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allusion
- indirect reference to an event, person, place, or artistic work which the writer assumes the reader knows about
- the allusion links the text to the larger meaning of the text
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analogy
- illustrates the idea by liking the current idea to a more familiar idea that is easier to understand
- typically uses an extended simile
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antagonist
the most prominent of a story's characters who opposes the hero
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autobiography
personal rememberance in which the writer tells the story of his or her own life
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ballad
a song or poem that dramatically retells the sotry of a popular figure
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biography
a book or story written about the life of someone else
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blank verse
- unrhymed form of poetry
- each line is 10 syllables and every other is stressed (iambic pentameter)
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cadence
the rising and falling, the rhythm, of speech
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caesura
- a pause in a line or verse
- a rest or breath
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conflict
- individual vs self
- individual vs society
- individual vs nature
- individual vs fate
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connotation
the range of further associations that a word may have other than its dictionary definition
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convention
an established practice used by authors of literary works
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couplet
a pair of lines in a verse that form a unit
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denotation
the accepted, dictionary, meaning of a word
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denouement
the resolution or undoing of central problems of a story
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dialect
variations in a language based on regional, cultural, or social class differences
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dialogue
conversation carried on between characters in a literary work
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digression
temporary departure from the main subject to address a separate idea
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dramatic monologue
speeach in which the character speaks to themselves, or to the audience
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empathy
the act of placing yourself in the position of others
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epic
long narrative poem that tells the story of a hero
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epigram
a brief, witty poem that often makes fun of the idea that it examines
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epigraph
a short peom or verse placed in the beginning of a book which bears some relation to the book's theme
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epilogue
concluding section of a story
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episodic
a narrative constructed around a serioes of distinct but related incidents
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epitaph
words or peom suited for iscription on a tomb or gravestone
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essay
- a short written composition in prose that examines a particular subject in depth
- analytical, reflective, causee-effect, personal
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existentialism
a eurpoean philosophy which several authors have adapeted to fiction and drama to explore the themes of meaningless, individual freedom, and alienation that plague humanity
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exposition
- writting that makes clear something that might be difficult for the reader to understand
- it helps the reader to understand the larger action or subject of the text
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fiction
- stories created from imagination
- novels, short stories
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foot
the smallested repeated pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line or verse
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foreshadowing
early on in the story the author gives hints of what will come later
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free verse
poetry with no regular meter or rhyme
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hyperbole
exaggeration or overstatment of the truth
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iambic pentameter
- iampic; a poetry foot of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable
- pentameter; ten syllable line which may or may not ryhme
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imagery
descriptive language that appeals to the senses and creates an image
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irony
using a phrase to mean the opposite of its literal or nomral meaning
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metaphor
a comparison of two unlike things in which no word of comparison is used
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meter
the patterened repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry
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mood
relates to the feeling a text arouses in its reader
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motif
a frequently recurring theme or idea
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narrator
the person telling the story
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onomatopoeia
POP! CRASH! BOOM!
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oxymoron
self-contradictory combination of words
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parable
a short story that illustrates a particular moral
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parody
form of literature that mocks the literary work or style
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paradox
- a statement that is seemingly contradictiory but found to be true
- ie. less is more
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personification
giving an animal or object human characteristics
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prose
writing that is not composed acording to rules or forms of poetry
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protagonist
- the main character
- the hero
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pun
a word or phrase used to imply other possible meanings
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rhetoric
the deliberate use of eloquece to persuade others feelings
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rhythm
the way in which sound is used in a poem
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satire
behaviors and institutions are ridiculed for the purpose of improvement
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simile
compares two unlike things using like or as
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sililoquy
a speech a character delivers while alone
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sonnet
a 14 line poem in iambic pentameter
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style
how a writter uses words, images, and phrases to create a feeling or convey a thought
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theme
the deep structure consisting of the tests ideas and truths which the writer tries to convey
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tone
relates to the overall feeling that a story can create
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