Below are level two words.  These words should be studied in terms of: Definition and example

Quest 1

 Acrostic [uh-kraw-stik]-a poem in which the initial letters of each line can be read down the page to spell either an alphabet, a name, or some other concealed message

Aesthetics [es-thet-iks]-Philosophical investigation into the nature of beauty and the perception of beauty, especially in the arts; the theory of art or of artistic taste.

Ambiguity [am-bi-gyoo-i-tee]- Openness to different interpretations: or an instance in which some use of language may be understood in diverse ways.  Sometimes known as 'multiple meaning.

Angst [engk-stuh]- Anxiety or dread used by the philosphers; a popular theme in youth music and literature.

Anthem [an-thuh m]-  a term used to denote a song or reprise in which the words affirm a collective identity expressing attachment to some nation, institution, cause, or philosophy.

Anticlimax [an-ti-klahy-maks]- An abrupt lapse from growing intensity to triviality in any passage of a storyline, or descriptive writing, with the effect of disappointed expectation or deflated suspense. 

Anti-hero/Aniti-herione- A central character in a dramatic or narrative work who lacks the qualities of nobility and magnanimity expected of traditional heroes

Apostrophe [uh-pos-truh-fee]- A rhetorical figure in which the speaker addresses a dead or absent person, or an abstraction or inanimate object.

Arbitrary [ahr-bi-trer-ee]- Lacking any natural basis or substantial justification.  The relationship between the signifier and its signified has no natural bond.

 Archaism [ahr-kee-iz-uh-m]- The use of words or constructions that have passed out of the language before the time of writing; or a particular example of such an obsolete word or expression.

Quest 2

Archetype [ahr-ki-tahyp]

Avant-garde [uh-vahnt-gahrd] Baroque [buh-rohk]

Binary Opposition [bahy-nuh-ree  op-uh-zish-uh n]

Black Comedy

Cadence [keyd-ns]

Canon [Kan-uh n]

Carpe diem [kär'pě dē'ěm]

Chronicle [Kron-i-kuhl]

Closure [kloh-zher]

Quest 8 

Polemic- a through written attack on some opinion or policy, usually within a theological or political dispute.

Portmanteau- a word concocted by fusing two different words together into one.  Example: Brunch for breakfast and lunch, “motel” (motor and hotel), Chillax (chill and relax).

Proverb - A short popular saying of unknown authorship, expressing some general truth or superstition: “Too many cooks spoil the broth.  Many writers incorporate proverbs into their work!

Recto-The front side of a printed sheet: Thus the right-handed (and odd numbered) page in a book (verso is the left or even side).

Reductionsim- The tendency to explain away the complexities of a literary work as the products of a single, much simpler cause.

Repartee- A rapid and witty response in conversation, especially one that turns an insult back on its originator.

Rhapsody- In the modern sense, a work or passage expressing ecstatic or uncontrolled emotion, often in a loosely structured fashion.

Saga- Various kinds of tales with an emphasis on feuds and family histories

Screenplay- The script of a film, comprising dialogue and narration with instructions for sets and camera positions.

Semantics- The philosophical or linguistic study of meanings in language.

Quest 9 

Tragic Flaw-the defect of character that brings about the protagonist’s downfall in a tragedy 

Tragicomedy-a story that combines elements of tragedy and comedy, either by providing a happy ending to a potentially tragic story or by some some more complex bending of serious and light moods. 

Travesty- A mockingly undignified or trivializing treatment of a dignified subject. 

Trope- a figure of speech, especially one that uses words in senses beyond their literal meanings

---somehow changes the meaning of the words such as simile, metaphor 

The Uncanny- A kind of disturbing strangeness evoked in some kind of horror story and related fiction. 

Unreliable narrator- a narrator whose account of events appears to be a faulty, misleading, biased, or otherwise distorted so that it departs in some sense from the truth. 

Vernacular- The local Language or dialect of common speech; or written in such a local language or dialect. 

Weltanschauung- German term for a ‘world-view’ that is either the philosophy of life adopted by a particular person or the more general outlook shared by people in a given period. 

Zeitgeist- German term for ‘time-spirit’ or spirit of the age as it refers to the prevailing mood or attitude of a given period