Vocab Quiz

Bereft

lacking something needed, wanted, or expected, often something abstract

coup

1. a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful stroke or act

2. a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government

discernment

the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure: the ability to judge clearly and well

discordant

disagreeing; quarrelsome (adjective)

forbear

to hold oneself back from especially with effort 2. To control oneself when provoked (be patient) (verb)

gesticulate

to make gestures especially when speaking (verb)

miserly

being extremely stingy with money or other resources (adjective)

patronizing

showing or characterized by a superior attitude towards others: marked by condescension (adjective)

Ruminate:

to repeatedly go over in one’s mind; to contemplate or reflect (verb)

Solemnity

a formal or ceremonious observance of an occasion or event; a solemn event or occasion; a solemn condition or quality (noun)

Note: solemn can mean dignified, awe-inspiring, earnest, somber, or gloomy

Vacuous

: emptied of or lacking content, ideas, or intelligence (adjective)

Zealous: 

filled with or characterized by eagerness and intense interest in pursuit of something (a cause, a person, and ideal). (adjective)

Allusion –

an indirect reference to something outside the text itself, such as a piece of literature, a historical event, or the like. Using the expression “down the rabbit hole,” for example, would be an allusion to Alice in Wonderland.

Connotation -

- The implied or associated meaning of a word or image. “Daughter” has warmer, more emotional connotations than “offspring” does.

Denotation –

The dictionary definition(s) of a word.

Imagery –

The representation in language of sense experience. Note that this covers ALL the

senses. “Burnt toast” covers sight, smell, touch, taste, and even sound if you count the toaster popping.

Metaphor –

A comparison of two unlike things, without using “like” or “as”; the comparison that states that one thing is another (e.g., “His eyes were burning coals,” or “In the morning, the lake is covered in liquid gold”).

 Personification –

Giving anything non-human human-like characteristics (e.g., “The skies wept,” or “The dog brooded”).

Simile –

a comparison of two unlike things; typically uses the word “like” or “as” to identify the similarity (e.g., “I’m hungry as a hippo” or “She’s strong like an ox”).

 Speaker –

The voice telling the poem. Don’t assume that the speaker IS the poet unless there is clear evidence to support that idea.

Stanza –

The poem’s equivalent of a paragraph; a group of lines in verse.

Tone –

The author's or speaker's attitude towards the subject. 

“The stark white walls and gray carpet amplified the harshness of the bare windows” has a hostile, negative tone; “The clean white walls and muted carpet reflected back the morning sun” has a more positive, peaceful tone. Describe tone in words that reflect emotion. Angry, pensive, confused, lighthearted work, understandable, clever, excluded, ignorant don’t.