Lit terms 2
Limerick
A light humorous poem with a regular metrical scheme and a rhyme scheme of AABBA
Falling action
In a play or story, the action that follows the climax
Lyric
The words of a song, usually with a regular rhyme scheme
Memoir
A biographical or autobiographical narrative emphasizing the narrator's personal experience during a period at an event
Idiom
A figure of speech that belongs to a particular language, people, or region and whose meaning cannot be obtained, and might even appear in ridiculous, by joining the meanings of the word composing it.
Metaphor
A figure of speech that compares or equates seemingly unlike things. In contrast to a simile, a ______ implies the comparison instead of stating it directly, no using LIKE or AS
Irony
A form of expression in which the intended meaning of the words used is the opposite of their literal meaning.
Fantasy
A form of literature that explores unreal worlds of the past, present or the future
Genre
A literary or artistic category. The main literary _____ are prose, poetry, and drama. Each of these is divided into smaller _______.
Hero
A literary works main character, usually one with admirable qualities.
Historical Fiction
A novel, novella, play, short story, or narrative poem that sets fictional characters against a historical backdrop and contains many details about the period in which it is set
Fiction
A prose narrative in which situations and characters are invited by the writers situation and characters are invented by the writer. Some aspects of a ______ work may be based on fact or experience. _______ includes short stories, novellas, and novels.
Meter
A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllable's that gives a line of poetry a predictable rhyme
Fable
A short, simple story tale that teaches a moral. The characters in a ______ are often animals who speak and act like people. The moral, or lesson, of this is usually stated outright
Folktale
A traditional story passed down orally long before being written down. Generally the author of a ________ is anonymous. They include animal stories, trickster stories, fairy tales, myths, legends, and tall tales
Legend
A traditional story, based on history or an actual hero, this is passed down orally. A _______ is usually exaggerated and gains elements of fantasy over the years
Journal
An account of day to day events or a record of experiences, ideas, or thoughts. A ______ may be also called a diary
Flashback
An interruption in a chronological narrative that tells about something that happened before that point in the story began. A _______ gives readers information that helps to explain the main event of the story
Haiku
Japanese form of poetry that has three lines and seventeen syllables. (5 7 5)
Figure of Speech
Language of a specific kind, such as analogy, metaphors, simile, or personification
Imagery
Language that emphasizes sensory impressions to help the readers of a literary work see, hear, feel, smell, and taste the senses described
Figurative Language
Language used for descriptive effects, often to imply ideas indirectly. Expressions of ________ ________ are not literary true but expresses some truth beyond the literal level. Although it appears in all kinds of writing, ________ _________ is especially prominent in poetry.
Informational text
One kind of nonfiction. This kind of writing conveys facts and information without introducing personal opinion
Lyrical poetry
Poems, usually short, that expresses strong professional feeling about a subject or an event
Free verse
Poetry that has no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement
First-person narrative
Point view
Local color
The fictional portrayal of a regions features or particularities and its inhabitants' distinctive ways of talking and behaving, usually as a way of adding a realistic flavor to a story
Main idea
The most important idea expressed in a paragraph or an essay. It may or may not be directly stated
Humor
The quality of a literary work that makes the character and their situations seem funny, amusing, or ludicrous. This can be as effective in nonfiction and fiction
Folklore
The traditional beliefs, customs, stories, songs, and dances of the ordinary people. ______ is passed on by word of mouth and performance rather than in writing
Foreshadowing
The use of clues by an author to prepare readers for events that will happen in a story