Grade 9 Key Words
Cards (49)
- AllegoryWhen characters and plot represent ideas that relate to morality, politics or religion.
- AllusionA way of making reference to something else without explicitly stating what is it you're referring to.
- AnagnorisisThe point in a text when a key character realises another character's true identity or they come to understand the true nature of their circumstances.
- AndrogynousThe point in a text when a key character realises another character's true identity or they come to understand the true nature of their circumstances.
- AntagonistA character who opposes someone or something, often the protagonist. They are generally considered the 'bad guys' in a text.
- ArchetypeAn archetype is effectively a stereotype of a character or thing. It is a model around which certain character types are built.
- BiblicalRelating to the Bible
- Blank VerseUnrhymed metered lines, primarily written using iambic pentameter.
- CaricatureA depiction of a person in which key characteristics are exaggerated for comic effect or imply a grotesque quality.
- CatharsisReleasing strong or repressed emotion
- ConnotationWhen a word, phrase, or other component of a text is intended to carry a certain meaning.
- ConscienceA moral sense of right and wrong.
- DichotomyA division into two opposite groups.
- Divine Right of KingsA belief asserting that a monarch derived their authority from God and thus any attempt to depose or murder the king is an attempt on God himself.
- Dramatic MonologueA section of text in which the speaker addresses the audience directly.
- EmasculationMaking a man feel less masculine by taking away his power.
- EpitomeA person or item which is a perfect representation of something else, particularly a quality or concept.
- EuphemismLanguage used to imply something unpleasant or impolite
- FaçadeA deceptive outward appearance used to conceal a person's true personality or feelings.
- Femme FataleA woman who tries to achieve her hidden purpose by employing her feminity and skills or charm and seduction.
- FoilA character with qualities that contrast another.
- ForeshadowingA warning of events to come in a text.
- Great Chain of BeingThe belief that Go created the world with a clear hierarchical structure encompassing all matter and life.
- HamartiaA character's fatal flaw.
- HeathenSomeone who doesn't participate in a well-known religion. The term is most often used in regards to Christianity.
- HubrisExaggerated self-confidence which often leads to a character's downfall.
- HyperboleFigurative speech used for exaggeration.
- IdeologyA body of beliefs and ideals that dictates how a person thinks and acts. It can also be used in relation to political and religious beliefs.
- IronyExpression of an emotion or thought by using language which typically means the opposite. It is often amusing, which injects a degree of comedy into a text.
- JuxtapositionTwo opposing things placed next to each other for contrast.
- MicrocosmA community or situation intended to represent the characteristics of something much larger.
- MoralityPrinciples regarding the differentiation between right and wrong.
- MotifA repeating idea used to dictate tone and emphasise themes.
- NihilismRejection of religion and the belief that life is meaningless.
- OxymoroA figure of speech in which two contradictory terms are used consecutively.
- Pathetic FallacyGiving emotions to non-human things.
- PeripeteiaAn unexpected change in circumstances or reversal of fortune.
- PersonificationGiving human characteristics to non-humans or inanimate objects.
- ProseA passage of text written without any metrical structure.
- ProtagonistThe leading character in a text.