throughout the novel.").

What is Narrative Voice?

Narrative Voice: The perspective and tone of the narrator (1st, 2nd, 3rd person; reliable/unreliable) ("An unreliable narrator in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' creates ambiguity and tension.").

What is Free Indirect Discourse?

Free Indirect Discourse: Blending 3rd-person narration with a character’s inner thoughts ("He walked home, cursing the rain. Why had he even bothered coming?").

What is Irony?

Irony: When the opposite of what’s expected happens ("A fire station burns down.").

What is Pathetic Fallacy?

Pathetic Fallacy: Attributing human emotions to nature ("The storm raged as she cried.").

What is Meter?

Meter: The poem’s rhythmic pattern (e.g., iambic pentameter) ("Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?").

What is Rhyme Scheme?

Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of rhymes at the end of lines ("ABAB pattern in many traditional sonnets.").

What is Alliteration?

Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds ("She sells seashells by the seashore.").

What is Assonance?

Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds ("Hear the mellow wedding bells.").

What is Consonance?

Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds (often at the end of words) ("The lumpy, bumpy road.").

What is Volta?

Volta: A turn in tone or argument (often in sonnets) ("The shift from problem to resolution in line 9 of a Shakespearean sonnet.").

What is Imagery?

Imagery: Descriptive language appealing to the senses ("The golden sun poured its warmth over the fields.").

What is Enjambment?

Enjambment: A line that runs onto the next without punctuation ("We real cool. We / Left school.").

What is Caesura?

Caesura: A pause in a line of poetry ("To be, or not to be — that is the question.").

What is Soliloquy?

Soliloquy: A character speaks their thoughts aloud while alone ("Hamlet’s 'To be, or not to be' speech.").

What is Aside?

Aside: A brief remark to the audience unheard by others on stage ("A little more than kin, and less than kind.").

What are Stage Directions?

Stage Directions: Instructions about movement, expression, and tone in the script ("(He exits hurriedly.)").

What is Dramatic Irony?

Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something the characters do not ("In Othello, the audience knows Iago is lying; Othello does not.").

What is Catharsis?

Catharsis: Emotional release for the audience ("The purge of pity and fear at the end of Oedipus Rex.").

What is Hubris?

Hubris: Excessive pride, leading to downfall ("Macbeth’s ambition and arrogance cause his ruin.").

What is Anagnorisis?

Anagnorisis: A moment of critical discovery or recognition ("Oedipus realizes his true identity and fate.").

What is Synecdoche?

Synecdoche: A part represents the whole ("All hands on deck" (hands = sailors)).

What is Metonymy?

Metonymy: A related concept represents something ("The crown" = monarchy).

What is Polyptoton?

Polyptoton: Repetition of words with the same root ("Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds.").

What is Anaphora?

Anaphora: Repetition at the beginning of clauses ("We shall fight... We shall fight...").

What is Epistrophe?

Epistrophe: Repetition at the end of clauses ("See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.").

What is Chiasmus?

Chiasmus: Inverted parallel structure (ABBA) ("Fair is foul, and foul is fair.").

What is Zeugma?

Zeugma: One word applies to two others in different senses ("She broke his car and his heart.").

What is Parataxis?

Parataxis: Clauses side by side without conjunctions ("I came, I saw, I conquered.").

What is Hypotaxis?

Hypotaxis: Clauses joined with subordination (complex) ("Although he was tired, he kept running.").

What is a Semantic Field?

Semantic Field: A group of words related by theme ("Ashes, smoke, fire" = semantic field of destruction).

What is Intertextuality?

Intertextuality: Referencing other texts ("A poem that mirrors the style of The Odyssey.").

What is Diction / Register / Lexis?

Diction / Register / Lexis: Choice of words (diction); level of formality (register); set of words (lexis) ("Commence (formal) vs. Start (informal)").

What is Antithesis?

Antithesis: Contrasting ideas placed together ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.").

What is Ambiguity?

Ambiguity: Open to multiple meanings ("The final scene’s meaning is deliberately unclear.").

What is Bathos?

Bathos: Sudden shift from serious to trivial ("He spent his final hour of life doing what he loved most: arguing with his wife.").

What is Hyperbole?

Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration ("I’ve told you a million times.").

What is Litotes?

Litotes: Understatement using negation ("It’s not bad" (meaning it’s good)).

What is Polysyndeton?

Polysyndeton: Overuse of conjunctions ("And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.").

What is Asyndeton?

Asyndeton: No conjunctions ("Veni, vidi, vici.").

What is Paradox?

Paradox: A self-contradictory but true statement ("Less is more.").

What is Symbolism?

Symbolism: When an object represents something deeper ("A rose symbolizes love.").

What is Allusion?

Allusion: Indirect reference to another work ("Calling someone a real Romeo.").

What is Tone?

Tone: The writer’s attitude toward the subject or audience ("A sarcastic tone, a mournful tone.").

What is Aleatory Structure?

Aleatory Structure: Random, fragmented text structure ("A collage of diary entries and news clippings with no clear linear plot.").

What does 'factitious' mean?

Factitious: Artificial.

What does 'inception' mean?

Inception: Origin.

What does 'impetus' mean?

Impetus: Motivation.

What does 'impetuous' mean?

Impetuous: Impulsive.

What does 'exhort' mean?

Exhort: Urge.

What does 'obliged' mean?

Obliged: Grateful.

What does 'inscrutable' mean?

Inscrutable: Mysterious.

What does 'proclivity' mean?

Proclivity: Tendency.

What does 'keen' mean?

Keen: Sharp.

What does 'innocuous' mean?

Innocuous: Harmless.

What does 'emaciated' mean?

Emaciated: Scrawny.

What does 'privy' mean?

Privy: Admitted.

What does 'entice' mean?

Entice: Tempt.

What does 'ratiocination' mean?

Ratiocination: Logic.

What does 'progenitor' mean?

Progenitor: Ancestor.

What does 'opprobrium' mean?

Opprobrium: Disgrace.

What does 'remark' mean?

Remark: Opine.

What does 'vitality' mean?

Vitality: Life.

What does 'anarchy' mean?

Anarchy: Lawlessness.

What does 'alleviate' mean?

Alleviate: Lessen.

What does 'panacea' mean?

Panacea: Cure.

What does 'vindictive' mean?

Vindictive: Spiteful.

What does 'akin' mean?

Akin: Related.

What does 'peremptory' mean?

Peremptory: Bossy.

What does 'vile' mean?

Vile: Disgusting.

What does 'degradation' mean?

Degradation: Immorality.

What does 'degenerate' mean?

Degenerate: Corrupt.

What does 'circumspect' mean?

Circumspect: Cautious.

What does 'chicanery' mean?

Chicanery: Dishonesty.

What does 'delineate' mean?

Delineate: Outline.

What does 'erroneous' mean?

Erroneous: Incorrect.

What does 'exploit' mean?

Exploit: Abuse.

What does 'coruscate' mean?

Coruscate: Sparkle.

What does 'coalesce' mean?

Coalesce: Combine.

What does 'esteem' mean?

Esteem: Admiration.

What does 'compartmentalization' mean?

Compartmentalization: Dividing into sections.

What does 'devoid' mean?

Devoid: Completely lacking.

What does 'soliloquy' mean?

Soliloquy: A speech where a character talks to themselves on stage.

What does 'intrepid' mean?

Intrepid: Fearless.

What do 'connotation and denotation' mean?

Connotation: Implied meaning; Denotation: Literal meaning.

What does 'trepidation' mean?

Trepidation: Fear or anxiety.

What do 'dissonance and instability' mean?

Dissonance: Lack of harmony; Instability: Lack of stability.

What does 'agitated' mean?

Agitated: Troubled or nervous.

What does 'visceral' mean?

Visceral: Deep, instinctive feeling.

What does 'lachrymose' mean?

Lachrymose: Tearful, prone to weeping.

What does 'chiding' mean?

Chiding: Scolding or rebuking.

What does 'misconstrue' mean?

Misconstrue: Misunderstand.

What does 'ricochet' mean?

Ricochet: To bounce off a surface.

What does 'disingenuous' mean?

Disingenuous: Not candid or sincere.

What does 'plangent' mean?

Plangent: Loud and mournful.

What does 'fungible' mean?

Fungible: Interchangeable (Fungibility: Ability to be exchanged).

What does 'porous[ness]' mean?

Porous: Having holes; Porousness: Quality of being porous.

What does 'calloused' mean?

Calloused: Hardened, emotionally or physically.

What does 'malaise' mean?

Malaise: General feeling of discomfort.