English II Literary Terms
Terms
undefined, object
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- hyperbole
- exaggeration used to expresss a strong feeling or create a comic effect
- synecdoche
- a figure of speech in which the name of a part is used to refer to the whole; for example, the use of "wheels" to mean "automobile"
- tragic flaw
- character defect that causes the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy
- blank verse
- poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
- prose
- the ordinary form of spoken or written language
- litote
- ironic understatement
- anachronism
- an object or person that is not placed in its correct historical time period
- protagonist
- the main character in a literary work
- romance
- a story featuring high born characters in a series of adventrues taht are normally chivalric
- personification
- the attribution of human characteristics to comething non-human
- soliloquy
- a speech in which a character speaks his thoughts aloud while alone on stage
- pun
- a play upon the multiple meanings of a word or on two words with similar sounds but different meanings
- verse
- a sequence of words arranged metrically in accordance with some rule or design
- metonymy
- a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated
- aside
- remarks spoken in an undertone by a character, either to the audience or another character on stage
- antagonist
- a person who opposes, fights, or competes with another opponent, usually the protagonist
- foreshadowing
- a writer's use of hints and clues to suggest events that have as yet to occur in a literary work
- metaphor
- a direct comparison between two seemingly unlike things without using the connective words like, as, than, or resembles
- tragedy
- a serious play having an unhappy or disastrous engind brought about by the characters or central character impelled
- simile
- an indirect comparison between two seeminglyunlike things that does used the connective terms like, as, than, or resembles
- hero
- usually the protagonist in a literary work
- imagery
- language that appeals to the five senses
- villain
- a wicked or unprincipled character in a play
- irony
- a contrast or discrepancy between expectations and reality
- drama
- a literary composition that tells a story, usually of human conflict, by means of dialogue and action, to be performed on the stage by actors
- alliteration
- the repetition of initial consonant sounds within the line of verse
- allusion
- an indirect reference, by means of mention or quotation, to something real or fictitious outside the work being read
- theme
- the central idea or message of literary work
- verbal irony
- occurs when a writer or character says one thing but means another, usually the opposite