English 2H: Vocab

Thesis - the overall arguable claim of the paper that directly answers all parts of the prompt. Thesis statements must take a position and include TAGs (title, author, genre).

2. CTA (Close Text Analysis) - strategy for analyzing meaning when examining (written or verbal) a complex text. Focuses on the effect of language and how analysis leads to purpose.

3. Literary Purpose - the goal or aim of a piece of writing. When determining the purpose of the text, consider elements such as theme, setting, tone, characters, etc.

4. Genre - the specific type or category of work. Examples: poem, novel, short story, song, drama/play, etc.

5. Formulate - to create a specific idea and express it in a concise way.

6. Effect - the meaning of what a device is actually doing / the author’s purpose for using the specific device. For example, to establish tone/mood, to characterize, to assert/deny, etc.

7. Social Criticism (in literature) - the examination and critique of the social issues of modern society. It often involves pointing out problems in society and proposing solutions.

Conflict - the dramatic struggle between two forces in a story. Without conflict, there is no plot.

a. External conflict: outside force may be person, group, animal, nature, or a non-human obstacle.

b. Internal conflict: takes place inside a character’s mind.

2. In media res - Latin phrase for “in the midst (middle) of things” - a narrative work that opens in the midst of the plot.

3. Tone - the writer or speaker’s attitude towards the subject.

4. Denotation/Connotation - the dictionary definition of the word vs. the ideas/feelings/implied meaning of the word.

5. Theme - the universal message/deeper meaning of the work that the writer is trying to convey to readers.

6. Motif - a repeated/recurring word, phrase, image, or topic that appears throughout the work and has a symbolic meaning.

7. Symbol - an object with a figurative meaning which provides an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and more significant.

8. Anaphora - a form of syntax in which there is a repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines, clauses, or sentences.

9. Situational Irony - an incongruity appears between expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead.

10. Existentialism - a human being’s thrown-into existence (“being-in-the-world”), and therefore existence is thought away and ultimate reality.

11. Kafkaesque - term used to describe a situation that is complex, surreal, disorienting, and thus menacing.

12. Allusion - a reference within a literary work to another work, historical event, figure, or work of art.

13.Allegory -a work of fiction carrying two levels of meaning - one literal and one symbolic or metaphorical. A narrative in which abstractions, principles, attitudes, ideas, etc. are made concrete; characters stand for ideas and are generally three-dimensional, but more the representation of an abstraction.

Tragic Hero - the character who exhibits a tragic flaw which eventually leads to his or her demise. A tragedy must have a tragic hero who exhibits the following qualities: cannot be an ordinary person; highly renowned or royal; has a tragic flaw, not good or all bad; in conflict with an opposing force; responsible for their own downfall; comes to recognize their own error, but only after it is too late.

2. Hamartia (Greek): a tragic flaw leading to a downfall.

3. Hubris (Greek): excessive pride or self-confidence leading to a downfall.

4. Catharsis - to arouse pity and fear in the audience; a release of emotional tension.

5. Antithesis - a figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are opposites, or strongly contrasted with each other.

6. Paradox - a statement that is seemingly contradictory / opposed to common sense, and yet is perhaps true.

7. Apostrophe - a figure of speech used when the writer or speaker speaks directly to someone who is not present, or speaks to an inanimate object.

8. Monologue - an extended speech by one person.

9. Soliloquy - an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.

10. Aside - a remark or passage by a character in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but unheard by the other characters in the play.

11. Dramatic Irony - situations in which the audience knows more about the situations, the causes of conflicts, and their resolutions before the characters.

12. Foil - a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with those of another character. The objective is to highlight the traits of the other character.

13. Tragic Flaw - a trait in a heroic character leading to his downfall. This trait could be the lack of self-knowledge, lack of judgment, and often is hubris (excessive pride).

14. Turning Point - the point of highest tension in a narrative; it’s the most exciting and revealing part of a story. It leads the rising action into the falling action before a story is resolved.

15. Alliteration - repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

16. Assonance - repeated vowel sounds.

17. Cacophony - the grouping together of harsh, discordant sounds (opposite of euphony).

18. Consonance - the repetition of consonant sounds in close proximity.

19. Euphony - the grouping together of harmonic, pleasing sounds.

20.Metonymy - a figure of speech with which an object is referenced to something else with which it is associated.