Final Exam Review
Terms
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- adverb
- a word that qualifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb, as to define time, place, manner, degree, etc.
- chide
- to scold quietly
- deft
- skillful; dexterous
- circumspect
- careful to consider all consequences and possible consequences; prudent
- wane
- to diminish; to decline or decrease gradually; or a decreasing; a period of decline
- tepid
- moderately warm, lukewarm; lacking in passion, force, or zest; marked by an absence of enthusiasm or conviction
- adjective
- a word that modifies a noun, as by color, size, location, etc.
- caesura
- a pause or break within a line of poetry
- allusion
- a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture
- whodunit
- a narrative dealing with a murder or a series of murders and the detection of the criminal; detective story
- emulate
- to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass
- odious
- deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable; highly offensive; repugnant; disgusting
- apodictic
- incontestable because of having been demonstrated or proved to be demonstrable; necessarily true or logically certain
- diadem
- a crown; royal dignity or authority
- metonymy
- a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it
- elegy
- a poem of mourning, usually about someone who had died
- amiable
- having or showing pleasant, good-natured personal qualities; affable; friendly; sociable; agreeable; willing to accept the wishes, decisions, or suggestions of another or others
- refrain
- a word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem
- stoic
- impassive; characterized by a calm, austere fortitude; unmoved by joy or grief
- internal conflict
- the struggle between opposing forces within a person's mind
- hyperbole
- a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement, for effect
- homonym
- a word that sounds like another, but that differs in meaning and often spelling
- elation
- a feeling or state of great joy or pride; exultant gladness; high spirits
- gregarious
- fond of the company of others; sociable; living in flocks or herds, as animals
- preamble
- an introductory statement; preface; introduction; the introductory part of a statute, deed, or the like, stating the reasons and intent of what follows; a preliminary or introductory fact or circumstance
- prodigious
- extraordinary or impressive
- pronoun
- a designation that substitutes for a noun
- cloister
- to seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister (a place or state of seclusion)
- preposition
- a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in a sentence
- bemuse
- to bewilder or confuse (someone)
- ebb
- to flow back or away, as the water of a tide; to decline or decay; fade away
- paradox
- a statement that appears self-contradictory but that reveals a kind of truth
- magic realism
- a genre developed in latin america that juxtaposes the everyday with the marvelous or magical
- octave
- an eight-line poem, or the first eight lines of a petrarchan, or italian, sonnet
- lament
- to express grief, sorrow, or remorse; or an expression of sorrow or affliction
- defunct
- no longer existing; dead
- insipid
- uninteresting; dull; lacking flavor
- lyric poem
- a poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of a speaker
- piety
- devotion or reverence
- ode
- a lyric poem, usually long, on a serious subject and written in dignified language
- lethargic
- sluggish; listless; apathetic
- altruism
- unselfish regard for the welfare of others
- discern
- to detect; to recognize or identify as separate and distinct : discriminate
- confounded
- bewildered; confused; perplexed
- onomatopoeia
- the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning
- interior monologue
- a narrative technique that records a character's internal flow of thoughts, memories, and ideas
- deluge
- a great flood of water; inundation; flood; a drenching rain; downpour; anything that overwhelms like a flood
- extended metaphor
- a metaphor that is extended or developed over a number of lines or two incongruous elements; incongruity can also be used for humor
- terse
- short and to the point
- pule
- to whine or whimper
- venerate
- to regard with reverential respect or with admiring deference; to honor
- free verse
- poetry that does not conform to regular meter or rhyme scheme
- concrete poem
- a poem in which the words are arranged on a page to suggest a visual representation of the subject
- rigorous
- characterized by strictness, severity, or harshness, as in dealing with people, rules, or discipline; severely exact or accurate; precise
- transgression
- infringement or violation of a law, command, or duty
- characterization
- the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character
- deign
- to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one's superiority that is involved; stoop
- dulcet
- sweet to the taste; pleasing to the ear; generally pleasing or agreeable
- epic
- a long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society
- rudimentary
- consisting in first principles; fundamental; of a primitive kind
- meter
- a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry
- transmogrify
- to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform
- repetition
- the repeating of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pattern is a basic unifying device in all poetry
- lissome
- lithe; easily flexed; nimble
- conjunction
- a word that connects other words, phrases, or clauses
- gratuitous
- given freely; without cause
- noun
- a word that names a person, place, thing, etc.
- acumen
- keen insight; shrewdness; expertise
- superable
- capable of being overcome; surmountable
- aberrant
- departing from the right, normal, or usual course; deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type; exceptional; abnormal
- belie
- to give a false impression of; to show (something) to be false or wrong
- blank verse
- poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter
- sestet
- six lines of poetry, especially the last six lines of a petrarchan, or italian sonnet
- tactile
- relating to the sense of touch; that may be touched or perceived by touch
- cadence
- the natural, rhythmic rise and fall of a language as it is spoken
- banal
- commonplace; trite
- incite
- to provoke to action; to instigate
- quatrain
- a poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit
- immutable
- unchangeable; changeless
- abscond
- to leave quickly and secretly, especially to avoid legal action
- interjection
- a word or phrase used in exclamation; a cry or inarticulate utterance expressing an emotion
- inconceivable
- unimaginable; unthinkable; unbelievable; incredible
- effusive
- unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve; pouring out; overflowing
- placid
- pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed
- reiterate
- to say or do again or repeatedly; repeat, often excessively
- peruse
- to study thoroughly; to scrutinize
- appease
- to calm or soothe, as by granting concessions; to satisfy or please
- iamb
- a metrical foot in poetry that has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word protect
- alliteration
- the repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together
- spondee
- a metrical foot consisting of two syllables, both of which are stressed
- reproach
- a condemnation; disgrace; or, to criticize or rebuke
- bolster
- to prop us; to reinforce; or, a long pillow
- panacea
- a remedy for all ills or difficulties; cure-all
- vilify
- to speak of abusively; to defame
- objective reporting
- a style of writing or reporting in which the writer keeps his or her feelings at a distance
- transpose
- to change the relative position, order, or sequence of; cause to change places; interchange
- satire
- a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change; it can cover a wide range of tones, from gentle spoofing to savage mockery
- curtail
- to cut short; to reduce; to lessen
- rebuttal
- argument or proof that contradicts or opposes
- toilsome
- involving hard work; difficult
- mitigate
- to become or make less intense or severe
- simile
- a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, than, or resembles
- apostrophe
- a technique by which a writer address an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is either dead or absent
- sonnet
- a fourteen-line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, that has one of two basic structures (petrarchan, or italian, and english, elizabethan, or shakespearean)
- verb
- a word that expresses action, existence, or occurrence
- cerebral
- of the brain or the intellect
- iambic pentameter
- a line of poetry that contains five iambic feet
- umbrage
- a feeling of pique or resentment at some often fancied slight or insult
- couplet
- two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry
- veracity
- devotion to the truth, truthfulness; conformity with truth or fact, accuracy; something true
- placate
- to appease or pacify
- abridge
- to reduce in scope : diminish; to shorten by omission of words without sacrifice of sense
- encroach
- to intrude on the possession or rights of another
- impede
- to slow the progress of; to obstruct
- foot
- a metrical unit of poetry
- guile
- craftiness; cunning
- ballad
- a song or poem that tells a story
- imagery
- the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience
- euphemism
- a word or phrase substituted for one that may be offensive
- trochee
- a metrical foot made up of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable, as in the word taxi
- external conflict
- the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story; it can exist between two people, between a person and nature or a machine, or between a person and a whole society
- subjective reporting
- a style of writing or reporting in which the writer openly expresses emotions and attitudes towards events and characters
- absurdist tradition
- twentieth-century works that depict the absurdity of the modern human condition, often with implicit reference to humanity's loss or lack of religious, philosophical, or cultural roots
- astute
- having or showing shrewdness and perspicacity; crafty, wily
- copacetic
- fine; completely satisfactory; ok
- diffident
- lacking confidence; shy; insecure
- brink
- the edge, especially of a precipice
- metaphor
- a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles
- laudable
- worthy of praise