English Quiz Oct. 31
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Parody
- Writing meant to mock another style--often to hold that style, or its writer, up to ridicule.
- Allegory
- A work of literature which stands for someting else, other than meanings in its own subject matter. It is like an extended metaphor. Emphasis on what this actually means, such as names like Hope and Faith.
- Subplot
- The secondary action of a story, complete and interesting in its own right, that reinforces or contrasts with the main plot. They are generally either analogous to the main plot, thereby enhancing our understanding of it, or extraneous to the main plot to provide relief from it.
- Satire
- The literary art of ridiculing a folly or vice in order to expose or correct it. It evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation towards its faulty subject in the hopes of somehow improving it.
- Dénouement
- A french term meaning "unraveling" or "unknoting", used to describe the resolution of the plot following the climax.
- Stock Characters
- Embody sterotypes as the "dumb blonde" or the "mean stepfather". they become types rather than individuals.
- Understatement
- The opposite of hyperbole, also refered to as litotes, refers to a figure of speech that says less than is intended.
- Apostrophe
- An address, either to someone who is absent and therefore cannot hear the speaker or to something nonhuman that cannot comprehend. It often provides a speaker the opportunity to think aloud.
- Genre
- Kind or type of literature.
- Convention
- A characteristic of literary genre (often realistic) that is understood and accepted by audiences because is has come to be recognized as familiar technique. The division of a play into acts and scenes, sololoquies, and asides.
- Cliché
- An idea or expression that has become tired and trite from overuse, its freshness and clarity have word off. A sign of weak writing.
- Reversal
- The point in a story when the protagonist's fortunes turn in an unexpected direction. Also known as peripeteia.
- Voice
- A common term used to mean "the writer's sense of presence in a piece"
- Caricature
- The establishment of large-than-life characteristics who appear more as stereotypes. Many of shakespeare's minor characters are often comic types rather than real people.
- Motif
- A recurring important idea or image
- Syntax
- The ordering of words into meaningful patterns such as phrases, clauses, and sentences
- Comic Relief
- A humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious works. This enhances the thematic significance of the story in addition to providing laughter.
- Ambiguity
- Allows for two or more simultaneous interpretations of a word, phrase, action, or situation, all of which can be supported by the context of work. It can be applied to moods and tones as well.
- Mood
- The atmosphere the writer establishes within the piece
- Parallelism
- Repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure.
- Paradox
- A statement that initially appears to be contradictory but then, on closer inspection,turns out to make sense.
- Melodrama
- A term applied to any literary work that reies on implausible events and sensational action for its effect.