Linguistic Terminology

Question 1

allegory

Answer 1

a literary work in which the characters and events represent particular qualities or ideas relating to morals, politics or religion

Question 2

alliteration

Answer 2

words that begin with the same sound placed closely together

Question 3

allusion

Answer 3

an unexplained or implicit reference to someone or something outside of the text

Question 4

analogy

Answer 4

where two unrelated objects are compared for their shared qualities

Question 5

anaphora

Answer 5

the repetition of the same phrase at the beginning of a sentence or clause

Question 6

anecdote

Answer 6

a short and interesting story, or an amusing event, often proposed to support or demonstrate a point

Question 7

anthropomorphism

Answer 7

where an animal or non human object is given human form, behaviour or personality

Question 8

antithesis

Answer 8

a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else

Question 9

apostrophe

Answer 9

addressing a person who is not present, or a thing that is personified

Question 10

assonance

Answer 10

the repetition of the same or similar vowels sounds close together

Question 11

asyndeton

Answer 11

where conjunctions are left out between words or parts of a sentence, often creating a list-like style

Question 12

Caesara

Answer 12

a pause within a line of poetry

Question 13

catharsis

Answer 13

the release of strong or repressed emotions, usually by an audience

Question 14

chiasmus

Answer 14

when words, grammatical constructions or concepts are repeated in reverse order

Question 15

colloquialism

Answer 15

the use of informal words or phrases in writing or speech

Question 16

connotation

Answer 16

a feeling or idea that is implied by a word that is separate from its dictionary meaning

Question 17

consonance

Answer 17

the same consonant sound repeated within a group of words

Question 18

couplet

Answer 18

a pair of consecutive lines of poetry that create a complete thought or idea

Question 19

denotation

Answer 19

the literal meaning or dictionary definition of a word

Question 20

dramatic irony

Answer 20

when the audience or reader knows something the characters in the story do not

Question 21

dramatic monologue

Answer 21

a poem written as if someone is speaking to an unseen listener about important thoughts

Question 22

enjambment

Answer 22

the continuing of a sentence from one line of a poem into the next line

Question 23

euphemism

Answer 23

a word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant or offensive word

Question 24

extended metaphor

Answer 24

a metaphor that is further developed throughout all or part of a piece of writing

Question 25

figurative language

Answer 25

the use of non literal phrases or words to elicit an emotional response from a reader or audience

Question 26

foreshadowing

Answer 26

a device used by a writer to provide hints or clues to the reader or audience about what will happen later on in the text

Question 27

hubris

Answer 27

excessive pride or self confidence

Question 28

hyperbole

Answer 28

deliberate exaggeration used for effect

Question 29

iambic pentameter

Answer 29

a verse line consisting of ten syllables, organised into five pairs of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables

Question 30

idiom

Answer 30

a short expression or phrase that means something more than just its literal meaning

Question 31

in media res

Answer 31

a story which begins in the middle of events, without any introduction

Question 32

irony

Answer 32

when there is a noticeable, often humorous, difference between what is written and its intended or expected meaning

Question 33

juxtaposition

Answer 33

the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences

Question 34

litotes

Answer 34

understatement used for rhetorical effect

Question 35

metaphor

Answer 35

a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison by relating one thing to another unrelated thing

Question 36

metre

Answer 36

the regular and rhythmic arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables according to a particular pattern

Question 37

motif

Answer 37

a recurring image or idea in a piece of writing

Question 38

onomatopoeia

Answer 38

words whose pronunciations imitate the sounds they describe

Question 39

oxymoron

Answer 39

a figure of speech that puts together opposite elements

Question 40

paradox

Answer 40

a statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time

Question 41

pathetic fallacy

Answer 41

the use of inanimate objects, most commonly the weather, to reflect human feelings and tone

Question 42

personification

Answer 42

giving human characteristics to an inanimate object, abstract thing, or an animal

Question 43

polysyndeton

Answer 43

the overuse of the same connective

Question 44

prolepsis

Answer 44

where the order of events in a narrative is disrupted so that a future plot point is told earlier in the narrative than it actually occurs

Question 45

quatrain

Answer 45

a stanza of four lines

Question 46

rhetorical question

Answer 46

a question that is used for dramatic effect that does not expect an answer

Question 47

sibilance

Answer 47

words with make a 's', 'z', or 'sh' sound after one another

Question 48

simile

Answer 48

a description that uses 'like' or 'as' to compare two things that are not obviously similar, but share a common quality

Question 49

synecdoche

Answer 49

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

Question 50

volta

Answer 50

a change in mood or focus in a poem