Terms : Hide Images
| 7356200817 | Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line. | 0 | |
| 7356202352 | Antagonist | Counterpart to the main character and source of a story's main conflict. The person may not be "bad"or "evil"by any conventional moral standard, but he/she opposes the protagonist in a significant way. | 1 | |
| 7356208666 | Blank verse | Non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter. | 2 | |
| 7356210931 | Characterization | The author's means of conveying to the reader a character's personality, life history, values, physical attributes, etc. Also refers directly to a description thereof. ex)Atticus is characterized as an almost impossibly virtuous man, always doing what is right and imparting impeccable moral values to his children. | 3 | |
| 7356216612 | Climax | The turning point in a story, at which the end result becomes inevitable, usually where something suddenly goes terribly wrong; the "dramatic high point"of a story. ex)The story reaches its climax in Act III, when Mercutio and Tybalt are killed and Romeo is banished from Verona. | 4 | |
| 7356224779 | Conflict: | A struggle between opposing forces which is the driving force of a story. The outcome of any story provides a resolution of the conflict(s); this is what keeps the reader reading. Conflicts can exist between individual characters, between groups of characters, between a character and society, etc., and can also be purely abstract (conflicting ideas). | 5 | |
| 7356227149 | Dramatic irony | Where the audience or reader is aware of something important, of which the characters in the story are notaware. ex) Macbeth responds with disbelief when the weird sisters call him Thane of Cawdor; ironically, unbeknownst to him, he had been granted that title by king Duncan in the previous scene. | 6 | |
| 7356230184 | Exposition | Where an author interrupts a story in order to explain something, usually to provide important background information. ex) The first chapter consists mostly of exposition, running down the family's history and describing their living conditions. | 7 | |
| 7356232839 | Figurative language | Any use of language where the intended meaning differs from the actual literal meaning of the words themselves. There are many techniques which can rightly be called figurative language, including metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, onomatopoeia, verbal irony, and oxymoron. (Related: figure of speech) ex)The poet makes extensive use of figurative language, presenting the speaker's feelings as colors, sounds and flavors. | 8 | |
| 7356245756 | Foil | A character who is meant to represent characteristics, values, ideas, etc. which are directly and diametrically opposed to those of another character, usually the protagonist. ex) The noble, virtuous father Macduff provides an ideal foil for the villainous, childless Macbeth. | 9 | |
| 7356248006 | Foreshadowing | Where future events in a story, or perhaps the outcome, are suggestedby the author before they happen. Foreshadowing can take many forms and be accomplished in many ways, with varying degrees of subtlety. However, if the outcome is deliberately and explicitly revealed early in a story (such as by the use of a narrator or flashback structure), such information does not constitute foreshadowing. | 10 | |
| 7356252184 | Hyperbole | A description which exaggerates. ex) The author uses hyperboleto describe Mr. Smith, calling him "the greatest human being ever to walk the earth." | 11 | |
| 7356253700 | Imagery | Language which describes something in detail, using words to substitute for and create sensory stimulation, including visual imagery and sound imagery. Also refers to specific and recurring types of images, such as food imagery and nature imagery. ex) The author's use of visual imageryis impressive; the reader is able to see the island in all its lush, colorful splendor by reading Golding's detailed descriptions. | 12 | |
| 7356259010 | Irony (a.k.a. Situational irony) | Where an event occurs which is unexpected, and which is in absurd or mocking opposition to what is expected or appropriate. (Note: Most of the situations in the Alanis Morissette song are notironic at all.) See alsoDramatic irony; Verbal irony. ex) Jem and Scout are saved by Boo Radley, who had ironicallybeen an object of fear and suspicion to them at the beginning of the novel. | 13 | |
| 7356263913 | Metaphor | A direct relationship where one thing or idea substitutes for another. ex) Shakespeare often uses light as a metaphorfor Juliet; Romeo refers to her as the sun, as "a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear,"and as a solitary dove among crows. | 14 | |
| 7356272084 | Mood | The atmosphere or emotional condition created by the piece, within the setting. ex) The mood of Macbethis dark, murky and mysterious, creating a sense of fear and uncertainty. | 15 | |
| 7356274382 | Onomatopoeia | Where sounds are spelled out as words; or, when words describing sounds actually sound like the sounds they describe. ex) Remarque uses onomatopoeia to suggest the dying soldier's agony, his last gasp described as a "gurgling rattle." | 16 | |
| 7356279557 | Oxymoron | A contradiction in terms. ex) Romeo describes love using several oxymorons, such as "cold fire,""feather of lead"and "sick health,"to suggest its contradictory nature. | 17 | |
| 7356281830 | Paradox | Where a situation is created which cannot possibly exist, because different elementsof it cancel each other out. ex) In 1984, "doublethink"refers to the paradoxwhere history is changed, and then claimed to have never been changed. A Tale of Two Citiesopens with the famous paradox, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." | 18 | |
| 7356285789 | Parallelism | Use of similar or identical language, structures, events or ideas in different parts of a text. ex) Hobbs' final strikeout parallelsthe Whammer's striking out against him at the beginning of the novel. | 19 | |
| 7356289431 | Personification (I) | Where inanimate objects or abstract concepts are seemingly endowed with human self-awareness; where human thoughts, actions and perceptions are directly attributed to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. (Not to be confused with anthropomorphism.) ex)Malamud personifiesHobbs' bat, giving it a name, Wonderboy, referring to it using personal pronouns, and stating that "he went hungry"during Hobbs' batting slump. | 20 | |
| 7356291262 | Personification (II) | Where an abstract concept, such as a particular human behavior or a force of nature, is represented as a person. ex) The Greeks personifiednatural forces as gods; for example, the god Poseidon was the personificationof the sea and its power over man. | 21 | |
| 7356295220 | Point-of-view | The identity of the narrative voice; the person or entity through whom the reader experiences the story. May be third-person (no narrator; omniscient or limited) or first-person (narrated by a character in the story). Point-of-view is a commonly misused term; it does not refer to the author's (or characters') feelings, opinions, perspectives, biases, etc. ex) Though it is written in third-person, Animal Farmis told from the point-of-viewof the common animals, unaware of what is really happening as the pigs gradually and secretively take over the farm. Writing the story in first-person point-of-viewenables the reader to experience the soldier's fear and uncertainty, limiting the narrative to what only he saw, thought and felt during the battle. | 22 | |
| 7356302204 | Protagonist | The main character in a story, the one with whom the reader is meant to identify. Theperson is not necessarily "good"by any conventional moral standard, but he/she is the person in whose plight the reader is most invested. | 23 | |
| 7356305233 | Repetition | Where a specific word, phrase, or structure is repeated several times, to emphasize a particular idea. ex) The repetitionof the words "What if..."at the beginning of each line reinforces the speaker's confusion and fear. | 24 | |
| 7356306598 | Setting | The time and place where a story occurs. The setting can be specific (e.g., New York City in 1930) or ambiguous (e.g., a large urban city during economic hard times). Also refers directly to a description thereof. ex) The novel is setin the South during the racially turbulent 1930's, when blacks were treated unfairly by the courts. With the island, Golding creates a pristine, isolated and uncorrupted setting, in order to show that the boys' actions result from their own essential nature rather than their environment. | 25 | |
| 7356311178 | Simile | An indirect relationship where one thing or idea is described as being similar to another. Similes usually contain the words "like"or "as,"but not always. ex) The simile in line 10 describes the lunar eclipse: "The moon appeared crimson, like a drop of blood hanging in the sky." The character's gait is described in the simile: "She hunched and struggled her way down the path, the way an old beggar woman might wander about." | 26 | |
| 7356314155 | Speaker | The "voice"of a poem; not to be confused with the poet him/herself. Analogous to the narrator in prose fiction. | 27 | |
| 7356315494 | Structure | The manner in which the various elements of a story are assembled. ex) The individual tales are told within the structureof the larger framing story, where the 29 travelers gather at the Inn at Southwark on their journey to Canterbury, telling stories to pass the time. The play follows the traditional Shakespearean five-act plot structure, with exposition in Act I, development in Act II, the climax or turning point in Act III, falling action in Act IV, and resolution in Act V. | 28 | |
| 7356318551 | Symbolism | The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas. This term is commonly misused, describing any and all representational relationships, which in fact are more often metaphorical than symbolic. A symbolmust be something tangible or visible, while the idea it symbolizesmust be something abstract or universal. ex) Golding uses symbolsto represent the various aspects of human nature and civilization as they are revealed in the novel. The conch symbolizesorder and authority, while its gradual deterioration and ultimate destruction metaphorically represent the boys' collective downfall. | 29 | |
| 7356324489 | Theme | The main idea or message conveyed by the piece. A theme is generally stated as a complete sentence; an idea expressed as a single word or fragmentary phrase is a motif. ex) Orwell's themeis that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The idea that human beings are essentially brutal, savage creatures provides the central themeof the novel. | 30 | |
| 7356328604 | Tone | The apparent emotional state, or "attitude,"of the speaker/narrator/narrative voice, as conveyed through the language of the piece. ex) The poem has a bitter and sardonic tone, revealing the speaker's anger and resentment. The toneof Gulliver's narration is unusually matter-of-fact, as he seems to regard these bizarre and absurd occurrences as ordinary or commonplace. | 31 | |
| 7356331533 | Tragedy | Where a story ends with a negative or unfortunate outcome which was essentially avoidable, usually caused by a flaw in the central character's personality. Tragedyis really more of a dramatic genre than a literary element; a play can be referred to as a tragedy, but tragic events in a story are essentially part of the plot, rather than a literary device in themselves. | 32 | |
| 7356332975 | Tragic hero/tragic figure | A protagonist who comes to a bad end as a result of his own behavior, usually cased by a specific personality disorder or character flaw. ex) Willy Loman is one of the best-known tragic figuresin American literature, oblivious to and unable to face the reality of his life. | 33 | |
| 7356334816 | Tragic flaw | The single characteristic (usually negative) or personality disorder which causes the downfall of the protagonist. ex) Othello's tragic flawis his jealousy, which consumes him so thoroughly that he is driven to murder his wife rather than accept, let alone confirm, her infidelity. | 34 | |
| 7356339327 | Verbal irony | Where the meaning is intended to be the exact opposite of what the words actually mean. (Sarcasmis a tone of voice that often accompanies verbal irony, but they are not the same thing.) ex) Orwell gives this torture and brainwashing facility the ironictitle, "Ministry of Love." | 35 |
