Pre-U English Literature: key terms

Key Terms

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Abstract Noun

Cannot be detected by the five senses.

eg. Love, Trust, Peace

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Active

The subject does the action

(Subject + Verb + Object) I ate an apple

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Adjacency PAir

An example of turn- taking

(Question and Answer)

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Affective

Concerned with feeling or emotions.

(I feel fine)

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Affix

A morpheme attached to a word to create a new word

(Plural -s or -ed)

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Allegory

A story with a literal and symbolic meaning

(Animal Farm)

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Anaphora

Repetition of a sequence of words at the beginnings of clauses

(It was..... It was...)

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Anaphoric Reference

A word or expression that refers backwards to a previous part of the text

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Anti-hero

The antithesis of the architypal hero

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Antithesis

A direct contrast

(Give everyman thy ear, but few thy voice)

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Aphorism

A terse saying

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Asyndeton

Listing without saying 'and'

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Cataphoric reference

A word or expression that refers forward to another part of the text

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Collocation

Groups (usually pairs) of words that are found alongside each other

(Crystal Clear)

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Conceit

An extended metaphor that run across a whole poem

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Conjunction

A word which joins the different parts of a sentence

(and, but, so)

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Defamiliarization

Forcing the audience to see common things in a new way

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Deixis

Deictic expressions can only be understood in context

(here, there)

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Dynamic Verb

Shows action (by the subject). Opposite of stative verb

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Dysphemism

Antonym of euphemism. Direct and probably offensive, painful or unpleasant expression

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Foil

a character who contrasts with another character.

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Fricative

A consonant produced by the forcing of breath.

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GASP

Genre Audience Subject Purpose

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Glottal Stop

This voiceless glottal plosive is created by the closure of the glottas

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Homonym

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings

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Homophone

Words which sound the same

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Loanword

A word taken from another language.

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Malapropism

Substitution of a word for a word that sounds similar. Often for comic effect.

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Minor sentence

Doesn't contain a finite verb.

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Neologism

A newly coined word or phrase

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Polysyndeton

Listing using 'and'

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Polysyllabic

A word with three or more syllables

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Prefix

An afflx which is placed before the stem of a word

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Stative verb

Opposite of dynamic. Concerned with states and feelings.

(I think that...)

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Suffix

An affix placed at the end of a word

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V-effect

Jolts the audience out of passivity into being a consciously critical reader

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