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Honors English 1 1st semester, final exam flash cards contains Yiddish words drama terms narrative elements literary devices


father or Daddy


sinner; heretic; hypocrite


system of interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures that substitutes numbers for letters


Jewish dietary laws

L'- Chaim

to life, (a toast)


the long fringes appended to the four corners of the garment,


a Jewish school for religious instruction


A language derived of Medieval German and spoken by Jews of Eastern European origin.


piritual leader; righteous person


An international movement originating in the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel


A major division in the action of a play. The ends of acts are typically indicated by lowering the curtain or turning up the houselights. Playwrights frequently employ acts to accommodate changes in time, setting, characters onstage, or mood. In many full-length plays, acts are further divided into scenes, which often mark a point in the action when the location changes or when a new character enters.


A brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or idea in history or literature. Allusions conjure up biblical authority, scenes from Shakespeare's plays, historic figures, wars, great love stories, and anything else that might enrich an author's work. Allusions imply reading and cultural experiences shared by the writer and reader, functioning as a kind of shorthand whereby the recalling of something outside the work supplies an emotional or intellectual context.




In drama, a speech directed to the audience that supposedly is not audible to the other characters onstage at the time.


a person presented in a dramatic or narrative work.




A work intended to interest, involve, and amuse the reader or audience, in which no terrible disaster occurs and that ends happily for the main characters.

Comic relief

A humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in an otherwise serious work.


A characteristic of a literary genre (often unrealistic) that is understood and accepted by audiences because it has come, through usage and time, to be recognized as a familiar technique. For example, the division of a play into acts and scenes is a dramatic convention, as are soliloquies and asides. flashbacks and foreshadowing are examples of literary conventions.


A turning point in the action of a story that has a powerful effect on the protagonist. Opposing forces come together decisively to lead to the climax of the plot. See also plot.


A type of informational diction. Dialects are spoken by definable groups of people from a particular geographic region, economic group, or social class. Writers use dialect to contrast and express differences in educational, class, social, and regional backgrounds of their characters. See also diction.


Derived from the Greek word dram, meaning "to do" or "to perform," the term drama may refer to a single play, a group of plays ("Jacobean drama"), or to all plays ("world drama"). Drama is designed for performance in a theater; actors take on the roles of characters, perform indicated actions, and speak the dialogue written in the script. Play is a general term for a work of dramatic literature, and a playwright is a writer who makes plays.

Dramatic irony


Dramatis Personae

The list of characters in a play; also the characters in a play




A character in a work whose behavior and values contrast with those of another character in order to highlight the distinctive temperament of that character (usually the protagonist).


The introduction early in a story of verbal and dramatic hints that suggest what is to come later.


A sequence of words printed as a separate entity on the page.


A long speech delivered by one person who forgets or neglects the others who are there,


The main character of a narrative; its central character who engages the reader's interest and empathy.


In drama, a scene is a subdivision of an act. In modern plays, scenes usually consist of units of action in which there are no changes in the setting or breaks in the continuity of time. According to traditional conventions, a scene changes when the location of the action shifts or when a new character enters.


The written text of a play, which includes the dialogue between characters, stage directions, and often other expository information.


A dramatic convention by means of which a character, alone onstage, utters his or her thoughts aloud. Playwrights use soliloquies as a convenient way to inform the audience about a character's motivations and state of mind.

Stage directions

A playwright's written instructions about how the actors are to move and behave in a play. They explain in which direction characters should move, what facial expressions they should assume, and so on.


A story that presents courageous individuals who confront powerful forces within or outside themselves with a dignity that reveals the breadth and depth of the human spirit in the face of failure, defeat, and even death. Tragedies recount an individual's downfall; they usually begin high and end low.


A representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms - Characters represent abstractions and have symbolic purpose.


A passing or casual reference usually to a literary, biblical, or historical event - a mention of something either directly or by implication


A short, witty saying or a statement of a truth or an opinion -

Deus ex Machina:

All hope is lost and then a God-like figure comes out and solves everything


When characters contrast with each other via opposing traits - this brings out the traits in each


An extravagant figurative statement used for literary effect.


The use of details and descriptors to create a mental image in a reader's mind - it usually involves at least one of the senses. It must be figurative (not literal) speech.


A clever literary device that uses words to express something other than the literal meaning, usually the opposite (three main categories)

Dramatic irony

Used typically in comedies and tragedies to engage the audience as they know what is happening and the characters remain ignorant.

Situational irony

Actions that have an opposite effect from what is expected in the situation.

Verbal irony

Words used to mean the opposite of what is expected


An implied comparison between two dissimilar things


The naming of a thing or action by imitation of sounds


Giving human traits to something that is not living such as objects, colors, or ideas


An explicit comparison of two different things, usually by using the words "like" or "as"


Using objects to represent an idea


A paradox is a contradictory statement that makes no logical sense at first glance until you re-read it and think about it


A word or phrase which creates a seemingly contradictory effect


A scene in which the author describes an event that occurred before the work, usually to clarify the present situation


When the same letter or sound is repeated during a sentence, usually at the beginning


The repetition of a vowel sound within a sentence to create rhyming within a sentence or phrase


A repetition of consonants in a sentence or phrase


To show or indicate beforehand - to prefigure


the general location, time in history, or social conditions in which the work takes place


the central character of a story who serves as a focus for its themes and incidents and as the primary rationale for plot development


the major character who stands against or works against the protagonist


an un-heroic protagonist who frequently is unable to commit to ideas. Anti-heros feel helpless in a world where they have no control. May celebrate their position as a social outcast

dynamic character

a character who changes as a result of events

static character

a character who doesn't change or changes ver little

flat character

a character with one dominate character trait: the flirt, the bully etc

round character

a character with both strengths and weaknesses, one who has more than one side

direct characterization

write tells what character is like

indirect characterization

shows what character is like by describing looks, what they say/do, and how characters react to that character

point of view

the narrators perspective of the story

First person

relates the story as perceived from one of the characters

Third person

stor is being told by some one outside of the story


narrator can share the thoughts and feelings of all characters

limited omniscient

narrator can share the thoughts and feelings of one character

camera view

unaware of all characters thoughts


arrangement of incidents in a narrative to achieve a desired effect

inciting incident

event that gives rise to a conflict


beginning of the story, sets tone, atmosphere and setting


provides the building of tension between opposing forces


turning point of action- greatest emotional involvement

falling action

after climax


unraveling of the knot


things are resolved


struggle between opposing forces-provides plot

external conflict

out side force- person, group, animal etc

internal conflict

takes place within characters mind


central message expressed through literary work
abstract concept presented through images, characters and symbols


the manner in which the author expresses his or her attitude.

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