Terms : Hide Images
| 5386570785 | Ambiguity | a vague meaning; intentional lack of clarity to create multiple meanings or interpretations | 0 | |
| 5386572503 | Antagonist | The person/force that opposes the protagonist, usually producing tension or conflict | 1 | |
| 5386572504 | Archetype | the typical example of a person or thing; an original model or form of a character (i.e. the lover, the ruler, the jester) | 2 | |
| 5386574887 | Aside | a soliloquy with other people on stage, directed towards a noticeable audience; usually a brief statement from the character to the audience | 3 | |
| 5386574888 | Blank Verse | Poetry written in iambic pentameter, used by Milton and Shakespeare; lines usually don't rhyme | 4 | |
| 5386577057 | Catharsis | The cleansing of the spirit initiated by pity and terror or a dramatic tragedy; the cleansing of the emotions of a character | 5 | |
| 5386577058 | Climax | The high point of action or the turning point in a play | 6 | |
| 5386578559 | Comic Relief | comedic portions of a drama or literary work placed to offset the serious sections | 7 | |
| 5386580251 | Coming of Age Story/Novel | A story in which the protagonist experiences an introduction to adulthood caused through education, doses of reality , or other experiences that alter the character's emotional/intellectual maturity | 8 | |
| 5386580252 | Dramatic Irony | When the audience/reader knows more about the scenario than the character | 9 | |
| 5386582206 | Falling Action | The action in the play following the climax that leads to the resolution | 10 | |
| 5386582207 | Iambic Pentameter | 5 metric feet per line, each meter consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable; 10 syllables per line, used by Shakespeare in his plays | 11 | |
| 5386584501 | Motif | A phrase, idea, or thought that is repeated throughout a story to show or consolidate the theme/moral of the story | 12 | |
| 5386584502 | Narrative | A form of prose writing that tells the story | 13 | |
| 5386586326 | Pathos | A literary element stimulating pity and/or sorrow in the reader; plays to the emotions | 14 | |
| 5386586327 | Protagonist | The character whose actions drive the plot or the character forward; the main character | 15 | |
| 5386587758 | Roman a clef | Novel in which actual events and people are placed in the story under a guise (characters undergo name changes) | 16 | |
| 5386587759 | Soliloquy | a solo in the play when only the actor is on the stage; often speaks their thoughts so audience can hear what the character is thinking | 17 | |
| 5386589343 | Situational Irony | When the actual outcome of a series of events is different from what the audience had expected it to be or what the story implied it to be | 18 | |
| 5386591270 | Verbal Irony | when a character says something which has a literal meaning different/contradictory to what the situation or author imply or meant to convey (sarcasm, over/understatement, etc.) | 19 | |
| 5694110644 | Theme | The main idea or meaning that a work of literature is built off of, often an abstract idea | 20 | |
| 5694110645 | Symbol | an object that invokes meanings and ideas not literally part of the object | 21 | |
| 5694110646 | Hamartia | the fatal flaw of a tragic hero that usually leads to their downfall | 22 | |
| 5694114183 | Hubris | excessive pride that leads to a tragic hero's downfall | 23 | |
| 5694118372 | Classical/Classicism | Derived from the orderly qualities of the Ancient Greek and Romans, gives a meaning of formality, objectivity, simplicity, restraint | 24 | |
| 5694124212 | Denouement | Resolution that occurs at the end of a play or fictional work | 25 | |
| 5694127472 | Deus ex machina | using an artificial device/gimmick to solve a problem; an unexpected power that solves a seemingly hopeless situation | 26 | |
| 5694132851 | Extended Metaphor | a series of comparisons between two unlike objects; the metaphor runs for a series of clauses/sentences | 27 | |
| 5694132852 | Harangue | a forceful sermon, lecture, or tirade; lengthy and agressive speech | 28 | |
| 5694136890 | Hegemony | a dominant cultural trend; the dominance of one culture over another | 29 | |
| 5694141533 | In media res | a narrative that doesn't start at the beginning of an event, but rather at a critical point in the event | 30 | |
| 5694141534 | Invective | direct verbal assault or denunciation | 31 | |
| 5694147345 | Verisimilitude | the amount of realism in a work; how believable it is that the work happened/could happen in real life | 32 | |
| 5694147346 | Eponymous | the title character of a choice of literature; when the character's name influences the title (The Odyssey was named after the main character Odysseus) | 33 | |
| 5694152450 | Flashback | A part of the story where the audience is brought back in time, usually for clarification of a point | 34 | |
| 5694152451 | Foil | A minor character who has a personality opposite of the main character, to juxtapose/emphasize both character's traits | 35 | |
| 5694152452 | Humanism | a belief emphasizing faith and optimism in human potential and creativity; a secular movement where humans are seen as being in control and more important | 36 | |
| 5694157371 | Strophe/Antistrophe | meaning "turn" and "turn again", they are elements of the ode (lyrical and choral portions of greek plays where the chorus provides commentary); the strophe is sung by one half of the chorus one one side of the stage, the antistrophe sung by the other half | 37 | |
| 5694157372 | Prologue | an introduction separate of a literary work, precedes the work and provides needed background information | 38 | |
| 5694161219 | Setting | the environment that the action of the play occurs in; includes time, place, events, circumstances, etc. | 39 | |
| 5860255667 | Anaphora | The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses | 40 | |
| 5860255668 | Malapropism | mistakenly placing a word with a similarly-sounding one (using flamingo instead of flamenco) | 41 | |
| 5860257822 | Oxymoron | When two contradicting words are placed together (jumbo shrimp, a new classic) | 42 | |
| 5860257823 | Ellipsis | three periods (...) indicating omission of words in a thought or quotation | 43 | |
| 5860259607 | Non-Sequitor | A statement that fails to logically follow the one before | 44 | |
| 5860259608 | Analogy | A comparison that points out similarities between two dissimilar things | 45 | |
| 5860261243 | Maxim | A saying or proverb expressing common wisdom or truth | 46 | |
| 5860261244 | Interjection | an exclamation (ah!, oh my!); an abrupt remark | 47 | |
| 5860262940 | Apostrophe | When the speaker addresses a person or personified thing not present | 48 | |
| 5860262941 | Personification | when objects or animals are given human characteristics | 49 | |
| 5860262942 | Inference | a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning | 50 | |
| 5860264803 | Imagery | visually descriptive or figurative language in a literary work | 51 | |
| 5860266325 | Euphemism | a mild/indirect word replacing one considered too harsh or blunt (saying "he passed away" instead of "he died") | 52 | |
| 5860266326 | Hyperbole | overstatement; large exaggeration for rhetorical effect | 53 | |
| 5860266327 | Paradox | a statement that is self-contradictory but nevertheless true | 54 | |
| 5860268205 | Synecdoche | a figure of speech where part of something refers to the whole thing (saying wheels, referring to cars) | 55 | |
| 5860268206 | Epithet | an adjective or phrase that expresses a striking quality of a person or thing | 56 | |
| 5860270354 | Caesura | a pause somewhere in the middle of a verse, often marked by punctuation (marked by ||) | 57 | |
| 5860271537 | Ode | A complex lyric poem that develops a serious and dignified theme; commemorate events or people | 58 | |
| 5860271538 | Lyric | a short poem in which a speaker expresses personal thoughts and feelings | 59 | |
| 5860295174 | Ballad | A narrative poem that was originally meant to be sung; usually depicts ordinary people in the midst of tragic events and adventures of love and bravery; written in quatrains with ABCB rhyming scheme | 60 | |
| 6379338693 | Anachronism | A person, scene, or other event in literature that does not correspond with the time or era in which the work is set | 61 | |
| 6379343581 | Apollonian | Referring to the most noble godlike qualities of human nature and behavior | 62 | |
| 6379343582 | Apotheosis | The glorification of a subject to a divine level; the highest point of development | 63 | |
| 6379345894 | Empathy | A feeling of association or identification with an object or person; felling another's pain or emotion | 64 | |
| 6379345895 | Dialect | a particular form of a language tied to a region or social group | 65 | |
| 6379345896 | Dialogue | conversation between two or more people | 66 | |
| 6379348229 | Denotation | The dictionary definition of the word; the literal or primary meaning of a word | 67 | |
| 6379348230 | Connotation | The suggested or implied meaning of a word | 68 | |
| 6379349815 | Gothic | a work in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terrors pervades the action | 69 | |
| 6379349816 | Grotesque | an affect of artistic means to convey grief and pain to the audience | 70 | |
| 6379352036 | Auditory Imagery | form of imagery that uses sounds | 71 | |
| 6379354798 | Gustatory Imagery | form of imagery that uses taste | 72 | |
| 6379357404 | Olfactory Imagery | form of imagery that uses smell | 73 | |
| 6379357405 | Tactile Imagery | form of imagery that uses touch | 74 | |
| 6379359294 | Romance | an extended narrative about improbable events and extraordinary people in exotic places | 75 | |
| 6379359295 | Diction | the choice of words in oral and written discourse | 76 | |
| 6379359296 | Syntax | The organization of language into meaningful structure; every sentence has a particular pattern of words | 77 | |
| 6379362744 | Point of View | The relation in which a narrator or speaker stands to the story or subject matter of a poem. | 78 |
