Examples of Literary Terms
Ibo Words and Phrases
Name That Character
Academic Vocabulary
Definitions of Literary Terms
100
Since men have learned to shoot without missing, [the bird] has learned to fly without perching.
What is a proverb?
100
Fermented palm sap used for celebration and ceremony
What is palm wine?
100
...ruled his house with a heavy hand. His wives...lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart [he] was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.
Who is Okonkwo?
100
The act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit
What is plagiarism?
100
a literary device that exploits the readers' expectations; THIS occurs when what is expected turns out to be quite different from what actually happens
What is irony?
200
He remembered the story she often told of the quarrel between Earth and Sky long ago, and how Sky withheld rain for seven years, until the crops withered and the dead could not be buried because the hoes broke the stony Earth. At last Vulture was sent to plead with Sky, and to soften his heart with a song of suffering of the sons of men...Vulture, Earth's emissary, sang for mercy. At last Sky was moved to pity, and he gave to Vulture rain wrapped in leaves of coco-yam. But as he flew home his long talon pierced the leaves and the rain fell as it had never fallen before.
What is a folktale?
200
Personal god
What is chi?
200
THIS is the wife that Okonkwo beat during the Week of Peace.
Who is Ojiugo?
200
A source has THIS if its information can be trusted and is of good quality.
What is reliability?
200
an archetypal hero based on the Greek concept of tragedy; THIS has a flaw that makes him or her vulnerable to downfall or death
What is a tragic hero?
300
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. --W.B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"
What is an epigraph?
300
woman; also used for a man who has taken no title
What is agbala?
300
He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. He wore a haggard and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing his flute. He was very good on his flute and his happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments, hung above the fireplace.
Who is Unoka?
300
Carlos erased the name off of a fellow classmate's paper, wrote his name on it instead, and submitted the paper as his own. This is an example of what?
What is plagiarism?
300
a character whose actions and thoughts are juxtaposed against those of a major character in order to highlight key attributes of the major character
What is a foil character?
400
Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat...He was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look.
What is characterization?
400
A special kind of stone that forms the link between an ogbanje and the spirit world (Only if it were discovered and destroyed would the child not die)
What is iyi-uwa?
400
THIS is the wife that Okonkwo beat because of a banana tree and later shot at with his gun.
Who is Ekwefi?
400
A source that is truthful or accurate has THIS.
What is validity?
400
a form of irony in which the reader or audience knows more about the circumstances or future events than the characters in the scene
What is dramatic irony?
500
And that was how [Okonkwo] came to look after the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and blood shed. The ill-fated lad was called Ikemefuna.
What is foreshadowing?
500
changeling; a child who repeatedly dies and returns to its mother to be reborn
What is ogbanje?
500
THIS is the name of the priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves
Who is Chielo?
500
Websites that end in .gov or .edu are typically considered more THIS than websites that simply end in .com
What is reliable?
500
a tragic hero's fatal flaw; an ingrained character trait that causes the hero to make decisions that ultimately lead to his or her downfall or death
What is hamartia?
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