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UIL LITERARY CRITICISM TERMS,
LITERARY CRITICISM UIL ACTUAL
2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND 100%
CORRECT ANSWERS
sAbsolute - (ANSWER)a word free from limitations or qualifications ("best," "all,"
"unique," "perfect")
Accismus - (ANSWER)a form of irony in which a person feigns indifference to or
pretends to refusesomething he or she desires
Acronym - (ANSWER)a word formed from the initial letters of words and
pronounced as a separate word
Acrostic - (ANSWER)verse in which certain letters such as the first in each line
form a word or message
Adage - (ANSWER)a familiar proverb or wise saying
Ad Hominem Argument - (ANSWER)an argument attacking an individual's
character rather than his or her position on an issue
Agroikos - (ANSWER)Rustic, straight-talking, unsophisticated, not anxious about
his image, unfazed by others' joking.
,2
Allegory - (ANSWER)a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions
represent abstractions
Alliteration - (ANSWER)the repetition of initial sounds in successive or
neighboring words
Allusion - (ANSWER)a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical
that the author assumes the reader will recognize
Alterity - (ANSWER)the state of being other or different; otherness
Ambiguity - (ANSWER)An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than
one way.
Analogy - (ANSWER)a comparison between different things that are similar in
some way
Anaphora - (ANSWER)A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or
phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or
sentences.
Anecdote - (ANSWER)a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or
event
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Anglo-Norman Period - (ANSWER)the period in English literature between 1100
and 1350, which is also often called the Early Middle English Period and is
frequently dated from the Conquest in 1066
Anthology - (ANSWER)A collection of various writings, such as songs, stories, or
poems
Antithesis - (ANSWER)a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced
Aphorism - (ANSWER)a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general
truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance
Apostrophe - (ANSWER)a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an
absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction
Archetype - (ANSWER)a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in
literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious
and to evoke a response
Argument - (ANSWER)a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary
work
Asyndeton - (ANSWER)a constructions in which elements are presented in a
series without conjunctions
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Auditory - (ANSWER)Having to do with the sense of hearing
Augustan Age - (ANSWER)is a style of English literature produced during the
reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II in the first half of the 18th
century, ending in the 1740s with the deaths of Pope and Swift (1744 and 1745,
respectively)
Balanced Sentence - (ANSWER)a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are
set off against each other to emphasize a point
Ballad - (ANSWER)A narrative poem written in four-line stanzas, characterized by
swift action and narrated in a direct style.
Baroque - (ANSWER)An artistic style of the seventeenth century characterized by
complex forms, bold ornamentation, and contrasting elements
Bathos - (ANSWER)insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech
intended to evoke pity
Beat Generation - (ANSWER)Group highlighted by writers and artist who stressed
spontaneity and spirituality instead of apathy and conformity.
Biblical Allusion - (ANSWER)reference from the Bible, ex: eyes like heaven, the
crowd parted like the red sea.
UIL LITERARY CRITICISM TERMS,
LITERARY CRITICISM UIL ACTUAL
2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND 100%
CORRECT ANSWERS
sAbsolute - (ANSWER)a word free from limitations or qualifications ("best," "all,"
"unique," "perfect")
Accismus - (ANSWER)a form of irony in which a person feigns indifference to or
pretends to refusesomething he or she desires
Acronym - (ANSWER)a word formed from the initial letters of words and
pronounced as a separate word
Acrostic - (ANSWER)verse in which certain letters such as the first in each line
form a word or message
Adage - (ANSWER)a familiar proverb or wise saying
Ad Hominem Argument - (ANSWER)an argument attacking an individual's
character rather than his or her position on an issue
Agroikos - (ANSWER)Rustic, straight-talking, unsophisticated, not anxious about
his image, unfazed by others' joking.
,2
Allegory - (ANSWER)a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions
represent abstractions
Alliteration - (ANSWER)the repetition of initial sounds in successive or
neighboring words
Allusion - (ANSWER)a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical
that the author assumes the reader will recognize
Alterity - (ANSWER)the state of being other or different; otherness
Ambiguity - (ANSWER)An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than
one way.
Analogy - (ANSWER)a comparison between different things that are similar in
some way
Anaphora - (ANSWER)A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or
phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or
sentences.
Anecdote - (ANSWER)a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or
event
,3
Anglo-Norman Period - (ANSWER)the period in English literature between 1100
and 1350, which is also often called the Early Middle English Period and is
frequently dated from the Conquest in 1066
Anthology - (ANSWER)A collection of various writings, such as songs, stories, or
poems
Antithesis - (ANSWER)a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced
Aphorism - (ANSWER)a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general
truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance
Apostrophe - (ANSWER)a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an
absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction
Archetype - (ANSWER)a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in
literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious
and to evoke a response
Argument - (ANSWER)a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary
work
Asyndeton - (ANSWER)a constructions in which elements are presented in a
series without conjunctions
, 4
Auditory - (ANSWER)Having to do with the sense of hearing
Augustan Age - (ANSWER)is a style of English literature produced during the
reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II in the first half of the 18th
century, ending in the 1740s with the deaths of Pope and Swift (1744 and 1745,
respectively)
Balanced Sentence - (ANSWER)a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are
set off against each other to emphasize a point
Ballad - (ANSWER)A narrative poem written in four-line stanzas, characterized by
swift action and narrated in a direct style.
Baroque - (ANSWER)An artistic style of the seventeenth century characterized by
complex forms, bold ornamentation, and contrasting elements
Bathos - (ANSWER)insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech
intended to evoke pity
Beat Generation - (ANSWER)Group highlighted by writers and artist who stressed
spontaneity and spirituality instead of apathy and conformity.
Biblical Allusion - (ANSWER)reference from the Bible, ex: eyes like heaven, the
crowd parted like the red sea.
