1st Quarter Comp Exam

connoisseur (n)

• expert in fine art or in matters of taste

• authority

conspiracy (n)

• secret plot by 2 or more people, especially for a harmful or illegal purpose

• plot

contrite (adj)

• truly sorry for having done wrong

• repentant

• sorry

distraught (adj)

• very troubled

• distressed

• upset

germane (adj)

• having to do with the issue at hand

• relevant

• related

lucid (adj)

• clearly expressed

• easily understood

• easy to understand

plight (n)

• situation marked by difficulty, hardship, or misfortune

• unfortunate situation

superficially (adv)

• on-the-surface manner

• not thoroughly

• slightly

symmetrical (adj)

• well proportioned

• balanced

• same on both sides

• balanced

verbose (adj)

• using or containing too many words

• wordy

adept (adj)

• highly skilled

• expert

• skillful

encompass (v)

• to include

• contain

entrepreneur (n)

• person who organizes, manages, & takes the risk of a business undertaking

• business investor

eradicate (v)

• get rid of altogether

• wipe out

• to erase

homogenous (adj)

• made up of similar or identical parts

• unvarying throughout

• same throughout

presumptuous (adj)

• too bold

• overly confident

• too forward

sordid (adj)

• indecent

• morally low

• corrupt

• ugly

standardize (v)

• make consistent

• cause to conform to a model

• make the same

stint (n)

• specific period of work or service

• amount of time spent

• length of time

stringent (adj)

• strictly controlled or enforced

• strict

• severe

• demanding

plot narrative techniques

1. backstory

2. Chekov’s Gun

3. cliffhanger

4. flashback

5. flashforward

6. foreshadowing

7. frame story

8. in media res

9. plot twist

10. poetic justice

11. predestination paradox

12. red herring

13. ticking time bomb scenario

14. unreliable narrator

15. love triangle

16. deus ex machina (D.E.M.)

backstory

story that precedes events in the story being told—past events or background that add meaning to current circumstances

e.g.

• “Euphoria:” gives backstories to each of the main stories

• Matilda (1996): opens with a backstory of Matilda’s family’s dynamic before & after her birth

Chekov’s Gun

• dramatic principle that requires every element in a narrative to be irreplaceable, with anything else removed

• type of concrete foreshadowing

e.g.

• Chekov said that every detail mentioned must have use in the story

  • “gun mentioned hanging on the wall must be fired”

cliffhanger

narrative ends unresolved, to draw the audience back to a future episode for the resolution

e.g.

ending of Breaking Dawn - Part 1 where Bella, as a newly formed vampire, opens her eyes just before the movie ends

flashback

• general term for altering time sequences, taking characters back to the beginning of the tale

• type of evocative foreshadowing

e.g.

victims in crime tv shows that recount their experience with law enforcement & the scene cuts to sequences of what they’re describing

flashforward

• refers to a scene that temporarily jumps the narrative forward in time

• often represents expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future

• may also reveal significant parts of the story that have not yet occurred, but soon will in greater detail

• helps move plot & character development

e.g.

Raven Baxter’s visions in That’s So Raven

foreshadowing

• implicit yet intentional efforts of an author to suggest events that have yet to take place in the process of narration

• helps intrigue audience by creating dramatic tension or suspense

e.g.

Edna Mode from The Incredibles (2004) who says that she never incudes capes in her designs because they have caused historical mishaps . . . then at the end of the movie, Syndrome dies because of a cape mishap

frame story

main story that hatches a linking series of shorter stories

e.g.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

in media res

• beginning the story in the middle of a sequence of events, launches audiences into the story’s events & forms intermediate urgency

• specific form of a narrative hook

e.g.

Pretty Little Liars opens with Allison’s disappearance

plot twist

unexpected change (“twist”) in the direction or expected outcome of the plot

e.g.

The Village (2004): the people who we assume live in the 19th century with their way of life are actually living in the modern world

The Visit (2015): the kids’ grandparents aren’t actually their grandparents

poetic justice

virtue ultimately rewarded, or vice punished, by an ironic twist of fate related to the character’s own conduct

e.g.

• Beauty and the Beast: Beast being turned into a beast

• Dante’s Inferno: each sin’s punishment

predesitnation paradox

time travel paradox where a time traveler is caught in a loop of events that “predestines” them to travel back in time

e.g.

Doctor Who: main character has to keep traveling back in time because of his future self

red herring

• diverting attention away from an item of significance

• type of fallacy foreshadowing

e.g. Who Game (tbh idk what this game is about)

ticking time bomb scenario

threat of impending disaster—often used in thrillers where salvation & escape are essential elements

e.g. “Cinderella:” when the clock strikes midnight Cinderella has to go!

unreliable narrator

narrator of the story is not sincere, or introduces a bias in their narration & possibly misleads the reader, hiding or minimizing events, characters, or motivations

e.g.

• Gone Girl (2014): husband narrates, then the dead wife narrates

• Mr. Blaszczak: we don’t know whether he’s telling the truth or not

love triangle

scenario/circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which 2 people are pursuing/involved in a romantic relationship with 1 person, or in which 1 person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneously pursuing/involved in a romantic relationship with someone else

e.g. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Daisy + Gatsby + Thomas

deus ex machina (D.E.M.)

narrative ending in which an improbable event is used to resolve all problematic situations & bring the story to a (generally happy) conclusion

e.g. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (2002):

• Faux the Phoenix

  • helped Harry defeat the monster & win Gryffindor more house points

    • giving Harry a weapon

    • healing his wound

    • blinding the Basilisk

noun

word that names a person, place, thing, or idea

types:

1. proper

   • names

2. abstract & concrete

   • abstract: ideas

   • concrete: physical things

pronoun

word used in place of a noun or another noun or _______

• needs an antecedent

verb

word used to express an action, a condition, or a state of being

adjective

• modifies nouns or pronouns

• qualifies or specifies the meaning of the nouns or pronouns they modify

adverb

modify verbs, adjectives, or other _______

• mostly “-ly,” but not always

preposition

shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun & some other word in the sentence

e.g. We were under the desk during the firedrill.”

conjunction

word used to join words or group of words

e.g. and, for, but

interjection

• word/short phrase used to express emotion

• no grammatical connection to other words in a sentence

  • shouldn’t affect the sentence if removed

period (.)

• a.k.a. full stop

• indicates the end of a sentence or follows an abbreviation

question mark (?)

used at the end of questions

exclamation mark (!)

• shows emphasis & emotion

• used in interjections

comma (,)

• often used to separate different ideas in a sentence

• 3 or more items

semicolon (;)

• creates a longer pause than a comma

• an join 2 independent clauses that are related

• separates clauses [verb + noun( )]

e.g.

• “Today is Gray Schedule; Gray is 2, 4, 6.”

colon (:)

• can introduce:

  • example

  • list

  • explanation,

  • quotation

• can emphasize a point

apostrophe (‘)

used in place of omitted letters & to show possession

• contractions

• plural

hyphen (-)

commonly used to create compound words

dash (—)

used to set off material for emphasis or show a connection between things

ellipsis (. . .)

• used to show that some letters or even words are omitted

• creates an intriguing & mysterious atmosphere

• each word is a dot

• (spaces between dots)

parentheses [()]

used to deemphasize information or add additional information

quotation marks (““)

indicates direct quotation, irony, or titles

brackets ([])

• mostly used for academic writing

• can add extra information or fix mistakes in original quotations

• needs an antecedent

  • e.g. “[Mr. Valencia] He teaches USGOPO” (idk if this is correct)

slash (/)

used for fractions, measurements, or to suggest alternatives in text

braces ({})

mostly used for mathematics, computer programming, & musical notations

subject

noun or pronoun that performs the verb

e.g. “Did you try out for basketball?”

predicate

contains a verb & states something about the subject

e.g. “Next month, Veronica & her fiancé will get married.

who

• subjective pronoun

  • should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence

    • he, she, or they

e.g.

• “Who wrote the note?”

• “Who run the world?”

• “My co-worker, who I think is a genius, got a promotion.”

• “Who do you think you are?”

whom

• objective pronoun

  • should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence

    • him, her, them

e.g.

• “To whom this may concern.”

• “Bob started dating this girl whom he met online.”

• “Whom should I vote for as May Queen?”

• “We wondered whim the subtweet was about.”

rhyme

repetition of similar sounds in the final stressed syllables & any following syllables of two or more words

repetition

when an author repeats a word, phrase, sentence, or stanza for effect or emphasis

example:

“It is what it is”

“Home sweet home”

alliteration

repetition of a sound at the beginning of words

example:

“Truthfully, Troy is toxic.

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds

example:

“No pain, no gain”

“Surf & turf”

consonance

repetition of consonant sounds at the end or middle of words

example:

“Hickory, dickory, dock”

onomatopoeia

word that sounds like the sound it makes

example:

“pop”

“zip”

colloquialism

word or expression that is commonplace within a specific language, geographic region, or historical era

example:

soccer vs. football

soda vs. pop

water fountain vs. bubbler

slang

refers to unique expressions created by social groups or subcultures that become widely used & are not confined to a specific region

example:

“slay”

“tea”

“cap”

jargon

synonym for technical language that is associated with a specific profession or job & the formal communication within that specialty or field of that work

example:

“MIA:” missing in action

“DNR:” do not resuscitate

synecdoche

when the word for a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing, or less commonly, the word for a whole is used to refer to a part

example:

“The hand that rocks the cradle.”

metonymy

when a word associated with something is used to refer to the thing itself

example:

“The suits are in a meeting.”

“The crown is feeling ill.”

kenning

stylistic device defined as a two-word phrase that describes an object through metaphors

example:

“tree-hugger”

“fender-bender”

“bookworm”

oxymoron

figure of speech in which opposites are paired for effect

simile

comparison of 2 things that are essentially different, using the words “like” or “as”

example:

“Your girlfriend acts like your mother.” (idk tbh about this)

metaphor

subtle comparison in which an author describes a person or thing using words that are not meant to be taken literally

example:

“My lover’s got humor; she’s the giggle at a funeral.”

extended metaphor

• metaphor introduced & then furthered developed throughout all or part of a literary work

• continuing the metaphor

example:

“She’s a snake! She’ll slither away after spewing her venom at you.”

implied metaphor

suggests a figurative comparison without explicitly naming one of the elements being compared

example:

“Sarah was shattered by the news.” (comparison of Sarah + glass)

personification

• figurative language in which nonhuman things or abstractions are represented as having human qualities

• imagery-based

example:

“The drying laundry danced in the wind.”

zoomorphism

• literary technique in which animal attributes are imposed upon non-animal objects, humans & events

• animal features are ascribed to humans, gods, & other objects

example:

“The Jungle” at FD

“He ruffles my feathers” - Maroon 5’s “Animals”

hyperbole

intentional & extreme exaggeration for emphasis or effect

example:

“I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.”

euphemism

figure of speech commonly used to replace a word or phrase that is related to a concept that might make others uncomfortable

example:

“passed away” → died

“let go” → fired

polyptoton

repetition of a root word in different inflections or cases for rhetorical effect

example:

“That’s truer than true.”

“I dreamed a dream.”

zeugma

figure of speech in which a word applies to 2 others in different senses or to 2 others when it semantically suits only 1

example:

“John & his license expired last week.”

“with weeping eyes & hearts”

symbol

object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself, & that also stands for something larger than itself

example:

dove + olive branch: peace

rainbow: LGBTQIA+

cross: Jesus

allusion

• reference to a person, place, event, or literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize & understand

• may come from history, geography, literature, art, music, or religion

example:

“This new place was my Garden of Eden.” (reference to the Bible")

ekphrasis

• refers to a poem or story that is directly inspired by another piece of art

• can be considered a direct allusion because it borrows language & images from other artwork

example:

“Love Story” by Taylor Swift: reimagined Romeo & Juliet

intertextuality

• sophisticated literary device making use of a textual reference within some body of text, which reflects again the text used as a reference

• may be the retelling of an old story, or the rewriting of popular stories in modern context

example:

live-action “Mulan”

paradox

seemingly contradictory statement that on closer analysis reveals a deeper truth

example:

“If I know one thing, it’s that I know nothing.”

“This is the beginning of the end.”

irony

literary technique used to create meaning that seems to contradict the literal meaning or events

verbal irony

use of words in which intended meaning is contrary to the literal meaning

example:

“Jill said, ‘The weather is so nice today,’ in the middle of a hurricane"“

situational irony

implying through plot or character that a situation is quite different from the way it is presented

example:

firehouse burns down

tweet complaining about the uselessness of twitter

dramatic irony

character says or does something that he or she does not fully grasp but which is understood by the audience

example:

Romeo killing himself because he thinks Juliet is dead (but we, the audience, knows Juliet is alive).

sarcasm

• bitter form of irony, can be intended to tease or hurt

• often insinuated by the tone

example:

“Ms. Lincoln is so good at grammar.”

juxtaposition

placement of contrasting ideas next to each other, often to produce an ironic or thought-provoking effect

example:

tree growing in a desert

pun

literary device that plays with the sounds & meanings of words to produce new, often humorous ideas

example:

“Scrambled eggs for breakfast is hard to beat.”

idiom

• phrases people use in everyday language which do not make sense literally, but the meaning is understood

• saying

example:

“Break a leg.”

“under the weather”

“The ball is in your court.”

“beat around the bush”