Literary Terms - 7Th Set

Front 1

rhetoric

Back 1

From the Greek for “orator,” this term describes the principles governing the
art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively.

Front 2

rhetorical modes

Back 2

This flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing. The four most common rhetorical modes (modes of discourse) are:
(1) The purpose of exposition (expository writing) is to explain and analyze information by presenting an idea,
relevant evidence, and appropriate discussion.
(2) The purpose of argumentation is to prove the validity of an idea, or point of view, by presenting sound reasoning, discussion, and argument that thoroughly convince the reader. Persuasive writing is a type of argumentation having an additional aim of urging some form of action.
(3) The purpose of description is to recreate, invent, or visually present a person, place, event or action so that the reader can picture that being described. Sometimes an author engages all five senses in description; good descriptive writing can be sensuous and picturesque. Descriptive writing may be straightforward and objective or highly emotional an subjective.
(4) The purpose of narration is to tell a story or narrate an event or series of events. This writing mode frequently uses the tools of descriptive writing.

Front 3

rhyme

Back 3

The matching of final vowel or consonant sounds in two or more words.

Front 4

rhythm

Back 4

The recurrence of accent or stress in lines of verse.

Front 5

rising action

Back 5

A set of conflicts and crises that constitute the part of a play's or story's plot leading up to the climax.

Front 6

rising meter

Back 6

Poetic meters such as iambic and anapestic that move or ascend from
an unstressed to a stressed syllable.

Front 7

sarcasm

Back 7

From the Greek meaning “to tear flesh,” sarcasm involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. It may use irony as a device, but not all ironic statements are sarcastic (that is, intended to ridicule). When well done, sarcasm can be witty and insightful; when poorly done, it is simply cruel.

Front 8

satire

Back 8

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions
for reform or ridicule. Satire is best seen as a style of writing rather than a purpose for
writing. It can be recognized by the many devices used effectively by the satirist: irony,
wit, parody, caricature, hyperbole, understatement, and sarcasm. The effects of satire
are varied, depending on the writer’s goal, but good satire, often humorous, is thought
provoking and insightful about the human condition.

Front 9

semantics

Back 9

The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical
and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another.

Front 10

sestet (or sextet)

Back 10

A six-line unit of verse constituting a stanza or section of a poem; the
last six lines of an Italian sonnet.

Front 11

sestina

Back 11

A French origin poem of thirty-nine lines and written in iambic pentameter. Its
six-line stanza repeat in an intricate and prescribed order the final word in each of the
first six lines. After the sixth stanza, there is a three-line envoi, which uses the six repeating
words, two per line.

Front 12

setting

Back 12

The time and place of a literary work that establish its context.

Front 13

simile

Back 13

A figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as,
or as though. An example: "My love is like a red, red rose."

Front 14

sonnet

Back 14

A fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter. The Shakespearean or English
sonnet is arranged as three quatrains and a final couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet divides into two parts: an eight-line octave and a sixline
sestet, rhyming abba abba cde cde or abba abba cd cd cd.

Front 15

speaker

Back 15

The narrator or voice of a literary work.