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30-1 Diploma Prep
Words you will encounter when writing the English 30-1 diploma exam
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Acronyms | Words that are formed from the first letters or parts of the words in a group. |
| Alliteration | Use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse. |
| Allusion | A universal reference that everybody recognizes. |
| Association | Relates new learning to something you already know. |
| Audience | The readership for printed matter (also known as the reader), as for a book or the people assembled to watch a play or movie, etc. |
| Chance | An event happening by unexplainable reasons, luck, a risk, or the likelihood of something happening. |
| Character | A person in a play, story, novel, etc. |
| Cosmic Irony | This type of irony can be attributed to some sort of misfortune. Usually cosmic irony is the end result of fate or chance. |
| Destiny | Your future or the pre-ordained path of your life; fate. |
| Dramatic Irony | Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. |
| Euphemism | The substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. |
| Exaggeration | A thought, statement, or written idea that is portrayed as greater than it actually is; magnification beyond the fact; overstatement. |
| Fate | The power or agency supposed to determine the outcome of events before they occur; destiny. |
| First Person Point of View | The narrators explicitly refer to themselves using words and phrases involving "I" (referred to as the first-person singular) and/or "we" (the first-person plural). |
| Hyperbole | The use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally. |
| Initialisms | Abbreviations that are formed from the first letters or parts of the words in a group. Unlike acronyms, initialisms cannot be pronounced as a word themselves. |
| Irony | Best defined as that middle ground between what is said and what is meant, or others’ understanding of what was said and what was meant. It can sometimes be a bit confusing, yet at the same time it can also be amusing. |
| Juxtaposition | The act or placement of two things (usually abstract concepts) near each other. |
| Literal | A translation that strictly follows the exact words. Literal language says what it means directly without any euphemisms or figurative language. |
| Luck | The good or bad things that happen by chance. |
| Metaphor | A metaphor is the comparison of two things but doesn't use the word "like" or "as" in the sentence, phrase or clause. |
| Mnemonic | These devices are sentences or phrases that you create to remember a list or group of items. |
| Onomatopoeia | The naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it. |
| Oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines contradictory terms. |
| Paradox | An argument that produces an inconsistency, typically within logic or common sense. |
| Parallelism | Using elements in sentences that are grammatically similar or identical in structure, sound, meaning, or meter. This technique adds symmetry, effectiveness and balance to the written piece. Also known as parallel structure. |
| Point of View | A way in which a person looks at the world or the angle from which a specific situation should be viewed. |
| Prophecy | A vision or a prediction for the future. |
| Pun | A form of word play that suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. |
| Rhetoric | The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively. |
| Sarcasm | A popular form of irony where the user intends to wittily attack or make a derogatory statement about something or someone. Often, sarcasm is confused with irony instead of being a recognized form of irony. |
| Satire | Used in many works of literature to show foolishness or vice in humans, organizations, or even governments - it uses sarcasm, ridicule, or irony. |
| Second Person Point of View | The protagonist or another main character is referred to by employment of second-person personal pronouns and other kinds of addressing forms, for example the English second-person pronoun "you"or "your". |
| Simile | A comparison using "like" or "as" in a clause or phrase. |
| Situational Irony | This type of irony may occur when the outcome of a certain situation is completely different than what was initially expected. It is often referred to as an “irony of events.” |
| Syllable | A part of a word that is pronounced with one uninterrupted sound. |
| Third Person Point of View | Each and every character is referred to by the narrator as "he", "she", "it", or "they". In third-person narrative, it is obvious that the narrator is not a character of any kind within the story being told. |
| Understatement | A form of speech that contains an expression of less strength than what would be expected. |
| Verbal Irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant. |
| Visualizing | Requires you to use your mind's eye to "see" a chart, list, map, diagram, or sentence as it is in your textbook or notes, on the chalkboard or computer screen, or in a display. |
| Accent | the emphasis or stress placed on a particular syllable in a poetic foot. |
| Allegory | a type of extended symbolism in which abstract ideas or concepts (truth, beauty, evil) are made concrete through personification. |
| Alliteration | a series of words that begin with the same letter or sound (now or never). |
| Allusion | an indirect reference to a person, object, or action. |
| Ambiguity | a multiple meaning in a poem or story. |
| Analogy | an extended comparison of two things that resemble each other but are not exactly alike. |
| Anapest | a metrical foot consisting of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented one. |
| Annotation | a note supplied in the margin or at the end of a text. |
| Apocopated Rhyme | rhyme in which the unaccented syllable of one of the rhyming words is ignored (flight and lightly). |
| Assonance | imperfect rhyme in which the stressed vowels correspond (cloud and shout) . |
| Ballad | a simple poem that tells a story and is usually meant to be sung. |
| Ballad Stanza | the stanza used in ballads, usually consisting of four lines rhyming abcb with the first and third lines in iambic tetrameter and the second and fourth in iambic trimeter. |
| Beginning Rhyme | rhyming of sounds at the beginning of lines of verse. |
| Blank Verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter, the most popular of all verse lines for English poetry. |
| Broken Rhyme | rhyme in which a word is broken off at the end of one line and continued in the next for the sake of rhyme. |
| Cacophony | a combination of discordant sounds sometimes used deliberately for emphasis in poetry. |
| Compactness | density of prose or poetic style. |
| Conceit | an elaborate extended simile or figurative comparison with in a poem; used especially by the meta-physical poets. |
| Connotation | the non-literal meanings a word conveys because of its suggested or implied meanings. |
| Consonance | imperfect rhyme scheme in which consonant sounds correspond (food and fad). |
| Couplet | two successive verse lines that are alike in meter and rhyme. |
| Dactyl | a metrical foot of three syllables, one accented syllable followed by two unaccented ones |
| Decasyllable | a tem-syllable line, most common in iambic pentameter verse. |
| Denotation | the literal or “dictionary” definition of a word. |
| Disyllable | a word of two syllables. |
| Doggerel | inferior poetry in which the verse is poorly composed; sometimes intentionally used for satiric of humorous effects. |
| Double Entendre | double meaning. |
| Dramatic Monologue | a one-sided conversation of one person with another. |
| Eclogue | a pastoral poem involving (usually) shepherds’ conversation that may conceal satire or allegory. |
| Elegiac Stanza | a verse form named after Thomas Grey’s “Elegy in a Country Churchyard” (1750). The rhyme scheme is abab, and the metre is an iambic pentameter quatrain. |
| Elegy | a poem written in elegiac meter (dactylic hexameter lines alternating with dactylic pentameters) and concerning grief of lament. Example |
| Elision | dropping a vowel preceding a consonant (isn’t, can’t); often used in poetry to maintain meter. |
| Emotive Language | language selected for its express connotative value to arouse emotional response. |
| Empathy | the ability to identify oneself with another person or literary figure. |
| End-stopped | referring to a line of verse that is complete in itself in structure and sense. (See Couplet) |
| Epic | a long narrative poem in which the characters and the action are of heroic proportions. |
| Eulogy | a written or spoken expression of praise, generally formal in style. |
| Euphony | the harmonious combination of sounds. |
| Feminine Ending | a line of verse in which the final syllable is unstressed. |
| Figurative Language | figures of speech and word combinations that go beyond literal (denotative) meanings. |
| Foot | the basic unit of rhythm in verse. |
| Free Verse | Verse that does not follow a set metrical pattern but flows like natural speech patterns. In free-verse poetry, the stanza gives the poem form or structure. Example |
| Haiku | a popular form of Japanese verse that consists of seventeen syllables in a tercet of five, seven and five syllables per line. |
| Heptameter | a seve-foot line of verse (also called the fourteener when the feet are iambic) |
| Heroic Couplet | two consecutive lines of end-rhymed iambic pentameter verse. |
| Hexameter | a six-foot line of verse. |
| Homeric (or epic) Simile | a lengthy figurative comparison that parallels a number of similarities. |
| Hyperbole | the use of extravagant exaggeration for emphasis. |
| Iamb (or iambus) | a two-syllable foot with an unaccented syllable, followed by an accented one |
| Iambic Pentameter | a metrical line consisting of five iambic feet. |
| Idyll | a pastoral poem describing the idealized life of shepherds in picturesque terms; also, a short epic that depicts heroic events of the past. |
| Image | the impression elicited by a word or phrase. |
| Imagery | Figurative language that conveys sensory impressions. |
| Internal Rhyme | rhyming of sounds within a line of verse. |
| Inversion | reordering normal sentence order; used in poetry for rhyme. |
| Irony | a statement in which the intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning. |
| Lament | a poem that expresses deep sorrow, such as dirge or elegy. |
| Litotes | a figure of speech that affirms the validity of something by denying its opposite (also called understatement) |
| Lyric Poetry | (usually) non-narrative poetry that expresses personal emotion. |
| Masculine Ending | ending a line of poetry on an accented final syllable. |
| Masculine Rhyming | rhyme which the final syllable at one line rhymes with the final syllable of another (also called single rhyme). |
| Metaphor | a figure of speech that implies direct likeness between two unlike things. |
| Metaphysical Poetry | in literature, a term applied to the poetry of a group of seventeenth century poets who emphasised the intellectual and psychological aspects of emotion and religion. Examples |
| Meter | the rhythmic pattern in poetry determined buy the number of accents in the lines of the poem (accentual-syllabic rhythm). Most English poetry is classified according to the following rhythmic units (feet) |
| Metonymy | the use of one mane for something closely associated with it, as “the crown” for “the king” (See Synecdoche). |
| Mock Epic (or mock heroic) | a literary form that burlesques the “grand style” of epic poetry by treating a subject of trivial importance with pretended seriousness. Example |
| Modulation | a deliberate variation in the metrical pattern of a poem to prevent monotony. |
| Monometer | a one-foot line of verse. |
| Mood | the prevailing atmosphere or tone of a literary work. |
| Motif | A narrative element that serves as the basis for an expanded poem, tale, or song. |
| Narrator | the teller of a story of poem |
| Occasional Verse | poetry written to commemorate a special event, such as a marriage song or verse. |
| Octameter | an eight-foot line of verse. |
| Octave | an eight-line stanza of poetry. |
| Ode | an elaborate lyric poem of complicated verse from with an exalted or dignified theme. |
| Onomatopoeia | the use of words whose sounds suggest their meanings (“hiss,” “buzz,” “murmur.”) |
| Ottava Rima | eight iambic pentameter lines rhyming abababcc. |
| Paean | a hymn of praise or joy. |
| Paeon | an uncommon (although frequently used by Hopkins) metrical foot consisting of one stressed (accented) syllable and three unstressed syllables. |
| Panegyric | a eulogy or other formal written or oral composition praising a person. |
| Paradox | a statement that seemingly is self-contradictory or silly, but in fact is true. |
| Parallelism | a structural arrangement of syntactically similar words, phrases, or clauses so that one element is developed equally with another. |
| Pastoral Verse | poems dealing with rustic life, particularly that of shepherds, and elegies in which a death is lamented in pastoral imager. |
| Pentameter | a five-foot line of verse. |
| Perfect Rhyme | rhyme in which the rhymed syllables are identical (flew, blew); also called identical or true rhyme. |
| Persona | a character used by an author as the narrative voice. |
| Personification | a figure of speech that attributes human characteristics to animals and inanimate objects, or philosophical abstractions and ideas. |
| Pindaric Ode | a form of ode (q.v.) characterised by a three-part division. |
| Poem | a rhythmic, unified composition characterised by imagination and the use of figurative language. |
| Poetic Justice | in literature, the term implies “just due”; i.e., the virtuous are rewarded, the evil are punished. |
| Poetic License | the privilege to depart from normal logic, diction, or rhyme in order to achieve a particular desired effect. |
| Poetry | an expression of an experience written in verse for, attempting to express a particular content in certain way so as to create a definite effect. It is characterised by its use of figurative language. |
| Polysyllabic Rhyme | the rhyming of three or more syllables at the end of two or words. (“lightly pursues/brightly renews”). |
| Prosody | the technical study of versification. |
| Pyrrhic Foot | a metrical foot of tow unaccented syllables. |
| Qualitative Verse | verse in which the rhythmic pattern is determined by the number of accents in each line, as it is in English Poetry. |
| Quantitative Verse | verse whose basic rhythm is determined by the length of time allowed for the pronunciation of sounds (syllables). Example |
| Quatrain | stanza of four lines; also, a stanza composed of four verses. |
| Quintrain (or quintet) | a five-line stanza. |
| Refrain | a group of words, phrases, or lines that are repeated at intervals in a poem or song. |
| Repetend | a group of words, phrases, or lines that are repeated at intervals in a poem or song. |
| Repetition | a poetical device in which a word of phrase is repeated at irregular intervals throughout a stanza or poem. |
| Requiem | a chant or poem offering a prayer for the repose of the dead. |
| Rhyme | the similarity or duplication of sounds, usually in corresponding positions in lines of verse. There are two general types of rhyme |
| Rhyme Royal | a seven-line stanza of iambic pentameter verse, rhymed ababbcc. |
| Rhyme Scheme | the rhyme pattern or sequence in a stanza or poem. |
| Run-on-lines | in poetry, the opposite of end-stopped lines; the grammatical structure and sense of a line is carried over from one line to the next |
| Scansion | the method used to determine meter and rhyme in English poetry; it consists of dividing verse into feet by counting accented syllables and indicating rhyme schemes with letter names. |
| Sestet | a six-line stanza or poem, particularly the last six lines of the Petrarchan sonnet. |
| Simile | a figure of speech in which two basically unlike objects or things are directly compared. |
| Skeltonic Verse | a form of metrically irregular verse characterised by short lines of tow or three stresses with irregular rhymed couplets; uses by John Skelton (1460-1529) for his satiric poetry. |
| Slant Rhyme | rhyme in which the sounds are similar but not exactly the same; also called approximate or near rhyme. Example |
| Sonnet | a lyric poem of fourteen lines with a definite rhyme scheme; Pertrarchan |
| Spenserian Stanza | a nine-verse stanzaic pattern in which the first eight verses are iambic pentameter and the ninth is iambic hexameter; the rhyme scheme is |
| Spondee | meter based on the number of accented (stressed) syllables with no regard for the unstressed syllables in a line of verse. |
| Stanza | the recurring group of lines of a poem forming the largest division in terms of metrical form, unified though, and rhyme scheme. |
| Syllabic Verse | verse in which meter is determined by the number of syllables not by accents or quantitative values. |
| Symbol | an object or image that stands for or suggests something else. |
| Syncopation | a temporary shift in regular metrical accent. |
| Synecdoche | the use of a part of one thing to signify the whole. |
| Tail-rhyme stanza | a form in which short rhyming lines are placed after the longer lines, the “tail” rhymes serve as links between the stanzas. |
| Tension | in twentieth-century criticism, designating the integral unity of a poem. |
| Tercet | a three line stanza; the rhyme scheme may be aaa,bbb,ccc etc., or it may be interwoven with the following stanza. |
| Terza Rima | an interlocking rhyme scheme |
| Tetrameter | a four-foot line of verse. |
| Triple Rhyme | rhyme which three consecutive syllables rhyme. |
| Triplet | a three-line stanza or a sequence of three rhyming syllables. |
| Trochee | a two-syllable metrical foot with the first syllable accented and the second unaccented. |
| Virgule | the diagonal mark / uses to mark the number of metrical feet in scansion. // marks the caesura. |
| Visual Rhyme | words that have a similar spelling but are not pronounced alike (‘bread,” “thread”) |
| Weak Ending | the final syllable of a line in poetry that is stresses to fit the metrical pattern, but would not be stressed in normal speech. |
Created by:
klmit
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