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29 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Alliteration |
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words |
Carrie's cat clawed her couch, creating chaos. chaos. |
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Allusion |
an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference |
“He was a real Romeo with the ladies.” Romeo was a character in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, and was very romantic in expressing his love for Juliet. |
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Antecedent |
preceding in time or order; previous or preexisting |
The bird ate the fish quickly and immediately it died. |
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Colloquial |
used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary |
to bamboozle – to deceive |
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Connotation |
an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning |
Politician has a negative connotation of wickedness and insincerity while statesperson connotes sincerity. |
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Euphemism |
a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing |
Turn a trick instead of engage in prostitution |
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Diction |
the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing |
Keats in his “Ode to the Grecian Urn” uses formal diction to achieve a certain effect. He goes:“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheardAre sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on” |
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Hyperbole |
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally |
“She is so dumb, she thinks Taco Bell is a Mexican phone company” |
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Imagery |
visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work |
On a starry winter night in PortugalWhere the ocean kissed the southern shoreThere a dream I never thought would come to passCame and went like time spent through an hourglass-Teena Marie, “Portuguese Love” |
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Invective |
insulting, abusive, or highly critical language. |
Shakespearean writing in The Tragedy of King Lear, scene II of King Lear, in which Kent declares that Oswald is:“A knave, a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave… and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch…” |
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Irony |
the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect |
A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets. tickets. |
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Metaphor |
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable |
Maria is a chicken. |
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Parallelism |
the use of successive verbal constructions in poetry or prose that correspond in grammatical structure, sound, meter, meaning, etc |
Like father, like son. |
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Anaphora |
the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses |
“Every day, every night, in every way, I am getting better and better” |
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Pedantic |
A pedantic is someone who is concerned with precision, formalism, accuracy, minute details in order to make an arrogant and ostentatious show of learning |
From “The Big Bang Theory” by Bill Prady and Chuck LorreBill Prady and Chuck Lorre’s sitcom contains a pedantic character, Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, who is a theoretical physicist. Dr. Sheldon Cooper is idiosyncratic, obsessed, have extreme narcissism and extensive general knowledge. Other characteristics in his personality include inflated ego, prodigy, social ineptitude and his inability to express emotions to people, which show him as a typical pedantic person. |
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Personification |
the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form |
The stars danced playfully in the moonlit sky. |
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Sarcasm |
the use of irony to mock or convey contempt. |
Suburbia: where they tear out the trees and then name streets after them. them. |
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Syntax |
the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language |
“I cannot go out” “Go out I cannot” |
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Theme |
the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic |
Most recent literary works portray war as a curse for humanity due to the suffering it inflicts. Some famous examples are:•Iliad and Odyssey by Homer •War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy •Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell •A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway •Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw •A Band of Brothers: Stories from Vietnam by Walter McDonald |
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Tone |
the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc |
Father: “We can’t go on vacation this summer.”Son: “Ok. Great! That’s what I expected.”– The son’s tone is sarcastic in the given response. |
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Anadiplosis |
the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause |
From Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita,“What I present here is what I remember of the letter, and what I remember of the letter I remember verbatim (including that awful French).” |
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Polysyndeton |
conjunctions (e.g. and, but, or) are used repeatedly in quick succession, often with no commas, even when the conjunctions could be removed |
“And Joshua, and all of Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had.” (The Bible) |
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Asyndeton |
the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence |
“Is whispering nothing?Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses?Kissing with inside lip? stopping the careerOf laughter with a sigh? (a note infallibleOf breaking honesty!) horsing foot on foot?…”(The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare) |
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Ethos |
an appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader |
"If his years as a Marine taught him anything, it’s that caution is the best policy in this sort of situation." |
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Pathos |
an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response |
"There’s no price that can be placed on peace of mind. Our advanced security systems will protect the well-being of your family so that you can sleep soundly at night." |
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Logos |
an appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason |
"History has shown time and again that absolute power corrupts absolutely." |
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Syllogism |
logical reasoning that joins two or more premises to arrive at a conclusion |
“Flavius: Have you forgot me, sir?Timon: Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;Then, if thou grant’st thou’rt a man, I have forgot thee.”Timon uses a witty syllogism to tell Flavius that he must have forgotten him like he has forgotten all other men. |
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Understatement |
the presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is |
“It is a bit cold today,” when the temperature is 5 degrees below freezing. |
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Epistrophe |
the repetition of a word at the end of successive clauses or sentences |
“Then I’ll be all aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where – wherever you look. Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. . . . . An’ when our folk eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build – why, I’ll be there…..”(The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck) |
