English, Lit Terms Test #1 - Niccum

Accent

The stress given a syllable in pronunciation.

Allegory

A story in which people, things, and events have another meaning, such as Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds within a line of poetry.

Allusion

A reference, explicit or implicit, to something in previous literature or history.

Ambiguity

Language that gives more than one meaning, leaving uncertainty as to meaning.

Ambivalence

Present when people have contradictory attitudes or emotions towards the same thing.

Analogy

A comparison of two things, alike in certain aspects, used to explain an unfamiliar idea.

Anaphora

The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses.

Anecdote

A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event.

Antagonist

The character in fiction who stands directly opposed to the protagonist.

Anti-hero

A graceless or inept protagonist who is the opposite of a traditional hero.

Antithesis

A figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words or ideas.

Apocalyptic

Literature concerned with predicting the ultimate destiny of the world.

Assonance

Resemblance in sound between vowels followed by different consonants in stressed syllables.

Asyndeton

A stylistic pattern in writing with clauses without coordinating conjunctions.

Atmosphere

The prevailing tone or mood of a literary work, established by setting or landscape.

Avant-garde

New writings showing striking innovations in style, form, and subject matter.

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter with ten syllables containing five stressed syllables.

Cacophony

A harsh, unpleasant combination of sounds or tones.

Caesura

A pause or break in the rhythmical progress of a line of poetry.

Characterization

The creation of imaginary persons who exist for the reader as real.

Cliché

An overused phrase or situation that has lost its freshness.

Climax

The turning point in the action of a story where intensity reaches its peak.

Colloquialism

An informal word or phrase used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

Comic relief

A humorous scene in serious fiction or drama to relieve tension.