BAn adjective meaning prosperous, or wealthy. America is a generally affluent nation relative to much of the world.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBalliteration
BThe repetition of consonants in a series of words in poetry or music. For example, Gwendolyn Brooks uses alliteration in her lines from IWe Real CoolI when she writes: IWe/Lurk late. We/Strike Straight. We/Sing sin.I
Ec[000000]f[16]LBallusion
BAn indirect or casual reference to a famous person or event in history, the Bible, a literary work, mythology, or another known source.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBantagonist
BThe most important character, generally perceived as immoral or at least wrong, who stands in opposition to the main character, or protagonist, in a novel or play.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBaristocratic
BOf or pertaining to a member of an aristocracy, a class of persons holding exceptional rank and privileges, especially hereditary nobility.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBaside
BIn the theater, an aside refers to a comment by an actor intended for the audience and supposedly not heard by others on stage.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBautobiography
BA story of a person's life as written by that person. Autobiographical generally refers to a novel or play in which the events are very similar to those of the author's or playwright's life.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBballad
BA poem that tells a story, often of folk origins, and is written to be sung.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBbiography
BA biography is the life story of one person as told by another. Generally, biographies are written about famous or historical people who are seen as having an important influence on their times.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBblank verse
BA type of poetry in which rhyme is not used. Each line has ten syllables with an iambic rhythm (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable in each poetic foot), as in "about the town").
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcivility
BCourtesy, politeness; a polite attention or expression.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcolloquial
BCharacteristic of ordinary or familiar conversation rather than formal speech or writing. For example, in standard American English, "He hasn't got any" is colloquial, while "He has none" is considered formal.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBcomedy
BA type of fiction or drama in which the characters are treated humorously. There is usually a happy ending, and the audience is generally amused and moved to laughter.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBconflict
BIn drama or fiction, the conflict refers to the collision between opposing forces, generally represented by two characters, the protagonist and the antagonist.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBconservative
BUsed to describe someone or something that is disposed to preserve existing social conditions and institutions; resistant to changes.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBconventional
BConforming or adhering to accepted standards of conduct and taste.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdenouement
BFrench word meaning literally the untying of a knot, used to refer to the final outcome, solution or unraveling of the principal dramatic conflict in a literary work.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBDepression
BA period in American history, between World War I and World War II, which is considered to be the greatest economic crisis in American history. The stock market crash on October 24, 1929 is regarded as the beginning of the Depression. More than 5000 banks Ec[000000]f[16]LFclosed their doors, resulting in millions losing their savings. By 1933 more than one-fourth of the labor force, some 15 million workers, were unemployed.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdeus ex machina
BThe literal translation of this Greek phrase is "god from the machine." In literary terms, it is used to describe the use of an unexpected and unforeshadowed person or event that provides a contrived, artificial solution to a dramatic conflict that is often impossible to resolve otherwise.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdiscrimination
BThe act or an instance of making a distinction in favor of or against a person or thing based on a perceived difference, such as race or gender, rather than merit.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdissonance
BA harsh, unpleasant sound used in poetry, generally intentionally for a specific effect. Cacophony is often used as a synonym for dissonance.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBdrama
BA work written to be acted on the stage. It also specifically refers to plays that have serious intentions or purposes without reaching the heights of tragedy.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBemancipation
BThe act of freeing someone, as from slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation (1862) provided that all slaves in those states and parts of states in rebellion on or after January 1, 1863, were to be free. Slavery in the four loyal states was not affected by this proclamation. For greater Ec[000000]f[16]LFeffectivness Lincoln held back the announcement of this policy until after the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBend rhyme
BRhymes occurring at the ends of lines of poetry. Most poetry uses end rhymes, although many modern poets also create complicated internal rhyme schemes with the lines of poems.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBepic
BAn extended narrative poem, usually written in an elevated style, that centers on the deeds of a legendary or actual hero. Poems like the IIliadI and the IOdysseyI are classical epics with certain formal characteristics. A poem like Milton's IParadise LostI, in which such Ec[000000]f[16]LFcharacteristics are applied to later or different materials is called an art epic or literary epic. A poem like IBeowulfI is considered as expressing the early ideals and traditions of a people or nation and is called a folk epic or national epic.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBepilogue
BThe concluding section of a literary work. Sometimes also refers to the speech in early drama spoken by an actor directly to the audience at the conclusion of the play.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBepiphany
BA literary term used by James Joyce to refer to a sudden intuitive perception of the essential nature or meaning of an event; the moment of understanding or revelation for a character.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBepistolary
BOf or pertaining to the writing of letters. Often used in literature to refer to a type of novel in which the story is told entirely through letters from one or more persons.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBepitaph
BOriginally used to describe a verse inscription on a gravestone, this term is now commonly used to mean a poem or short statement written or spoken to commemorate the dead.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBessayists
BWriters who write essays, prose compositions, usually brief, dealing with a particular theme or topic.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBexploitation
BCapitalizing on the selfish use of another person's labor or talent for the purpose of profit, without adequately compensating the person for that labor.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBExpressionism
BA literary movement of the early-20th century, found mostly in drama, dedicated to revealing the depths of the human mind. It was heavily influenced by the discoveries of Sigmund Freud.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBflashback
BA literary technique that interrupts the chronological narrative flow of a story in order to present scenes or incidents that occurred prior to the beginning of the story.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBforeshadowing
BA plot device in novels that warns or prepares the reader for what will happen at some future point in the story.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBfree verse
BA type of verse that does not have a regular meter. Free verse takes its poetic language from the cadence of stressed and unstressed syllables and the rhythms that exist in everyday speech.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBgentility
BAn adjective meaning superior refinement or elegance.
Ec[000000]f[16]LBghetto
BA thickly populated section of the city, usually populated by poor people or a minority group.
