Terms : Hide Images
| 7384363549 | abstract | theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresentational | 0 | |
| 7384363550 | act | one of the main divisions of a play or opera | 1 | |
| 7384363551 | allegory | A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself | 2 | |
| 7384366465 | alliteration | Repetition of initial consonant sounds | 3 | |
| 7384366466 | allusion | A reference to another work of literature, person, or event | 4 | |
| 7384369417 | analogy | A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way | 5 | |
| 7384369418 | anapest | a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed-stressed syllables | 6 | |
| 7384369419 | anaphora | the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences | 7 | |
| 7384371169 | annotation | A brief explanation, summary, or evaluation of a text or work of literature | 8 | |
| 7384371170 | antagonist | A character or force in conflict with the main character | 9 | |
| 7384375552 | archaic language | Old-fashioned, out-of-date language and expressions | 10 | |
| 7384375553 | ars poetica | a poem written on the subject of poetic art, usually explaining poet's reasons for writing | 11 | |
| 7384377519 | assonance | repetition of vowel sounds | 12 | |
| 7384377520 | atmosphere | The emotional tone or background that surrounds a scene | 13 | |
| 7384377521 | ballad | a type of poem that is meant to be sung and is both lyric and narrative in nature | 14 | |
| 7384379443 | Beat movement | Expressed the social and literary nonconformity of artists, poets, and writers | 15 | |
| 7384379444 | bildungsroman | coming of age story | 16 | |
| 7384381801 | blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter | 17 | |
| 7384381802 | cadence | rhythmic rise and fall | 18 | |
| 7384381803 | caesura | a break between words within a metrical foot | 19 | |
| 7384383841 | caricature | a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect | 20 | |
| 7384383842 | carpe diem | seize the day | 21 | |
| 7384383843 | catharsis | a release of emotional tension | 22 | |
| 7384385857 | character | A person in a story | 23 | |
| 7384385858 | flat character | A character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story | 24 | |
| 7384385859 | round character | A character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work | 25 | |
| 7384388529 | secondary character | minor characters in a literary work | 26 | |
| 7384388530 | stock character | the stereotyped character | 27 | |
| 7384391474 | characterization | A method an author uses to let readers know more about the characters and their personal traits | 28 | |
| 7384391475 | chorus | a group of people assembled to sing together | 29 | |
| 7384393205 | climax | Most exciting moment of the story; turning point | 30 | |
| 7384795484 | colloquial language | informal language; language that is "conversational" | 31 | |
| 7384802246 | colonialism | exploitation by a stronger country of weaker one | 32 | |
| 7384804319 | comedy | light and humorous drama with a happy ending | 33 | |
| 7384804320 | comedy of manners | comedy which depicts and satirizes the attitudes and manners of a social class | 34 | |
| 7384806744 | coming-of-age story | a genre of literature and film that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from youth to adulthood | 35 | |
| 7384806745 | complex sentence | A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause | 36 | |
| 7384809111 | compound sentence | a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions | 37 | |
| 7384809112 | concrete | capable of being perceived by the senses | 38 | |
| 7384809113 | conflict | A struggle between opposing forces | 39 | |
| 7384811568 | connotation | All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests | 40 | |
| 7384811569 | consonance | Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity | 41 | |
| 7384813689 | couplet | two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme | 42 | |
| 7384813690 | cumulative sentence | sentence that completes the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then builds and adds on | 43 | |
| 7384816086 | dactyl | a metrical unit with stressed-unstressed-unstressed syllables | 44 | |
| 7384816087 | denotation | the dictionary definition of a word | 45 | |
| 7384816088 | denouement | an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot | 46 | |
| 7384818947 | dialect | A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation | 47 | |
| 7384824209 | dialogue | conversation between characters | 48 | |
| 7384824210 | diction | word choice | 49 | |
| 7384827583 | direct characterization | Author directly describes character | 50 | |
| 7384827584 | dramatic irony | when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't | 51 | |
| 7384832107 | dramatic monologue | a poem in which a speaker addresses a silent listener | 52 | |
| 7384836017 | ekphrastic poetry | Inspired by another work of art, usually visual art | 53 | |
| 7384839285 | elegy | a sorrowful poem or speech | 54 | |
| 7384839286 | end rhyme | A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line | 55 | |
| 7384839287 | end-stopped line | A line that ends with a natural speech pause, usually marked by punctuation | 56 | |
| 7384842129 | enjambment | the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza | 57 | |
| 7384842130 | epigram | witty comment | 58 | |
| 7384842131 | epigraph | a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme | 59 | |
| 7384844401 | epiphany | revelation | 60 | |
| 7384844402 | eulogy | speech in praise of someone | 61 | |
| 7384846777 | exposition | Background information presented in a literary work | 62 | |
| 7384846778 | extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | 63 | |
| 7384846779 | eye rhyme | rhyme that appears correct from spelling but does not rhyme because of pronunciation | 64 | |
| 7384848940 | falling action | Events after the climax, leading to the resolution | 65 | |
| 7384848941 | farce | broad comedy; mockery | 66 | |
| 7384848942 | feminist literature | literary works that explore a woman's identity and role in society | 67 | |
| 7384851483 | figurative language | Language that cannot be taken literally since it was written to create a special effect or feeling | 68 | |
| 7384851484 | first-person narrator | a narrator within the story who tells the story from the "I" perspective | 69 | |
| 7384854301 | flashback | the insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative | 70 | |
| 7384854302 | foil | A character who acts as a contrast to another character | 71 | |
| 7384854303 | foot | A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables | 72 | |
| 7384854304 | foreshadowing | A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader | 73 | |
| 7384856376 | form | the shape or structure of a literary work | 74 | |
| 7384856377 | formal diction | language that is lofty, dignified, and impersonal | 75 | |
| 7384856378 | free verse | Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme | 76 | |
| 7384859567 | genre | a major category or type of literature | 77 | |
| 7384859568 | Harlem Renaissance | A period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished | 78 | |
| 7384861990 | hook | The first sentence or question in an essay that is designed to grab the reader's attention | 79 | |
| 7384861991 | hubris | excessive pride | 80 | |
| 7384861992 | hyperbole | exaggeration | 81 | |
| 7384864565 | iamb | a metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables | 82 | |
| 7384864566 | iambic pentameter | a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable | 83 | |
| 7384866451 | iconography | the study of a group of representative pictures or symbols | 84 | |
| 7384870269 | imagery | Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) | 85 | |
| 7384870270 | imperative sentence | sentence used to command or enjoin | 86 | |
| 7384873397 | impressionism | writing that reflects a personal image of a character, event, or concept | 87 | |
| 7384873398 | in medias res | in the middle of things | 88 | |
| 7384875299 | indirect characterization | Author subtly reveals the character through actions and interactions | 89 | |
| 7384875300 | informal diction | language that is not as lofty or impersonal as formal diction; similar to everyday speech | 90 | |
| 7384878585 | internal rhyme | A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line | 91 | |
| 7387509211 | interrupted sentence | one in which the subordinate elements come in the middle, often set off by dashes | 92 | |
| 7387509212 | inversion | turning inward | 93 | |
| 7387509213 | situational irony | An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected | 94 | |
| 7387514036 | verbal irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant | 95 | |
| 7387516755 | juxtaposition | Placement of two things closely together to emphasize comparisons or contrasts | 96 | |
| 7387516756 | Kafkaesque | absurdity we have to deal with living in a world of faceless bureaucracies | 97 | |
| 7387518883 | limited omniscient point of view | Allows the narrator to tell the thoughts and feelings of only ONE character | 98 | |
| 7387521789 | literary elements | The essential techniques used in literature (e.g., characterization, setting, plot, theme) | 99 | |
| 7387527780 | lyric | a short poem of songlike quality | 100 | |
| 7387527781 | masque | to wear a disguise; to put on a false appearance | 101 | |
| 7387527782 | metaphor | A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared | 102 | |
| 7387529766 | metaphysical conceit | Overblown comparison, fairly unrealistic but clear, as in comparing woman to rose | 103 | |
| 7387531475 | meter | measure | 104 | |
| 7387531476 | metonymy | substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it | 105 | |
| 7387534184 | minimalism | an attitude of doing only the least that is required by law in our moral life | 106 | |
| 7387534185 | Modernism | practices typical of contemporary life or thought | 107 | |
| 7387536858 | monologue | A long speech made by one performer or by one person in a group | 108 | |
| 7387536859 | mood | Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader | 109 | |
| 7387536860 | motif | A recurring theme, subject or idea | 110 | |
| 7387536861 | naive narrator | narrator, such as a child, who does not understand the full implications of the narrative | 111 | |
| 7387538944 | narrative | a story | 112 | |
| 7387540696 | narrative frame | story within a story | 113 | |
| 7387543707 | narrator | Person telling the story | 114 | |
| 7387543708 | objective narrator | the narrator offers no opinions or interpretations of characters thoughts | 115 | |
| 7387550339 | unreliable narrator | a narrator whose account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted | 116 | |
| 7387550340 | near rhyme | rhyming in which the words sound the same but do not rhyme perfectly | 117 | |
| 7387552694 | non sequitur | something that does not logically follow | 118 | |
| 7387554940 | novella | a short novel | 119 | |
| 7387554941 | ode | A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject | 120 | |
| 7387556804 | omniscient narrator | an all-knowing, usually third-person narrator | 121 | |
| 7387560055 | overstatement | hyperbole | 122 | |
| 7387560056 | oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase | 123 | |
| 7387560057 | parable | a simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson | 124 | |
| 7387561839 | paradox | a contradiction or dilemma | 125 | |
| 7387561840 | parallel structure | the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures | 126 | |
| 7387563714 | parody | a work which imitates another in a ridiculous manner | 127 | |
| 7387563715 | passive voice | The subject of the sentence receives the action | 128 | |
| 7387563716 | pastoral | A work of literature dealing with rural life | 129 | |
| 7387565043 | periodic sentence | sentence whose main clause is withheld until the end | 130 | |
| 7387565044 | persona | An individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting | 131 | |
| 7388953656 | personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes | 132 | |
| 7388958359 | plot | Sequence of events in a story | 133 | |
| 7388958360 | point of view | the perspective from which a story is told | 134 | |
| 7388960208 | Postmodernism | a paradigm that suggests that social reality is diverse, pluralistic, and constantly in flux | 135 | |
| 7388960209 | propaganda | Ideas spread to influence public opinion for or against a cause | 136 | |
| 7388960210 | prose poem | a selection of prose that, because of its language or content, is poetic in nature | 137 | |
| 7388961917 | protagonist | main character | 138 | |
| 7388961918 | pun | a play on words | 139 | |
| 7388961919 | Realism | the attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truth | 140 | |
| 7388963648 | refrain | A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem | 141 | |
| 7388963649 | resolution | End of the story where loose ends are tied up | 142 | |
| 7388963650 | reversal | The point at which the action of the plot turns in an unexpected direction for the protagonist | 143 | |
| 7388965919 | rhetorical question | A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer | 144 | |
| 7388965920 | rhyme | Repetition of sounds at the end of words | 145 | |
| 7388965921 | rhythm | the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry | 146 | |
| 7388965922 | rising action | Events leading up to the climax | 147 | |
| 7388967793 | Romanticism | 19th century artistic movement that appealed to emotion rather than reason | 148 | |
| 7388967794 | run-on line | line of poetry that does not end with a punctuation mark | 149 | |
| 7388970340 | sarcasm | the use of irony to mock or convey contempt | 150 | |
| 7388970341 | satire | A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies | 151 | |
| 7388970342 | scene | a division of an act into smaller parts | 152 | |
| 7388976543 | simple sentence | one independent clause | 153 | |
| 7388976544 | sestet | 6 line stanza | 154 | |
| 7388978876 | setting | The context in time and place in which the action of a story occurs | 155 | |
| 7388981218 | social setting | the manners, mores, customs, rituals, and codes of conduct in a work | 156 | |
| 7388981219 | sight rhyme | words that look like they should rhyme but don't | 157 | |
| 7388981284 | simile | comparison using like or as | 158 | |
| 7388983941 | slang | informal language | 159 | |
| 7388983942 | slant rhyme | two words that have some sound in common but do not rhyme exactly | 160 | |
| 7388985334 | soliloquy | A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage | 161 | |
| 7388985335 | sonnet | 14 line poem | 162 | |
| 7388987151 | speaker | the person who is presenting an oral message to a listener | 163 | |
| 7388987152 | spondee | a metrical unit with stressed-stressed syllables | 164 | |
| 7388987153 | sprung rhythm | a poetic rhythm that imitates the rhythm of speech | 165 | |
| 7388989027 | stanza | A group of lines in a poem | 166 | |
| 7388989028 | stream of consciousness | a style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind | 167 | |
| 7388991780 | structure | the arrangement or framework of a sentence, paragraph, or entire work | 168 | |
| 7388991781 | style | A basic and distinctive mode of expression | 169 | |
| 7388994151 | suspense | a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen | 170 | |
| 7388994152 | symbol | anything that stands for or represents something else | 171 | |
| 7388994153 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa | 172 | |
| 7388996150 | syntax | sentence structure | 173 | |
| 7388996151 | poetic syntax | how a sentence was formed to convey an emotion, image, or aspect of language | 174 | |
| 7388998523 | theatrical property | prop | 175 | |
| 7388998524 | theme | Central idea of a work of literature | 176 | |
| 7388998525 | thesis statement | a statement or sentence that states the purpose of a paper or essay | 177 | |
| 7388998526 | tone | Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character | 178 | |
| 7389000393 | tragedy | A serious form of drama dealing with the downfall of a heroic or noble character | 179 | |
| 7389000394 | tragic flaw | the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall | 180 | |
| 7389000395 | tragic hero | a protagonist with a fatal flaw which eventually leads to his demise | 181 | |
| 7389002798 | Transcendental movement | belief in the inherent goodness of people and nature. Adherents believe that society and its institutions have corrupted the purity of the individual, and they have faith that people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent | 182 | |
| 7389002799 | understatement | the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is | 183 | |
| 7389004686 | vignette | a short scene or story | 184 | |
| 7389004728 | verse | A single line of poetry | 185 | |
| 7389007690 | villanelle | A 19 line form using only two rhymes and repeating two of the lines according to a set pattern | 186 | |
| 7389010025 | wordplay | humorous use of alternate definitions, puns, or homonyms | 187 | |
| 7389011952 | zeugma | use of a word to govern two or more words though appropriate to only one | 188 | |
| 7389024013 | superficiality | lack of depth of knowledge or thought or feeling | 189 | |
| 7389026408 | quixotic | idealistic but impractical | 190 | |
| 7389026409 | smug | self-satisfied | 191 | |
| 7389028146 | indignant | angered at something unjust or wrong | 192 | |
| 7389028147 | venerable | respectable due to age | 193 | |
| 7389028148 | banal | hackneyed, trite, commonplace | 194 | |
| 7389028407 | prosaic | run-of-the-mill | 195 | |
| 7389030213 | glib | fluent in an insincere way; offhand | 196 | |
| 7389030214 | mettlesome | full of courage and fortitude | 197 | |
| 7389030215 | pragmatic | practical | 198 | |
| 7389031942 | inequitable | unfair; unjust | 199 | |
| 7389031943 | epicurean | taking pleasure in food and drink | 200 | |
| 7389033889 | magnanimous | generous and understanding and tolerant | 201 | |
| 7389033890 | superfluous | unnecessary | 202 | |
| 7389034691 | gastronomical | the art or science of good eating | 203 | |
| 8012981753 | conceit | a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor | 204 |
