honors English 212 exams

Ambiguity

An element of uncertainty in a text, in which something can be interpreted in a number of different ways.

Characterization (Direct)

The author specifically reveals traits about the character in a direct, straightforward manner

Characterization (Indirect)

The author describes a character through that character's thoughts, actions, speech, and dialogue

Close Reading

Careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text by paying attention to the authors word choice and trying to generate meaning as to why they chose some word choices over others

Connotation

The idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning

Denotation

The dictionary definition

Flashback

A scene in a movie, play, short story, novel, or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to flash backward and tell what happened at an earlier time.

Foreshadowing

Giving the reader a sense of what is to come later in the story.

Imagery

The author uses descriptive words to build a picture of what's happening in the book usually using the six senses.

Irony (Dramatic)

The reader knows something that the main character doesn’t know.

Irony (Situational)

The opposite of what you expect to happen happens.

Irony (Verbal)

When one thing is said but means something else (Sarcasm)

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or a phrase literally indicates one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.

Mood

A story’s atmosphere or the feeling it evokes.

Rite of Passage

A ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone's life

Simile

A comparison of two things using like or as

Symbolism

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Theme

The message of the story; the underlying meaning, which must be inferred.

Universal: themes do not summarize the work nor do they reference details from it

Concise: written in a single sentence

Not a cliche

Not a command: should not contain absolute words like “always” or “never”

Two areas that setting most impacts the story

mood and character

Feminist literary theory

Looks at gender roles in society for both men and women

• How is the relationship between men and women portrayed?

• How are male and female roles defined?

• what barriers or freedoms do the characters have as a result of their genders

Marxist literary theory

Class differences and the implications of living in those classes in society. Some parts of our culture are or once were oppressed based on their class and/or held power over others.

• what social classes do the characters represent?

• how do the characters form different classes interact or conflict?

• which barriers or freedoms does a character have as a result of their social class?

• what values does it reinforce?

• what values does it subvert?

Psychoanalytic literary theory

analyzing the role of subconscious psychological drives and impulses in shaping human behavior or artistic production. The mind wrestles with desires, unconscious conflict, and reality.

Id

Irrational, instinctual, unknown, subconscious part of our mind. Contains secret desires, darkest wishes, and most intense fears.

Ego

Rational, logical, waking part of the mind. This is who we are or how we want to be viewed. Defends against i’d.

Superego

Internal censor, causes us to make moral judgments to choose between right and wrong for ourselves and others. Works as a filter.

Complex sentence

One or more subordinate clauses combined with one independent clause.

Compound-Complex sentence

One or more subordinate clauses combined with two or more independent clauses.

Clause

Group of words that contains both a subject and a verb

Independent clause

Clause that can stand by itself; it is a complete thought/sentence

Subordinate/dependent clause

Clause that cannot stand by itself

Simple sentence

One independent clause

Compound sentence

Two or more independent clauses joined together

ethos

appeals to credibility or character

pathos

appeals to emotion

logos

appeals to logic or reason

sonnet

a 14 line poem with a specific rhyme scheme

quatrain

a stanza of four lines

couplet

two consecutive rhyming lines

paraphrasing

rewriting main idea in your own words, same length

summarizing

condensed version with main points only

quoting

exact words with quotation marks and citations