Literary Terms (Grade 10)

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1) Understatement

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An intentional representation of something as less than it is

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2) Meiosis

Back 2

A form of understatement or "belittling" something; something is referred to in terms less important than it really deserves

Hint 2

Ex: Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet refers to his mortal wound as a "scratch"

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3) Litotes

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A form of understatement in which a statement is affirmed by negating its opposite

Hint 3

He is not unfriendly

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4) Pun

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A play on words that have similar sounds but different meanings

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5) Double Entendre

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A type of pun or play on words, especially a play on words that has a sexual meaning

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6) cliché

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An expression that has been used so often it has lost all its power

Hint 6

Turn over a new leaf

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7) Dialect

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A distinctive variety of language spoken by members of an identifiable regional group,nation , or social class

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8) Colloquialism

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An informal expression or slang

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9) Jargon

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Terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, group , or event

Hint 9

Words understood by law enforcement, phrases understood by gamers

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10) Idiom

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A common expression that has acquired a meaning that differs from it's literal meaning

Hint 10

It's raining cats and dogs

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11) malapropism

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A confused, comically inaccurate use of a long word or words

Hint 11

It was the very pineapple of success

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12) euphemism

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The use of more polite language to express vulgar or distasteful ideas

Hint 12

Saying someone "passed away" instead of "died"

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13) epithet

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An adjective or phrase that describes a prominent feature of a person or thing

Hint 13

Shoeless Joe Jackson

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14) aphorism

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A statement of some general principle, expressed in a memorable way by condensing much wisdom into few words

Hint 14

Nietzsche - "The vanity of others offends our taste only when it offends our vanity"

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15) apostrophe

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A direct address to an absent or dead person or to an object

Hint 15

Walt Whiteman's "O Captain, My Captain" was written upon the death of Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln could not respond)

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16) Zeugma

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The use of one word in a sentence to modify two other words in the sentence, typically in two different ways

Hint 16

Mr.Pickwick took his hat and his leave (sentence uses "took" in two different ways)

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17) metonymy

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A figure of speech that replaces the name of one things with the name of something else closely associated with it

Hint 17

The crown carries many responsibilities

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18) synecdoche

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A figure of speech in which the part of something stands for the whole

Hint 18

One thousand sailed pursued Paris when he fled with Helen of Troy (Actually, one thousand ships pursued Paris, the sail is just part of the whole ship)

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19) Conceit

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An extended metaphor that runs throughout a work

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20) motif

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A situation, incident, idea, image, or character-type that is found in many literary works, folktales, or myths

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21) archetype

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A symbol, theme, setting, or character-type that recurs in different times and places myth, literature, folklore, dreams, and rituals so frequently to suggest that it represents some essential element of the universal human experience

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22) synaesthesia

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A blending of different senses

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His shirt was a loud shade of blue

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23) fable

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A brief tale that conveys a moral lesson, usually by giving speech and manners to animals and inanimate things

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24) Parable

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A brief tale illustrating some lesson or moral ( a type of allegory)

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25) Satire

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A mode of writing that exposes the failing of individuals, institutions, or societies to ridicule or scorn them

Hint 25

The Adventures of Huckleberry Farm

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26) Parody

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A mocking imitation of the style of literary work or works, ridiculing exaggerated mimicry

Hint 26

Saturday Night Live

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27) caricature

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A picture, description, etc. Ludicrously exaggerating the peculiarities or defects of persons or things

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28) overstatement

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A type of exaggeration; to state something too strongly

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29) sarcasm

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A sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark

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30) wit

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Quick, amusing cleverness

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31) trope

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A figure of speech

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Using words in senses beyond their literal meaning

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32) in media res

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Latin: "into the middle of things" when a narrator begins telling a story at some exciting point in the middle of the action

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33) rhetoric

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The study of effective, persuasive language use, the art of communicating effectively

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34) rhetorical strategies/ devices/ techniques

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Any strategy used to communicate effectively given the speaker, subject, audience, context, and purpose

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35) parallelism

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The arrangement of similarly constructed clauses, sentences, or verse lines in a pairing or other sequence suggesting some correspondence between them

Hint 35

Shakespeare "Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream"

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36) balanced sentence

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A sentence consisting of two or more clauses that are parallel in structure

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37) antithesis

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A contrast or opposition of ideas

Hint 37

"Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Romeo more"

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38) anaphora

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Repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning of lines, clauses, or sentences

Hint 38

Churchill: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills..."

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39) epistrophe

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Repeating the same word or phrase at the end of lines, clauses, or sentences

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40) antimetabole

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A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the words in reverse grammatical order

Hint 40

"We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Rock landed on us"

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41) polysyndeton

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Repeated use of conjunctions to link together a succession of words, clauses, or sentences

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42) asyndeton

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Removing conjunctions between clauses

Hint 42

I saw, I came, I conquered

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43) ellipses

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Removing from a sentence a word or words that would be required for complete clarity but which can usually be understood from the context

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43) ellipses

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Removing from a sentence a word or words that would be required for complete clarity but which can usually be understood from the context

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44) anastrophe

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An inversion of the normal order of words

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45) chiasmus

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A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed

Hint 46

Hillary Clinton "In the end, the true test is not the speeches a president delivers; it's whether the president delivers the speeches

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46) parenthesis

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A qualifying, explanatory, or appositive word, phrase, clauses, or sentence that interrupts a sentence without otherwise affecting it, often indicating in writing by commas, parenthesis, or dashes

Hint 47

William Smith- you must know him- he is coming tonight

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47) stream of consciousness

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The continuous flow of perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and memories; representing mental processes in an unpunctuated or disjointed form