English Vocab Semester Exam

• Infallible


  Incapable of making mistakes or being wrong
• Almanac


  Annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information
• Ruinous


  Bringing or tending to bring ruin; destructive; disastrous
• Agitated


  Troubled in mind, disturbed or upset
• Somber


  Serious, sad
• Dilapidated


  In a state of disrepair or ruin as a result of age or neglect (of a building or object)
• Reverent


  Showing great respect for a person or thing
• Distressed (as an emotion)

  Afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief
• Nostalgic


  Longing or thinking fondly of a past time or condition
• Optimist


  A person who is inclined to have a hopeful outcome, positive person
• Indignant


  Feeling or showing anger because of something unjust or unworthy
• Resigned


  Feeling or showing acceptance that something unwanted or unpleasant will happen or cannot be changed
• Angst


  A feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity
• Onomatopoeia


  A word that describes a sound
• Understatement


  A person, object, or emotion is downplayed or presented as being less than what is true to the situation
• Personification


  To give human qualities to inanimate objects
• Simile


  Comparing two things using like or as
• Repetition


  A word or phrase that's used multiple times in a text to emphasize an emotion or an idea
• Irony


  When the actual meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning
• Situational


  Where the opposite of what is expected happens
• Verbal


  Sarcasm, saying one thing that means the opposite to express humor, frustration, or anger
• Dramatic


  Where the reader/audience knows something the characters don't
• Symbolism


  Use of symbols or people to represent an idea of some sort
• Metaphor


  Comparing two UNLIKE things without using like or as
• Thesis


  Clearly identifies the topic being discussed, including the points discussed in the paper
• Points of view


  • First
  • Second
  • Third (Omniscient)
  • Third (Limited)
• Tone


  Attitude a character, narrator, or author takes toward a given subject
• Mood


  General feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader
• Foreshadowing


  Plot element that hints at something to come later in the story
• Conflict


  When a character faces an obstacle to their central want or need
• Hyperbole


  Exaggerated statements
• Anaphora


  Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each line of a poem, speech, or sermon
• Rhetorical Question


  Questions that are asked without expecting an answer
• Paradox


  A statement, or a pair of statements that seems contradictory upon first glance