WBCHSE HS English (First Language) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Volta

The turn or shift in argument or mood in a sonnet, occurring after line 8 in a Petrarchan sonnet and usually at the final couplet in a Shakespearean sonnet.

Transferred epithet

A figure in which an adjective is attached to a noun it does not literally describe, as in 'the plowman homeward plods his weary way', where the way is not weary.

Synecdoche versus metonymy

Synecdoche substitutes a part for the whole or whole for part ('all hands on deck'); metonymy substitutes an associated thing for the thing meant ('the crown' for monarchy).

Litotes

Understatement by denying the opposite, as in 'not unattractive' for 'attractive'. It softens a claim while still asserting it, and is common in ironic prose.

Implied author

The version of the writer constructed by the text's values and tone, distinct from the real writer and from the narrator. It explains irony where narrator and text disagree.

Situational irony

A gap between expectation and outcome, as when a fire station burns down. It differs from verbal irony, which lies in what a speaker means versus says.

Satire

Writing that ridicules a vice or folly with a corrective purpose. It is distinguished from mere comedy by its target and its implied standard of judgement.

Rhetorical mode

The organisational purpose of a passage: narrative, descriptive, expository, or argumentative. Identifying it predicts which devices and structures a question will target.

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter, five unstressed-stressed feet per line. It is the standard metre of Elizabethan and much later dramatic and reflective poetry.

Enjambment

The running on of a sentence past the end of a line without a pause. It quickens pace and can create surprise when the next line completes the sense.

Caesura

A pause or break within a line of verse, often marked by punctuation. It controls rhythm and can isolate a word for emphasis.

Apostrophe

Direct address to an absent person, a dead figure, or an abstraction such as Death or Freedom. It differs from personification, which attributes human qualities to non-human things.

Oxymoron versus paradox

An oxymoron joins contradictory words in one phrase ('sweet sorrow'); a paradox is a whole statement that seems self-contradictory yet reveals a truth.

Sibilance

Repetition of sibilant sounds (s, sh, z), producing a hissing or hushing effect. It is a form of consonance and often signals stealth, softness, or menace.

Hamartia

The error of judgement or flaw in an Aristotelian tragic hero that contributes to the fall. It is an error, not necessarily a moral vice.

Peripeteia and anagnorisis

Peripeteia is the reversal of fortune in a tragedy; anagnorisis is the hero's moment of recognition or discovery. Aristotle treats their coincidence as especially powerful.

Soliloquy versus aside

A soliloquy is a speech by a character alone on stage revealing thoughts; an aside is a brief remark heard by the audience but not by other characters present.

Malapropism

Comic misuse of a similar-sounding word, named after Sheridan's Mrs Malaprop. It characterises the speaker as pretentious or confused rather than merely uneducated.

Denouement

The final unravelling of the plot after the climax, in which remaining confusions are resolved. In comedy it typically includes betrothals or marriages.

Dramatic irony

A situation where the audience possesses knowledge that a character lacks, so the character's words carry a meaning they do not intend.

Reported question word order

In indirect questions the auxiliary order reverts to statement order and the question mark is dropped: 'She asked where I was going.'

Dangling modifier

An introductory participle or phrase that fails to modify the subject of the main clause, as in 'Walking home, the rain began', where the rain appears to walk.

Restrictive versus non-restrictive clause

A restrictive clause identifies the noun, takes no commas, and prefers 'that'; a non-restrictive clause adds information, takes commas, and prefers 'which'.

Third conditional

If plus past perfect in the condition, with would have plus past participle in the result: 'If he had studied, he would have passed.' It describes unreal past situations.

Collective noun agreement

Collective nouns take a singular verb when the group acts as one unit and a plural verb when members act individually: 'The jury has decided' versus 'The jury were divided'.

Assimilation of negative prefix

The prefix in- changes to il- before l, ir- before r, and im- before labials such as p, b, m, giving illegal, irregular, impossible, and immobile.

White elephant

An idiom for a costly possession or project that is burdensome to maintain and yields little value, often used in complaints about public spending.

Affect versus effect

Affect is usually a verb meaning to influence; effect is usually a noun meaning result. Effect as a verb means to bring about, as in 'effect change'.

Phrasal verb: put off

To postpone or deter. The particle changes meaning entirely, so 'put off the meeting' differs from 'put by' (save) and 'put up with' (tolerate).

Topic sentence

The sentence stating a paragraph's single controlling idea, usually placed first. A paragraph with two competing topic sentences lacks unity and loses coherence marks.

Yours faithfully versus sincerely

Use 'Yours faithfully' when the salutation is 'Dear Sir/Madam' with no name; use 'Yours sincerely' when the recipient is named in the salutation.

Précis length rule

A précis is continuous prose in the summariser's own words, conventionally about one-third of the original, excluding examples, dialogue, and figurative language.