Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Literary Terms 3
Definitions
30
English
12th Grade
03/21/2010

Additional English Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
epitaph
Definition
a burial inscription, often serious but sometimes humorous
Term
epithet
Definition
a word or phrase expressing a characteristic of someone/something
Term
essay
Definition
a prose compostion; originally meant a "try" or "attempt" to discuss a topic or idea
Term
euphemism
Definition
a mild or vague word or phrase replacing one considered offensively direct
Term
euphony
Definition
a pleasant combination of sounds
Term
exemplum
Definition
a parable or moralizing tale, especially in a medieval sermon
Term
explication or exegesis
Definition
a close reading of a literary text; to unfold and reveal all meanings
Term
exposition
Definition
the beginning or rising action in plot; the presentation of essential information especially about what happened before this plot began
Term
fable
Definition
a brief moral tale, in verse or prose, non-historical, where animals speak and behave as do humans
Term
fabliau
Definition
an earthy, humorous, medieval tale in verse or prose, satirizing social classes and human behavior
Term
falling action
Definition
after the climax or crisis in a plot, the reversal of fortunes that leads to the denouement or resolution of problems
Term
farce
Definition
broadly humorous situation with clever words or slapstick
Term
fiction
Definition
anything made up, imagined, especially a prose narrative
Term
figurative language
Definition
language saying one thing in terms of something else (metaphors, similes, personification, etc. are examples of this)
Term
flashback
Definition
an interruption in chronological narration to present an earlier episode
Term
foil
Definition
a contrast to a protagonist; a character who sets off another
Term
folio
Definition
large sheet of paper folded once to form two leaves, four pages; a book consisting of sheets folded once, providing four pages each
Term
folklore
Definition
songs, tales, sayings, customs, rites, jokes, etc. passed down from generation to generation, usually orally
Term
foot (in poetry)
Definition
the basic unit of rhythm in poetry having stressed or unstressed syllables
Term
foreshadowing
Definition
hints or clues of what's to come
Term
free verse
Definition
rhythmical lines varying in length, adhering to no fixed pattern, and unrhymed
Term
genre
Definition
a literary species or form, such as drama, poetry, novel, essay, etc.
Term
gloss
Definition
a short or long explanation of a work
Term
hamartia
Definition
the tragic flaw or error or shortcoming or weakness in the hero of a tragedy
Term
heroic couplet
Definition
a rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter, usually closed, and expressing a complete thought
Term
hubris (hybris)
Definition
overweening pride or arrogance; excessive confidence
Term
humanism
Definition
a system of thought valuing humans and their standards/ethics/reason, not according to any formal religious belief or system
Term
hyperbole
Definition
intentional exaggeration for/to produce an effect; overstatement
Term
iamb
Definition
one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (u/) -- adjective form = iambic
Term
idyll
Definition
a short, picturesque piece, usually a poem, about a pleasant or ideal little episode
Supporting users have an ad free experience!