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62 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Allegory |
A work of literature told on two levels of meaning, one literal and one symbolic |
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Alliteration |
Sound device; repetition of beginning consonant sounds |
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Allusion |
Figure of speech which makes brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object |
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Anachronism |
Something out of its place in time or history |
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Anadiplosis |
Repetition of the last word of one line or clause to begin the next (I.e, "For your brother and my sister no sooner met but they looked, no sooner looked but they loved, no sooner loved..." |
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Analogy |
The comparison of two things, which are alike in several respects for the purpose of explaining or clarifying a complicated idea |
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Anaphora |
The repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases |
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Anecdote |
A short narrative story used in a longer work or speech |
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Antecedent |
The noun that a pronoun refers back to in a sentence or closely related sentences |
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Antithesis |
A figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting thought in parallel arrangements of words and phrases (I.e "He promised wealth but provided poverty") |
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Apostrophe |
Addressing someone/something who is not present |
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Archetype |
A character or plot element known throughout all cultures and time periods (i.e. the wise king, the quest, etc.) |
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Asyndeton |
The omission of conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words and phrases (i.e. "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." |
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Blank Verse |
Unrhymed iambic pentameter |
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Chiasmus |
A reversed repetition in successive clauses which are usually parallel in syntax (i.e. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.") |
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Complication |
The part of a plot in which the entanglement caused by the conflict is developed |
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Conceit |
An elaborate and often surprising comparison between two highly dissimilar things (i.e. "Let us go then you and I, when the evening is spread out against the sky, like a patient etherized on a table.") |
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Conflict |
Struggle between opposing forces: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. self
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Consonance |
The repetition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in words near each other (i.e. "But yet we trust.") |
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Crisis |
The climax or turning point of a story or play |
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Crux |
The most crucial lines in a poem or prose passage; the lines that best shows the main point |
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Diction |
Author's choice of words (i.e. simple or sophisticated, colloquial or formal) |
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Dramatic irony |
Irony in which characters use words which mean one thing to them but another to those who understand the situation better |
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Ellipsis |
The omission of a word necessary for complete construction but understood in context (i.e. "If (it is) possible, (you) come early") |
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Epanalepsis |
Repetition at the end of a clause or sentence of the word or phrase with which it began (i.e. "Nothing can be created out of nothing.") |
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Epic |
Long narrative, usually written in elevated language, which relates the adventures of a hero upon whom rests the ate of a nation |
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Epistrophe |
The opposite of anaphora, having repeated wording at the ends of clauses (i.e. "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child...") |
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Epithet |
Nickname |
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Euphemism |
Substitute word that sounds better than another (i.e. "lingerie" instead of "underwear") |
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Exposition |
The introductory material which sets the tone, gives the setting, introduces the characters, supplies necessary facts |
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Figurative Language/Literary Devices |
Writing or speech not meant to be taken literally; a figure of speech states something that is not literally true in order to create an effect (i.e. similes, metaphors, personification are figures of speech based on comparisons) |
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Foil |
Character who provides a contrast to another character, emphasizing the other's traits |
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Free verse |
Unrhymed poetry with lines of varying lengths, containing no specific metrical pattern |
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Hyperbole |
Exaggeration for effect and emphasis, overstatement |
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Idioms |
Expressions that do not translate exactly into what a speaker means (i.e. 'chip on your shoulder' means you're holding a grudge) |
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Imagery |
Devices which appeal to the senses: visual, tactile, auditory, etc. |
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Juxtaposition |
The positioning of ideas or images side by side for emphasis or to show contrast |
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Lyrical |
Emotional writing showing author's ardent expression |
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Metaphor |
Comparison is made between two unlike quantities without the use of the words 'like' or 'as' |
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Meter |
The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables established in a line of poetry (foot is a unit of meter) |
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Metonymy |
Substituting a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it (i.e. "Pay tribute to the crown") |
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Onomatopoeia |
The use of a word to represent or to imitate natural sounds |
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Oxymoron |
Technique used to produce an effect by a seeming self-contradiction (i.e. "jumbo shrimp") |
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Parable |
Short story to prove a point with a moral basis |
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Paradox |
Statement which contains seemingly contradictory elements or appears contrary to common sense, et can be seen as perhaps true when viewed from another angle |
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Polysyndeton |
The repetition of a number of conjunctions in close succession (i.e. "we have men and arms and planes and tanks.") |
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Round/flat/static character |
Round: fully developed character, complex and multi-dimensional
Flat: character that is never fully developed Static: character who is the same sort of person at the end as they were at the beginning |
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Simile |
Comparison between two unlike quantities for which a basis for comparison can be found, uses the words 'like' or 'as' |
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Synecdoche |
Something stands for something else, or the part stands for a while |
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Theme |
Ingredient of literary work that gives the work unity; concerns itself with the work's message |
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Tone |
Expresses the author's attitude towards their subject |
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Aubade |
Love poem set at dawn which bids farewell to the beloved |
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Deus ex machine |
The employment of some unexpected and improbable incident to make things turn out right (i.e. god appearing to extract hero from impossible situation in Greek theatre) |
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Didactic |
Refers to a poem or novel plainly designed to teach a lesson; can describe character who speaks with authority in pretentious sort of manner |
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Enjambment |
Continuation of the sense and grammatical construction of a line of poetry onto the next |
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Hubris |
Overweening pride or insolence that results in the misfortune of the protagonist in a tragedy; leads protagonist to creak a moral law, attempt vainly to transcend normal limitations, or ignore warning, with calamitous results |
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In medias res |
'In the midst of things' is a literary technique of opening a story in the middle of the action
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Motif |
Recurrent images, words, objects, and phrases that tend to unify the work are called motives. |
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Caesura |
The main pause within a line of verse indicated by punctuation and used to emphasize meaning |
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Scansion |
System for describing rhythm by diving lines into feet, location of accent and counting syllables |
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Syllogism |
Formula for presenting an argument logically |
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Anastrophe |
Inversion of the usual order of the parts of a sentence (i.e. "one-night cheap hotels") |
