MAP 230 + Literary Terms Flashcards

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Archetype

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A perfect example or idea that represents common patterns. For example, a villain whose main function is to oppose the hero.

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Omniscient

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Means all-knowing. In writing, it's a type of third-person point of view where the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters.

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Paradox

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A statement that contradicts itself because it contains two true statements that cannot be true at the same time. Example: A barber who shaves all and only those men who don’t shave themselves.

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Pathetic Fallacy

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Similar to personification, but gives human emotions to nonhuman objects, like "weeping clouds" or "furious gusts of wind."

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Symbolize

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Using an image, shape, color, or other simple visual to stand for something else, like a peace symbol.

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Syntax

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Rules words follow so they can be put together in order to create sentences. Example: "Tom pushed the car."

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Cliché

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Very common phrases or ideas that are used too much. Example: "My way or the highway."

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Iambic Pentameter

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A line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable.

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Poetry Metric Feet

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A group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm.

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Antithesis

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Two opposite ideas put together. Example: "Snow White and the Wicked Witch."