Details Title: #1-25 literary terms Description: Mr. Thibodeaux AP English Total Flash Cards: 25 Created: 09/08/2009 15:58:53		New Users: To study from this flashcard set, or to create your own your own study flash cards, REGISTER HERE. Existing Users: CLICK HERE. Additional Literature Flashcards
Cards in this set: Term abstract Definition a very brief synopsis of a longer work of scholarship or research. The abstract of an entire book may be reduces to a single page Term abstract terms Definition as opposed to concrete terms, abstract terms represent ideas or thoughts--generalities. They are concepts that cannot be seen (love, honor, courage, etc.) which the writer usually tries to illustrate by comparing it metaphorically to a known, concrete object. Term Ad hominen argument Definition attacking another person's argument by attacking the person rather than the issue. In the political arena this is called "mudslinging" Term adage Definition a saying or proverb embodying a piece of common wisdom based on experience and often couched in metaphorical language. Term ambiguity Definition the state of having more than one meaning, with resultant uncertainty as tot he intended significance of the statement. Ambiguity may be used consciously to reflect an author's view of the vagueness of life Term anachronism Definition the incorporation of an event, scene, or person who doesnt correspond with the time portrayed in the work.. example: Shak's use of a hat or book in Julius Caesar.. Term anagram Definition a word or phrase made by transposing the letters of another, as "cask" is an anagram for "sack". anagrams have usually been employed as a trifling exercise of ambiguity, but writers sometimes use them to conceal proper names or to veil messages Term Alexandrine Definition a verse with 6 iambic feet (iambic hexameter). The form is that of heroic verse in France. Sir Edmund Spenser uses an alexandrine at the end of the Spenserian stanza Term allegory Definition a story or description that has a 2nd meaning, typically portrayed by creating characters, setting, and/or events which represent or symbolize abstract ideas; a type of extended metaphor in which characters are personifications of abstract qualities. example: PILGRIM'S PROGRESS Term alliteration Definition the repitition of one or more initial sounds, usually consonants, in groups of words or a line of poetry. Old English versification and Middle English poetry relied largely on alliteration Term allusion Definition a figure of speech that makes reference to a person, place, event, or other source meant to create an effect or enrich the meaning of an idea. both biblical and classical allusions are used extensively in lit. Term analogy Definition a comparison that points out similariites between two dissimilar things. They are often used to explain something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar. A simile expresses an analogy; a metaphor is an implied one Term anapest Definition a metrical foot that has 2 unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable.. example: da da DUM; CONTRADICT. Term anaphora Definition one of the devices of repitition in which the same expression is repeated at the beginning of 2 or more lines, clauses, or sentences. It's used in the Bible and in Whitman's poetry Term anecdote Definition a brief story used in an essay to illustrate a point Term antagonist Definition the character or force in a story that works against the protagonist to produce tension or conflict. The "villain" is typically, but not always, the antagonist. Term antecedent Definition the word for which a pronoun stands Term antihero Definition a protagonist in a modern day play or novel who has the converse of most of the traditional attributes of the hero. He is typically graceless, inept, and sometimes stupid or dishonest. Term antithesis Definition the rhetorical opposition or contrast of words, clauses, or sentences. The balancing of one term against another. Example: "Man proposes, God disposes" or "To err is human; to forgive, divine" Term aphorism Definition a brief, sometimes clever saying that expresses a principle, truth, or observation about life Term aposiopesis Definition the intentional failure to complete a sentence. The form may be used to convey extreme exasperation or to imply a threat, as in "if you do that, why I'll..." Term apostrophe Definition a literary device in which the speaker directly addresses someone dead, someone missing, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if he/she/it were present. Characteristic instances on apostrophes are found in invocations. Term approximate rhyme Definition using words that have some sound correspondence, but the rhyme is not perfect Term archetype Definition a term brought into literary criticism from the psychology of Carl Jung, who holds that beyond each individual's unconscious lies the "collective unconscious" of the human race-- the blocked off memory of our racial past. It applies to an image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a character type that occurs frequently in literature Term aside Definition private words, spoken by an actor to the audience, that are not meant to be heard by other actors.