Eng. 1 Midterm 2022-23

Characters

Individuals in a story or drama.

Point of View

Vantage point from which a writer tells a story. There are 3 types: omniscient, third-person limited, and first-person.

Setting

Time and place of the story, including any historical significance for this time period

Plot

A series of related events that make up a story (cause and effect relationships).

Complications

problems and/or obstacles the main characters must (attempt to) overcome

Conflicts

The BIG problems the characters encounter.

External conflict

a struggle with an outside force. Examples: Man vs. Man or Man vs. Nature or Man vs. Society.

Internal conflict

a struggle between the main character's opposing needs, desires or emotions, such as a moral conflict. For example, the main character is struggling with guilt, fear, remorse, etc.

Climax

is the most intense moment in the plot, the moment at which something happens that reveals how the conflict will turn out. This event usually occurs right before the end of the story.

Resolution or Denouement

all the problems have been resolved, and the story has been brought to a close.

Theme

The central idea, message, or insight revealed by a work of literature.

Bildungsroman

A novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character.

Symbol

Person, place, thing, or event that stands both for itself and something beyond itself. For example: a RED rose (stands for itself) and is a symbol of LOVE.

Turning point

is a point in time when something happens that causes a shift or an irrevocable change in direction of the story or drama.

verbal irony

irony which occurs when a writer or speaker says one thing but really means the opposite

situational irony

occurs when what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected or appropriate

simile

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things by using a connective word such as like, as, than, resembles, or semi colon

motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things without using the connective words like, as, than, or resembles

irony

a contrast or discrepancy between expectations and reality--between what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected and what really happens, or between what appears to be true and what really is true

imagery

language that appeals to at least 2 senses (touch, taste, smell, sound, sight)

foreshadowing

clues that hint at what is going to happen later in the plot

flashback

a scene in a narrative work that interrupts the present action of the plot to "flash backward" and tell what happened at an earlier time

figurative language

a word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level

extended metaphor

a metaphor that is developed over several lines of writing or even through an entire poem or paragraph

epic hero

an epic's larger-than-life main character whose mighty deeds reflect the values admired by the society that created the epic

epic

a long narrative poem
vast setting
quest taken in search of something of value
supernatural forces
glorification of hero
rooted in culture or society

dramatic irony

irony that occurs when the audience or the reader knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know

diction

a writer's or speaker's choice of words

dialect

a way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or group of people

alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another

allusion

a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, or some other field of knowledge

vivid verbs

specific and descriptive verbs
ex. Mrs. Minner moon-walked across the classroom

dactylic hexameter

it has five metrical feet in each line

dactyl

one of the two things that make up a dactylic hexameter.
It is a heavy syllable followed by two light ones.

spondee

one of the two things that make up a dactylic hexameter.
It is two long sounds.

epithets

a repeated description oftentimes used to meet rhyming/meter requirements.
ex. "bright-eyed Athena"

formal rhetoric

long, formal speeches by the characters

Homeric simile

a comparison of epic or heroic events to simple, everyday events

Agamemnon

King of Argos (Mycenae)

Menelaus

King of Sparta (Mycenaean)
husband of helen

Helen

Wife of Menelaus of Sparta (queen)
ran away with paris of troy
caused the trojan war

Paris

Prince of Troy
Ran away with Helen of Sparta
caused the trojan war

Priam

King of Troy

Odysseus

Main character of the Odyssey
Son of Laertes and Anticleia
husband of Penelope
father of Telemachus
cunning, shrewd and eloquent hero
King of Ithaca

When was the Odyssey written?

720 B.C.

How many books are in the Odyssey?

24

myth

A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society.

Ulysses

Roman name for Odysseus

Calypso

goddess who keeps Odysseus on her island for 7 years

Circe

The witch that turn Odysseus's men into pigs
keeps men on her island for many seasons
advises about teiresias, charybdis, and scylla

Polyphemus

Cyclops that traps Odysseus
eats his men
curses odysseus by praying to poseidon
gets blinded for ignoring guest host relationship

Aeaea

Island home of Circe

Charybdis

whirlpool monster woman that Odysseus must avoid
in straight of messina with Scylla

Scylla

female monster with 6 serpant heads and 12 tails
eats 6 men
in straight of messina with Charybdis

sirens

nymphs who lure people in with song and then eat them

teiresias

blind prophet
saw a naked goddess
brought from underworld to tell Odysseus's prophecy

thrinakia

island of helios cattle

antinous

ringleader of the suitors
killed first
threw stool/chair at odysseus

telemachus

Odysseus' son

penelope

Odysseus' wife

Eumaeus

old swineherd and friend of Odysseus

philoeteus

cowherd, one of Odysseus's loyal servants

eurycleia

Odysseus's old nurse
recognizes him by boar scar on his thigh

athena

ithicas and odysseus patron goddess
often helps odysseus
goddess of knowledge

poseidon

God of the sea and storms
against odysseus

zeus

most powerful/king of the gods
destroys odysseus's ship and kills his men

exposition

Background information presented in a literary work.

formidable

(adjective) impressive

ravage

(verb) to destroy, lay waste, ruin

profusion

(noun) abundance

sage

(adjective) wise

adversary

(noun) an enemy, opponent

stealth

(noun) quiet, secret, or sneaky behavior

rancor

(noun) bitter hatred

abominably

(adverb) in an extremely unpleasant or disgusting manner

ardor

(noun) passion

tumult

(noun) commotion; uproar; confusion

adversities

(noun) great misfortunes; hardships

disdainful

(adjective) scornful, contemptuous

adorn

(verb) to add beauty; to decorate

revelry

(noun) merrymaking; festivity

restitution

(noun) compensation; repayment

glowered

(verb) glared; stared angrily

lavished

(verb) gave generously

aloof

(adjective) at a distnace; unfriendly

pliant

(adjective) flexible

tremulous

(adjective) trembling; shaking

contending

fighting; dealing with difficulties

ambrosial

food of the gods

nectar

drink of the gods

Pieria

favorite spot of hermes

Laertes

Odysseus' father

Ilion

another name for Troy

Cythera

greek island

mustered

gathered; assembled

withy baskets

baskets made from willow twigs

Atreus

Father of Agamemnon and Menelaus

lugger

Type of sailboat

smithy

blacksmith's shop, where iron tools are made