IB English Vocab A-F

Act

Act

A major division in the action of a play.

Allegory

A narration or description usually restricted to a single meaning because its events, actions, characters, settings, and objects represent specific abstractions or ideas.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same consonant sounds in a sequence of words, usually at the beginning of a word or stressed syllable:

Allusion

A brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea in history or literature.

Antagonist

The character, force, or collection of forces in fiction or drama that opposes the protagonist and gives rise to the conflict of the story; an opponent of the protagonist.

Antihero

A protagonist who has the opposite of most of the traditional attributes of a hero.

Apostrophe

An address, either to someone who is absent and therefore cannot hear the speaker or to something nonhuman that cannot comprehend.

Archetype

A term used to describe universal symbols that evoke deep and sometimes unconscious responses in a reader.

Aside

In drama, a speech directed to the audience that supposedly is not audible to the other characters onstage at the time.

Assonance

The repetition of internal vowel sounds in nearby words that do not end the same.

Biographical criticism

An approach to literature which suggests that knowledge of the author’s life experiences can aid in the understanding of his or her work.

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter (rhythmic pattern). The English verse form closest to the natural rhythms of English speech and therefore is the most common pattern found in traditional English narrative and dramatic poetry from Shakespeare to the early twentieth century.

Cacophony

Language that is discordant and difficult to pronounce.

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry that contributes to the rhythm of the line.

Character

A person presented in a dramatic or narrative work.

Characterization

The process by which a writer makes that character seem real to the reader.

Dynamic character

A character that undergoes some kind of change because of the action in the plot.

Flat character

Embodies one or two qualities, ideas, or traits that can be readily described in a brief summary. Not psychologically complex characters and therefore are readily accessible to readers.

Colloquial

Refers to a type of informal diction that reflects casual, conversational language and often includes slang expressions.

Conflict

The struggle within the plot between opposing forces.

Connotation

Associations and implications that go beyond the literal meaning of a word, which derive from how the word has been commonly used and the associations people make with it.

Consonance

A common type of near rhyme that consists of identical consonant sounds preceded by different vowel sounds:

Convention

A characteristic of a literary genre (often unrealistic) that is understood and accepted by audiences because it has come to be recognized as a familiar technique.

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter.

Crisis

A turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on the protagonist.

Cultural criticism

An approach to literature that focuses on the historical as well as social, political, and economic contexts of a work.

Denotation

The dictionary meaning of a word.

Dénouement

A French term meaning "unraveling" or "unknotting," used to describe the resolution of the plot following the climax.

Dialect

A type of informational diction. Spoken by definable groups of people from a particular geographic region, economic group, or social class.

Dialogue

The verbal exchanges between characters. Makes characters seem real to the reader/audience.

Diction

A writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, which combine to help create meaning.

Formal diction

Consists of a dignified, impersonal, and elevated use of language; it follows the rules of syntax exactly and is often characterized by complex words and lofty tone.

Didactic poetry

Poetry designed to teach an ethical, moral, or religious lesson.

Drama

Derived from the Greek word dram, meaning "to do" or "to perform," the term drama may refer to a single play, a group of plays, or to all plays. Designed for performance in a theater.

Electra complex

A term used to describe the psychological conflict of a daughter’s unconscious rivalry with her mother for her father’s attention. The female version of the Oedipus complex.

Elegy

A mournful, contemplative lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead, often ending in a consolation.

May also refer to a serious meditative poem produced to express the speaker’s melancholy thoughts.

End-stopped line

A poetic line that has a pause at the end. Reflects normal speech patterns and are often marked by punctuation.

Enjambment

Also called a run-on line. In poetry, when one line ends without a pause and continues into the next line for its meaning.

Epiphany

In fiction, when a character suddenly experiences a deep realization about himself or herself; a truth which is grasped in an ordinary rather than a melodramatic moment.

Euphony

("good sound") Refers to language that is smooth and musically pleasant to the ear.

Exposition

A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work, that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances.

What has gone on before, the relationships between characters, the development of a theme, and the introduction of a conflict.

Feminist criticism

An approach to literature that seeks to correct or supplement what may be regarded as a predominantly male-dominated critical perspective with a feminist consciousness.

Figures of speech

Ways of using language that deviate from the literal, denotative meanings of words in order to suggest additional meanings or effects.

Says one thing in terms of something else, like when an eager funeral director is described as a vulture.

Fixed form

A poem that may be categorized by the pattern of its lines, meter, rhythm, or stanzas. However, poems written in a ____ might not always fit into categories precisely, because writers sometimes vary traditional forms to create innovative effects.

Flashback

A narrated scene that marks a break in the narrative in order to inform the reader or audience member about events that took place before the opening scene of a work.

Foil

A character in a work whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character in order to highlight the distinctive temperament of that character (usually the protagonist).

Foot

The metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured. A _____ usually consists of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables.

Anapestic foot

Two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed one ("understand").

Dactylic foot

One stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones ("desperate").

Foreshadowing

The introduction early in a story of verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what is to come later.

Formalist criticism

An approach to literature that focuses on the formal elements of a work, such as its language, structure, and tone.

Offers intense examinations of the relationship between form and meaning in a work, emphasizing the subtle complexity in how a work is arranged.

Free verse

Also called open form poetry, ____ refers to poems characterized by their nonconformity to established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza.