Vocabulary List 3
1. Antagonist (noun) - The character of force who works against the protagonist.
In the Harry Potter series, Voldemort is the antagonist. (Sorry, 'he who shall not be named'.)
2. Conjugate (verb) - To inflect a verb for each person, in order for one or more tenses.
In English, the verb 'to be' is conjugated as follows: 'I am', 'you are', 'he/she/it is', 'we are', 'you are', and 'they
are'.
3. Contraction (noun) - The shortening of a word or a group of words by omission of a sound or letter.
Doesn't, isn't, and won't are all examples of contractions.
4. Diction (noun) - The way in which words are used in speech or writing.
In Mark Twain's novels the characters' words are often misspelled so they are pronounced the way a southerner
would say the words. This is an example of diction.
5. Drama (noun) - A composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or character or to tell a story
usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue and typically designed for a
theatrical performance. (A state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of
forces.
Shakespeare's plays are considered to be drama, as the characters tend to decide their own fate. Rarely does
something random occur in his stories.
6. Exclamation (noun) - A sharp or sudden utterance.
My most common exclamation is probably "Dammit!", which is probably more appropriate than some other words I
could use.
7. Exposition (noun) - Background information on characters and events necessary for understanding the
story.
I feel that Charles Dickens uses way too much exposition in his stories. It would be much better if he would show
us the story instead of telling it to us.
8. Foreshadowing (noun) - The use of clues to hint at what is going to happen later in the plot.
In the film The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent tells several people that 'sometimes you live long enough to see yourself
turn into the villain'. Everyone who knew he would turn into Two Face saw this as obvious foreshadowing.
9. Foreshorten (verb) -To render the image of an object such that it appears to be receding in space as it is
perceived visually.
In an M.C. Escher lithograph, he foreshortens his hand; it appears huge in the front of the picture, as if he was
holding it out to touch the viewer.
10. Idiom (noun) - An expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words, but
has a separate meaning of its own.
Someone not familiar with sports would probably be confused by their idioms, such as: hat trick, hail mary, March
Madness, and triple play.
11. Objective (adj.) - When an opinion is based on facts rather than feelings or opinions; not influenced by
opinions.
As a teacher, I often have to resolve conflicts with students as an objective viewer. I cannot show favoritism towards
any student.
12. Omniscient (adj.) - All-knowing.
An omniscient narrator tells the story as if he or she can see and hear everything.
13. Preposition (noun) - A word or group of words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to
show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object.
The following words are prepositions: by, as, to, toward, at, on, of, for, from, before, below, and on.
14. Protagonist (noun) - The main character of a story; the one who sets the plot in motion.
Forrest Gump, Michael Connelly, Batman, Superman, and Blade are all examples of movies which are named after
the protagonist.
15. Denouement (noun) - In a story, when all the problems or mysteries of the plot are unraveled.
Murder mysteries tend to have an interesting denouement, as the main character explains how all of the strange
events are linked together.
16. Subjective (adj.) - When an opinion is based on feelings or opinions rather than facts.
I once lost a debate. Afterwards I was congratulated by the people who voted against me for my compelling
argument. When I asked them why they voted against me, it turned out that they were being subjective, they
disagreed with my side in spite of all of the evidence against their beliefs.
17. Theme (noun) - The central idea or insight of a work of literature; most are implied rather than
directly stated.
Romeo and Juliet is said to have many themes, such as: love vs. hate, the old vs. the young, is passion love or lust,
and how hasty decisions can lead to disaster.
18. Tone (noun) - The attitude a writer takes toward the reading, a subject or a character; conveyed
through the writers choice of words and details.
You can tell that H.P. Lovecraft's stories are going to have a dark tone just by looking at his diction. He loves words
such as: abnormal, accursed, loathsome, spectral, and his favorite word, hideous.