Literary and Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
(219 cards)
1
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Active Voice
A
Definition: The subject of the sentence performs the action.
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Passive Voice
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Definition: When the subject of the sentence receives the action
3
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Allusion
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Definition: An indirect reference to something usually a literary text, with which the reader is supposed to be familiar
4
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Alter- Ego
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Definition: A character that is used by the author to speak the author’s own thoughts; when an author speaks directly to the audience through a character
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Anecdote
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Definition: a brief recounting of a relevant episode
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Antecedent
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Definition: The word, phrase or clause referred to be a pronoun
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Active Voice
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Effect on Text: This is a more direct and preferred style of writing in most cases.
8
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Active Voice
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Example: “Anthony drove while Toni searched for the house.”
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Passive Voice
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Effect on Text: It is overused and results in lifeless writing.
10
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Passive Voice
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Example: “The car was driven by Anthony.”
11
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Allusion
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Effect on Text: Gives more interpretation and grasp the importance
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Allusion
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Example: “You’re acting like a Scrooge!”- From Dickens a Christmas carol
13
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Alter- ego
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Effect on Text: Author’s is able to say his point of view and intention through a character.
14
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Alter- Ego
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Example: The tempest, Shakespeare talks to the audience about his own upcoming retirement, through the main character of the play, Prospero
15
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Anecdote
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Effect on Text: Helps develop a point or injecting humor
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Anecdote
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Example: Someone giving a speech and decides to put an example of the situation really happening to someone
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Antecedent
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Effect on Text: Gives expression
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Antecedent
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Example: “If I could command the wealth of all the world by lifting my finger, I would not pay such a price for it.”
19
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Classicism
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Definition: Art of literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world, sticks to traditional themes and structures
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Classicism
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Effect on Text: Gives historical information and attitude
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Classicism
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Example: Shakespeare
22
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Comic Relief
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Definition: When a humorous scene is inserted into a serous story
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Comic Relief
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Effect on Text: Lightens the moods somewhat
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Comic Relief
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Example: The “gatekeeper scene” in Macbeth
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Diction
Definition: Word choice, particularly as an element of style
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Diction
Effect on Text: Words have significant effects on meaning and should be able to describe the author's diction whether formal, informal, orante, or plan.
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Diction
Example: "Hey, what's happen?'
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Colloquial
Definition: Ordinary or familiar type of conversation
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Colloquial
Effect on Text: Distincts and conveys informal language
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Colloquial
Example: "ain't"
| "gonna"
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Connotation
Definition: Rather than the dictionary definition, the association suggested by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning.
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Connotation:
Effect on Text: Give a positive, negative, or neutral effect on the story.
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Connotation
Example: "policeman"
| and "cop"
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Denotation:
Definition: The literal, explicit meaning of a word
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Denotation:
Effect on Text: Gives literal meaning.
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Denotation:
Example: The fruit is blue.
| It isn't sad it really is blue.
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Jargon
Definition: The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity
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Jargon
Effect on a Text: Conveys hidden meaning and accepted and understood in that field
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Jargon
Example: Lawyers
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Vernacular
Definition: Language or dialect in a particular country or regional caln/ group it's plain everyday speech
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Vernacular
Effect on Text: Increase literacy rate and make the text easy to understand.
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Vernacular:
Example: medical terms used by doctors
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Didactic
Definition: A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking
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Didactic
Effect on a Text: Teaches about something and instruct you.
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Didactic
Example: Children's literature
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Adage
Definition: A folk saying with a lesson
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Adage
Effect on a Text: Old sayings can teach you something
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Adage
Example: "A rolling stone gathers no moss."
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Allegory
Definition: A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent qualities or concepts
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Allegory
Effect on a Text: Reveal and abstract or a truth
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Allegory
Example: Animal Farm, by George Orwell
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Aphorism:
Definition: A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle
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Aphorism:
Effect on a Text: Can be memorable summation of the author's point
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Aphorism:
Example: "God helps them that help themselves."
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Ellipsis
Definition: The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author
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Ellipsis
Effect on a Text: Shows omitted text in a quotation
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Ellipsis
Example: "The whole day, rain, torrents of rain."
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Euphemism
Definition: A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts
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Euphemism
Effect on a Text: Political correctness and can exaggerate correctness to add humor
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Euphemism
Example: "Physically changed" instead of "crippled"
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Figurative Language
Definition: Writing that is not meant to be taken literally
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Figurative Language
Effect on a Text: Can provide the reader with a more complete picture of the scene.
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Figurative Language
Example: "She is as big as a house."
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Analogy
Definition: A comparison of one pair of variables to parallel set of variables
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Analogy
Effect on a Text: Understand the argument that the relationship between the first pair of variables is the same as the relationship between the second pair of variables
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Analogy
Example: "America is to the world as the hippo is to the jungle."
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Hyperbole
Definition: Exaggeration
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Hyperbole
Effect on a Text: Add amusing text and dramatize it
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Hyperbole
Example: "My mother will kill me if I am late."
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Idiom
Definition: A common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally
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Idiom
Effect on a Text: amplify messages that draw readers
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Idiom
Example: "I got chewed out by my couch."
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Metaphor
Definition: Making an implied comparison, not using "like," "as" or other such words
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Metaphor
Effect on a Text:Able to convey powerful qualities using a few words
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Metaphor
Example: "John's suggestion had a Band-Aid for the problem.
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Metonymy
Definition: Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept
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Metonymy
Effect on a Text: Creates concrete and vivid images in place of generalities
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Metonymy
Example: "I could not understand his tongue."
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Synecdoche
Definition: A kind of menyomy when a whole is represented by naming one of its parts, or vice versa
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Synecdoche
Effect on a Text: Helps achieve purpose and use everyday language
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Synecdoche
Example: "Check out my wheels."
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Simile
Definition:Using words such as "like" or "as" to make a direct comparison between two very different things
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Simile
Effect on a Text: Just a comparison and helps things more understandable and relatable
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Simile
Example: "My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles."
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Synesthesia
Definition: A description involving a "crossing of the senses"
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Synesthesia
Effect on a Text:Shows association between letters and colors
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Synesthesia
Example:" A purplish scent filled the room."
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Personification
Definition: Giving human- like qualities to something that is not human
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Personification
Effect on a Text:Connects the reader with object being personified and came up with readers understand and feel the emotion
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Personification
Example: "The tired old truck groaned as it inched up the hill."
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Foreshadowing
Definition: When an author gives hints about what will occur later in the story
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Foreshadowing
Effect on a Text: Adds dramatic tension and build anticipation
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Foreshadowing
Example: A pipe is going to burst, but before it does, the author writes a scene where the family notices a small dark spot on the ceiling, but ignores it.
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Genre
Definition: The major category into which a literary work fits
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Genre
Effect on a Text: Helps establish working relationship with readers
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Genre
Example: drama, poetry
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Gothic
Definition: Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear and/or death
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Gothic
Effect on a Text: Makes it gloomy and dark
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Gothic
Example: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
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Imagery
Definition: Word or words that create a picture in the reader's mind
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Imagery
Effect on a Text: Can something abstract and seem more concrete and tangible
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Imagery
Example:The concert was so loud that her ears rang for days afterward.(Sound)
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Invective
Definition: A long, emotionally violent, attack using strong abusive language
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Invective
Effect on a Text: reiterate the significance of the deeply felt emotions of the writer.
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invective
Example:"You dirty rotten scoundrel."
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Irony
Definition: When the opposite of what you expect to happen does
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Irony
Effect on a Text: Can keep the story moving and deepening the meaning.
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Irony
Example: In response to a bad idea someone would say "Yes, that is a good idea."
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Verbal Irony
Definition: When you say something and mean the opposite/ something different.
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Verbal Irony
Effect on a Text:Use this when speaking directly to the reader in order to emphasize a point
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Verbal Irony
Example: If your gym teacher wants you to run a mile in eight minutes or faster, but calls it a "walk in the park."
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Dramatic Irony
Definition: When the audience of a drama, play, move,etc knows something that the character doesn't and would be surprised to find out
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Dramatic Irony
Effect on a Text: Increase intense suspense and Humor
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Dramatic Irony
Example: In many horror movies, the audience knows who the killer is and the victim has no idea who the killer is.
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Situational Irony
Definition: Found in the plot of a book, story, or movie,etc.
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Situational Irony
Effect on a Text: Creates more relatable situations
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Situational Irony
Example: Johnny spent two hours planning on sneaking into the movie theater and missed the movie. We he finally did manage to sneak inside he found out that kids were admitted free that day.
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Juxtaposition
Definition: Placing things side by side for purposes of comparison
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Juxtaposition
Effect on a Text: Helps make point.
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Juxtaposition
Example: An author may juxtapose the average day of a typical American with that of someone in the third world in order to make a point of social commentary.
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Mood
Definition: The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through the word choice
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Mood
Effect on a Text: Sets the mood, tone, and events.
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Mood
Example: A cheerful mood
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Motif
Definition: A recurring idea in a piece of literature
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Motif
Effect on a Text: Gives clues to themes and reinforces ideas
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Motif
Example: In to Kill a Mockingbird, the idea that you never really understand another person until you consider things from his or her point of view
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Oxymoron
Definition: When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox
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Oxymoron
Effect on a Text: Makes a dramatic feeling
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Oxymoron
Example: "Jumbo Shrimp" or "Eloquent Silence"
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Pacing
Definition: The speed or tempo of author's writing
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Pacing
Effect on a Text: Keeps reader interested
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Pacing
Example: Fast, Sluggish, Stabbing, Vibrato, Staccato, and measured
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Paradox
Definition: A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true
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Paradox
Effect on a Text: To get attention and provoke fresh thoughts.
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Paradox
Example: " You can get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without getting a job.
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Parallelism
Definition: Sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns
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Parallelism
Effect on a Text: Adds emphasis, organization, or sometimes pacing to write
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Parallelism
Example: "Cinderella swept the floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs
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Anaphora
Definition: Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row
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Anaphora
Effect on a Text: Deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent
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Anaphora
Example: " I came, I saw, I conquered. "
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Chiasmus
Definition: the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words reversed
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Chiasmus
Effect on a Text: Makes a significant point or quote to balance sentences.
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Chiasmus
Example: "Fair is foul and foul is fair."
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Antithesis
Definition: Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structures
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Antithesis
Effect on a Text: Strengthens an argument and make a sentence more memorable.
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Antithesis
Example: " It was the best of times, it was the worst times."
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Zuegma (Syllepsis)
Definition: When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the meaning of the first word must change fr each of the other words it governs or modifies
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Zuegma (Syllepsis)
Effect on a Text: Can confuse the reader or inspire to think deeply.
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Zuegma (Syllepsis)
Example: " I quickly dressed myself and the salad."
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Parenthetical Idea
Definition: Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of sentence
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Parenthetical Idea
Effect on a Text: Used for sparingly for effect sets off dates and numbers
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Parenthetical Idea
Example: "In a short time (and the time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will be out of oil."
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Parody
Definition: An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes
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Parody
Effect on a Text: Brings exaggeration and humor
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Parody
Example: Saturday Night Live also parodies famous persons and events
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Persona
Definition: The fictional mask or narrator that tells a story
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Persona
Effect on a Text: The author's voice is heard
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Persona
Example: A business wants others to know she is professional.
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Poetic Device
Definition: A device used in poetry to manipulate the sound of words, sentences or lines
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Poetic Device
Effect on a Text: Gain reader's attention
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Poetic Device
Example: Alliteration, Assonance
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Alliteration
Definition: The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words.
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Alliteration
Effect on a Text: Creates rhythm and mood and can have a connotation
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Alliteration
Example: " Sally sells sea shells by the sea shore."
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Assonance
Definition: The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds
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Assonance
Effect on a Text: Grab reader's attention and make something intriguing.
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Assonance
Example: "From the molten- golden notes."
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Consonance
Definition: The repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words
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Consonance
Effect on a Text: Emphasize sounds or words and add rhythm
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Consonance
Example: "Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door."
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Onomatopoeia
Definition: The use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes.
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Onomatopoeia
Effect on a Text:
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Onomatopoeia
Example: Snap, rustle, boom, murmur
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Internal rhyme
Definition: Allows reader to hear and understand and also bring humor
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Internal rhyme
Effect on a Text: Makes a story unified
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Internal rhyme
Example: "To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!"
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Slant Rhyme
Definition: When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly they are merely similar
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Slant Rhyme
Effect on a Text: Create a certain rhythm without using direct rhyme
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Slant Rhyme
Example: "I sat upon a stone, / And found my life has gone."
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End Rhyme
Definition: When the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme
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End Rhyme
Effect on a Text: Pleasant to ear and gives the poem rhythm.
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End Rhyme
Example: "Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you."
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Rhyme Scheme
Definition: The pattern of a poem's end rhymes.
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Rhyme Scheme
Effect on a Text: Helps establish format
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Rhyme Scheme
Example: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. b
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May. a
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. b
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines c
And often is his gold complexion dimmed d
And every fair from fair sometime declines c
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed d
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Stressed and Unstressed Syllables
Definition:In every word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed, or said with more force
than the other syllable(s).
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Stressed and Unstressed Syllables
Effect on a Text: Reinforces
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Stressed and Unstressed Syllables
Example: In the name “Nathan,” the first syllable is stressed. In the word
“unhappiness,” the second of the four syllables is stressed.
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Meter
Definition: A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry.
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Meter
Effect on a Text: Gives poetry a rhythmical and melodically sound
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Meter
Example:Cry, cry! Troy burns, or else let Helen go.
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Free Verse
Definition: Poetry that doesn't have much meter or rhyme
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Free Verse
Effect on a Text: More like a story, not a remembered
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Free Verse
Example: Yummy, Green balls of nutrition, I love them. Drizzling in butter, I want more.
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Iambic Pentameter
Definition: Poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables
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Iambic Pentameter
Effect on a Text: Used to makes things interesting and monotonous
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Iambic Pentameter
Example: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
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Sonnet
Example: Romeo and Juliet
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Polysyndeton
Definition:When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions
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Polysyndeton
Effect on a Text: To make the rhythm faster or slower
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Polysyndeton
Example: "I walked the dog, and fed the cat, and milked the cows."
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Pun
Definition: When a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way
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Pun
Effect on a Text: To let readers understand clearly
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Pun
Example: "My dog has a fur coat and pants!"
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Rhetoric
Definition: The are of effective communication
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Rhetoric
Effect on a Text: Affects the text for a specific audience, in a specific place, and during a specific time
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Rhetoric
Example: Political speech
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Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle
Definition: The relationships, in any piece of writing,
between the writer, the audience, and the
subject
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Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle
Effect on a Text: Persuasion
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Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle
Example: ethos, pathos
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Rhetorical Question
Definition: Question not asked for information but for effect
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Rhetorical Question
Effect on a Text: Draw attention
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Rhetorical Question
Example: "The angry parents asked the child, Are you finished interrupting me?"
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Romanticism
Definition: Art or literature characterized by an idealistic, perhaps unrealistic view of people and the
world, and an emphasis on nature
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Romanticism
Example: Lyrical Ballads
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Sarcasm
Definition: A generally bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded. However, not all satire and
irony are sarcastic
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Sarcasm
Effect on a Text: It is bitter and verbal irony and satire.
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Sarcasm
Example: " I don't know, am I brother."
