GR 12 Domain-Specific/Essential Vocabulary (and Definitions)
Quarters 1/3
Unit One – From Legend to History: The Old English and Medieval Periods (A.D. 449-1485)
“This tale is true, and mine.” (“The Seafarer”)
Allegory – a literary work with two or more levels of meaning (literal and symbolic) in which the characters, settings, and events stand for ideas and qualities
Alliteration –repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another
Archetypal Literary Elements (Archetype) –a pattern that appears in literature and is repeated through the ages
Assonance –repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together
Caesura –a natural pause or break within a line of poetry, usually indicated by the natural rhythm of the language
Characterization –process by which the writer reveals the personality of the character
Epic –a long narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society
Epic (or Legendary) Hero – a larger-than-life hero who undertakes a quest to achieve something of a tremendous value to themselves or a particular society
Frame Story –an introductory narrative within which one or more of the characters proceed to tell individual stories
Imagery –language that appeals to the senses
Irony –a contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality –between what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected and what really happens, or what appears to be true and what is really true
Kenning – in Anglo-Saxon poetry, a metaphorical phrase or compound word used to name a person, place, thing, or event indirectly (concrete noun)
Main Idea – the essential message of a passage
Mood –the feeling created in the reader by a literary passage or work
Setting – the time and place of the action of a literary work
Social Commentary –writing that offers insight into society, its values, and its customs
Theme – the central idea, concern, or purpose in a literary work
Tone –the writer’s attitude toward the readers and toward the subject
Unit Two – Celebrating Humanity: The English Renaissance Period (1485 to 1625)
“What a piece of work is man” (Shakespeare)
Couplet – two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
Metaphor –figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things (ex. “death, that long sleep”)
Octave –an eight-line stanza or poem, the first eight lines in an Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet
Quatrain –a four-line stanza or poem unified by a rhyme scheme
Rhyme Scheme –a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem or stanza
Sestet –a six-line stanza or poem, the last six lines in an Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet
Simile –a figure of speech that compares two apparently dissimilar things using like or as
Sonnet –a fourteen-line lyric poem with a single theme
Theme –the central idea, concern, or purpose in a literary work
Tone –the writer’s attitude toward the readers and toward the subject
Macbeth’s Domain-Specific/Essential Vocabulary
Allusion –reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art
Aside –private words that a character in a play speaks to the audience or to another character and that are not supposed to be overheard by others on stage
Conflict –a struggle between opposing forces (internal and external)
Dramatic Irony – the words or actions of a character take on a different meaning for the audience or readers different from what the character intends
Motif –in literature, a word, a character, an object, an image, a metaphor, or an idea that recurs in a work or in several works
Soliloquy –a long speech in which the character who is usually alone onstage expresses his or her private thoughts or feelings
Symbol –a person, place, thing or event that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself
Tragedy –a play, novel, or other literary work that shows the downfall or destruction of a noble or outstanding person
Tragic Flaw –an error in judgment or character weakness
Tragic Hero –a character who gains self knowledge and wisdom, even though he or she suffers defeat, possibly even death