(Quiz 1) Point of view (direction from which story is told)

Narrator / speaker: the one responsible for the telling of the story; not to be confused with author
1^st person, “I”: story told by a speaker about the self
3^rd person, “She / He”: story told by a speaker about a third party individual
Reliability: level of credibility of the information being narrated
Omniscient Narrator: A narrator who claims (unrealistically) to know the thoughts and feelings of all characters in a story; more likely to be found in science fiction or stories of fantasy
Limited Omniscient: narration of story about third person character in which the narrator is privy to intimate knowledge about the character’s thoughts and feelings
Dramatic / Objective: narration of story without implying any intimate knowledge of thoughts or feelings about any character
Apostrophe: a direct address to something or someone not present
Soliloquy: when a speaker speaks as if he or she is alone
Dramatic monologue: when a speaker speaks to an unresponsive audience, often unwittingly revealing much of the speaker’s personality (see Browning’s “My Last Duchess”)
In medias res: Latin for “in the middle of things”; when stories begin in the middle of scenes or events (Roman poet Horace advised aspiring epic poets to go straight to the heart of the story instead of beginning at the beginning)
Verisimilitude: the representation of true-to-life behaviors or events using natural language and familiar settings

(Quiz 2) Symbolism (presence of things, people, events, or actions which have representative value beyond the literal)

Traditional / universal: items whose symbolic value has been used or seen in previous literature (i.e. flags symbolizing patriotism or allegiance to a group)
Original / unique: items whose symbolic value either has never been seen before or has never been used in this way (i.e. a family heirloom)
Simile: comparisons between unlike things using “like” or “as” (i.e. “She ran as fast as lightning”)
Metaphor: comparisons between unlike things without using “like” or “as” (i.e. “My life is one long roller coaster ride”)
Conceit: when a simple metaphor extends throughout an entire work of literature (see Donne’s “The Flea”)
Metonymy: representing a thing by referring to something associated with it (i.e. “the crown of England”; “another meeting with the suits”)
Synecdoche: representing a thing by referring only to a part of it (i.e. “nice wheels”)
Analogy: drawing a comparison between things to make one of them clearer and more recognizable
Allusion: making reference to something from history as a means of establishing familiarity (i.e. literary, Biblical, religious, historical, biographical)
Allegory: a story which, in its entirety, has metaphoric value
Parable: a shorter story or tale which is allegorical and contains a moral or message (see Plato’s “Parable of the Cave”)
Fable: a short allegorical story utilizing animals as characters (see Aesop’s Fables)
Fairy tale: an allegorical story containing fantastic events and unrealistic settings (see Grimm’s Fairy Tales)
Archetype: a character which is modeled after an established literary form (see Understanding Literary Archetypes)

(Quiz 3) Style (method or manner in which writers distinguish themselves)

Colloquialism: slang; conversational speech (i.e. “what’s up?”)—(test your awareness of familiar colloquialisms)
Dialect: speech patterns which represent geographical or cultural regions
Rhythm: fluid quality of speech, particularly in poetry
Denotation: dictionary or universal meaning of a word
Connotation: usage or interpretation of a word in one particular instance
Ambiguity: when something appears to have more than one plausible meaning or interpretation
Vagueness: when not enough information is provided to establish meaning

(Quiz 3) Character (individual in a story who assists in moving along the plot)

Hero: once-used reference to character with wholly-positive qualities
Villain: once-used reference to character with wholly-negative qualities
Protagonist: main character with whom the reader associates; individual who experiences the greatest struggles or conflicts
Antagonist: main character (person, animal, climate, etc.) who creates the conflicts with the protagonist
Antihero: a protagonist who experiences conflict but who is not necessarily considered a positive individual (i.e. Holden Caulfield in Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye)
“static”: characters in a story who do not have the ability to change their beliefs or behaviors
“dynamic”: characters in a story who, because of experiences and events, have the ability to change their beliefs or behaviors, though they do not have to
Stereotype / stock: recognizable, familiar time-tested characters used as place-holders

(Quiz 4) Plot Elements (what happens in a story)

Exposition: first stage of traditional plot structure; introduces main characters; provides background information; sets scene; establishes potential for conflict
Rising action / Complication: second stage of plot; characters engage in conflicts; antagonism is heightened
Climax / crisis: third stage of plot; moment of greatest emotional intensity; turning point
Falling action: fourth stage of plot; immediate consequences of crisis
Resolution / Conclusion / Denouement: fifth stage of plot; unraveling of tensions; most questions answered; characters left to deal with consequences of conflicts
Conflict: struggle between or among characters or entities; how characters deal with conflict helps reader interpret or reconcile characters
Flashback: representation of past event as if it is happening in real time
Foreshadowing: references to things such as symbols that will have significance later in the plot

(Quiz 5) Forms of Irony (contrast between what happens and what was expected or intended)

Verbal: contrast between what a speaker says and what he intended to say (i.e. sarcasm); contrast between what a speaker says and what the listener expected him to say
Situational: contrast between what an individual does and what he intended to do; contrast between what an individual does and what a witness expected him to do
Dramatic: contrast between what a character believes and what the audience or readers know to be true
Cosmic: contrast between what a character hopes or wishes for and what uncontrollable fate causes or allows to happen

(Quiz 6) Introduction to the Elements of Poetry

Rhyme scheme: the pattern of end-rhymes in a poem
Line: words of a poem that stretch to the right margin of the paper
Stanza: a “paragraph” in poetry, identified by skipped lines
Meter: the pattern of beats within a line of poetry
Scansion: the analysis of a poem’s meter
Foot: grouping of syllables or beats which together make a line of poetry
Refrain: words or lines that are repeated in poetry
Motif: sense of mood or atmosphere used to set a scene (i.e. Mexican music and wall hangings in a restaurant)
End-stopped: when the ends of poetic lines signify the ends of complete thoughts
Enjambment: when complete thoughts run from one line of poetry into the next

(Quiz 7) Metrical Structures of Poetry

Anapest: poetic foot comprising three syllables with the meter syllable ( – – ‘ ), two unstressed syllables or beats followed by one stressed beat
Dactyl: poetic foot comprising three syllables with the meter ( ‘ – – ), one stressed beat followed by two unstressed beats
Iambic: poetic foot comprising two syllables with the meter ( – ‘ ), one unstressed beat followed by one stressed beat
Trochee: poetic foot comprising two syllables with the meter ( ‘ – ), one stressed beat followed by one unstressed beat
Spondee: poetic foot comprising two syllables with the meter ( ‘ ‘ ), two stressed beats
Iambic pentameter: popular meter used by Shakespeare; line of poetry containing 10 total syllables, 5 iambs ( - ‘ ) of two syllables each

(Quiz 8) Poetic Forms

English sonnet: popular 14-line poetic form made famous by William Shakespeare with the following rhyme scheme (abab cdcd efef gg); contains 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet (see Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116)
Italian sonnet: popular 14-line poetic form made famous by Petrarch with the following rhyme scheme (abba abba cdc dcd); contains an octave and a sestet (see Donne’s [Batter my heart, three person’d God])
Villanelle: poetic form utilizing repeated lines (refrains) at the ends of alternating stanzas (see Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”)
Haiku: short form poetry originating in Asia; containing three lines with the meter (575)—five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, five in the third (see the History of Haiku)
Tanka: short form poetry originating in Asia; containing five lines with the meter (57577)—five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, five, seven, seven (see the History of Tanka)
Cinquain: short form poetry originating in Asia; containing five lines with the meter (24682)—two syllables in the first line, four in the second, then six, eight, and two in the fifth line (see Samples of Cinquains)

(Quiz 9) Rhyme and Stanza in Poetry

Perfect rhyme: when two words have identical sounds (i.e. “heart” and “smart”)
Near rhyme: when two words have similar sounds (i.e. “believe” and “relive”)
Sight rhyme: when two words look like they should rhyme but they don’t (i.e. “good” and “food”)
Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter
Free verse: unrhymed, unmetered poetry
Couplet: poetic stanza of two lines; also used to represent the final two rhyming lines of a stanza
Tercet: poetic stanza of three lines (see Basho’s [a scent of plum blossoms])
Quatrain: poetic stanza of four lines (see Dickinson’s [Because I could not stop for Death])
Sestet: poetic stanza of six lines (see Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”)
Octave: poetic stanza of eight lines (see Stevens’ “The Emperor of Ice Cream”)

(Quiz 10) Figurative Language in Poetry

Hyperbole: exaggeration to the point of the ridiculous
Oxymoron: using two terms together which have opposing or conflicting meanings
Personification: attributing lifelike qualities to something not human
Onomatopoeia: words which signify the sounds they represent (i.e. “bark”)
Alliteration: when a series of words begin with a similar sound
Pun: a play on words
Assonance: when a series of words contain similar vowel sounds imbedded in them
Consonance: when a series of words contain similar consonant sounds imbedded in them