Eng 12 - Literary Terms

Front 1

Alliteration

Back 1

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Front 2

Assonance

Back 2

in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in non rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible

Front 3

Dissonance

Back 3

The use of discordant sounds either to create an unpleasant effect or to create an interesting variation from what is rhythmically expected.

Front 4

Cacophony

Back 4

The term in poetry refers to the use of words that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds. It is the opposite of euphony.

Front 5

Synecdoche

Back 5

a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole (as fifty sail for fifty ships), the whole for a part (as society for high society), the species for the genus (as cutthroat for assassin), the genus for the species (as a creature for a man), or the name of the material for the thing made (as boards for stage)

Front 6

Apostrophe

Back 6

the act of addressing some abstraction or personification that is not physically present:

Front 7

Three types of irony?

Back 7

Verbal
Situation
Dramatic

Front 8

Verbal Irony

Back 8

is the use of words to mean something different from what a person actually says.
While verbal irony implies a different meaning to what is actually said, sarcasm is mainly used as a sharp and direct utterance designed to cause pain.

Front 9

Dramatic Irony

Back 9

occurs when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of.

Front 10

Situation Irony

Back 10

It involves a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.

Situation irony occurs when the exact opposite of what is meant to happen, happens.

Front 11

Anaphora

Back 11

rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis.

Front 12

Stichomythia

Back 12

An ancient Greek arrangement of dialogue in drama, poetry, and disputation in which single lines of verse or parts of lines are spoken by alternate speakers.

Front 13

Antithesis

Back 13

Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence for achieving a contrasting effect.

Antithesis emphasizes the idea of contrast by parallel structures of the contrasted phrases or clauses i.e. The structures of phrases and clauses are similar in order to draw listener’s or reader’s attention.

Front 14

Oxymoron

Back 14

A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.

Front 15

Contrast

Back 15

a device where two objects or ideas are put in opposition to one another to show or emphasize the differences between them.

Front 16

Allusion

Back 16

A reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize

Front 17

Paradox

Back 17

An apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth
Ex. I can resist anything but temptation."-Oscar Wilde

Front 18

Euphony

Back 18

Euphony is achieved through the use of vowel sounds in words of generally serene imagery. Vowel sounds, which are more easily pronounced than consonants, are more euphonious; the longer vowels are the most melodious.

Front 19

Understatement

Back 19

When something is made out to be of lesser value or importance than it actually is

Front 20

Anticlimax

Back 20

In fiction and drama, this refers to action that is disappointing in contrast to the previous moment of intense interest. In rhetoric, the effect is frequently intentional and comic.

Front 21

Juxtaposition

Back 21

placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast
Ex. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

Front 22

Foil

Back 22

A foil is another character in a story who contrasts with the main character, usually to highlight one of their attributes.

Front 23

Chiasmus

Back 23

a figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first of two parallel clauses is reversed in the second. This may involve a repetition of the same words.
Ex. "It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men"

Front 24

Volta

Back 24

or turn, is a rhetorical shift or dramatic change in thought

Front 25

Hamartia

Back 25

Hamartia is a personal error in a protagonist’s personality that brings about his tragic downfall in a tragedy. This defect in a hero’s personality is also known as a “tragic flaw.

Front 26

Polysyndeton

Back 26

Opposite to Asyndeton - uses conjunctions after every word or term.
"...and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had.” (The Bible)

Front 27

Asyndeton

Back 27

opposite to Polysyndeton - uses no conjunctions: words in list are separated by commas only.

Front 28

Epistrophe

Back 28

A rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.
Ex. "The big sycamore by the creek was gone. The willow tangle was gone. The little enclave of untrodden bluegrass was gone."

Front 29

Apostrophe

Back 29

an arrangement of words addressing a non-existent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings.
Ex. "twinkle twinkle little star"

Front 30

Enjambment

Back 30

incomplete syntax at the end of a line;[2] the meaning runs-over from one poetic line to the next, without terminal punctuation. Lines without enjambment are end-stopped.

Front 31

Caesura

Back 31

A pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm rather than by metrics.

Front 32

Iambic Pentameter

Back 32

The word "iambic" describes the type of foot that is used (in English, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable). The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet."