Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Literary Terms
Words for Midterm
38
English
12th Grade
12/12/2007

Additional English Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
alliteration
Definition
repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
Term
allusion
Definition
reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture
Term
anaphora
Definition
repetition of an opening word or phase in a series of lines
Term
apostrophe
Definition
figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, abstract quality, something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding
Term
assonance
Definition
repetition of similar vowel sounds in words of accented syllables or important words close together
Term
cacophony
Definition
a harsh, discordant, unpleasant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds
Term
connotation
Definition
what a word suggests beyond its basic dictionary definition; a word's overtones of meaning
Term
consonance
Definition
repetition of final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words
Term
couplet
Definition
two successive lines, usually in the same meter, linked by rhyme
Term
denotation
Definition
the basic definition or dictionary meaning
Term
diction
Definition
word choice
Term
end rhyme
Definition
rhymes that occur at the ends of lines
Term
euphony
Definition
a smooth, plesant-sounding choice and arrangement of sounds
Term
extended figure (sustained figure)
Definition
figure of speech (usually metaphor, simile, personitfication, or apostrophe) sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or through a whole poem
Term
feminine rhyme
Definition
a rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel is in either the second or third last syllable of the words involved (ceiling-appealing)
Term
hyperbole
Definition
figure of speech that uses exaggeration or overstatement to express strong emotion or create comic effect
Term
imagery
Definition
language that appeals to the senses
Term
irony
Definition
a situation or use of language involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy
Term
masculine rhyme
Definition
a rhyme in which the repeated accented vowel sound is in the final syllable of the words involved (dance-pants, scald-recalled)
Term
metaphor
Definition
figure of speech in which an implicit comparison is made between two things essentially unalike
Term
meter
Definition
the regular patterns of accent that underlie metrical verse; the measurable repetition of accented and unaccented syllables in poetry
Term
metonymy
Definition
igure of speech in which some significant aspect or detail of an experience is used to represent the whole experiece; the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant
Term
onomatopoeia
Definition
the use of words that supposedly mimic their meaning in their sound
Term
paradox
Definition
statement or situation containing apparetly contradictory or imcompatible elements
Term
personification
Definition
figure of speech in human sttributes are given to an animal, an object, or a concept
Term
quatrain
Definition
a four-line stanza; a four-line division of a sonnet marked off by its rhyme scheme
Term
rhyme
Definition
the repetition of the accented vowel sound and all succeeding sounds in important or importantly positioned words
Term
rhyme scheme
Definition
any fixed pattern of rhymes characterizing a whole poem or its stanza
Term
rhythm
Definition
alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language
Term
simile
Definition
figure of speech in which an explicit comparison it made between two dissimilar things
Term
carpe diem
Definition
sieze the day
Term
sonnet
Definition
a fixed form of fourteen lines, normally iambic pentameter, with a specific rhyme scheme
Term
stanza
Definition
a group of lines whose metrical pattern (and usually its rhyme scheme as well) is repeated throughout a poem
Term
symbol
Definition
something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well
Term
synecdoche
Definition
figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole
Term
synesthesia
Definition
presentation of one sense experience in terms usually associated with another sensation
Term
theme
Definition
central idea or insight of a work of literature
Term
tone
Definition
attitude a write takes toward the reader, a subject, or a character; the emotional coloring, or emotional meaning, of a work
Supporting users have an ad free experience!