Literary Devices

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

The repetition of the same consonant sound. It is used to highlight the feeling of sound or movement to intensify meaning

Question 2

Allusion

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Anaphora

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Anthropomorphism

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Aphorism

Answer 5

a short statement that is intended to express a general truth

Question 6

Archetype

Answer 6

a typical example of something, or the original model of something from which others are copied

Question 7

Assonance

Answer 7

Repetition of identical vowel sounds in order to achieve a particular effect. Long vowel sounds can slow down a line, making it sound sad and weary

Question 8

Caesura

Answer 8

A stop or a pause in a line of poetry – usually caused by punctuation

Question 9

Colloquialism

Answer 9

The use of informal words or phrases in writing or speech

Question 10

Consonance

Answer 10

the same consonant sound repeated within a group of words

Question 11

Couplet

Answer 11

A two line stanza

Question 12

Dramatic Irony

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Dramatic Monologue

Answer 13

A poem in which an imagined speaker address the reader

Question 14

Elegy

Answer 14

A serious, melancholic poem, often written to mourn the loss of someone who has died

Question 15

End Rhyme

Answer 15

When the last syllables or words in two or more lines rhyme with each other

Question 16

End-Stopped Line

Answer 16

A line of poetry ending in a grammatical break, for example with a full stop

Question 17

Enjambment

Answer 17

A running over of the sense and grammatical structure from one line to another, or between stanzas. The enjambed line has no punctuation at the end

Question 18

Epigraph

Answer 18

A quotation from another text, included in a poem

Question 19

Exposition

Answer 19

The description or explanation of background information within a work of literature

Question 20

Extended Metaphor

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Form

Answer 21

How a poem is structured or organised

Question 22

Formal Verse

Answer 22

A poem which uses a strict metre, rhyme and form, especially in fixed forms such as sonnets, villanelles, etc.

Question 23

Free Verse

Answer 23

Poetry written with lines of irregular verse and often without rhyme

Question 24

Hyperbole

Answer 24

A figure of speech which uses exaggeration to emphasise a point

Question 25

Hyperbole

Answer 25

Deliberate exaggeration used for effect

Question 26

Iambic Pentameter

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Imagery

Answer 27

Language that appeals to the senses. The use of pictures, figures of speech and description to suggest ideas, feelings, objects and actions which create a vivid picture in your mind

Question 28

In Medias Res

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Internal Rhyme

Answer 29

Rhyme that occurs between words within a verse line

Question 30

Juxtaposition

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Lyric

Answer 31

An emotional, rhyming poem, most often describing the emotions caused by a specific event

Question 32

Malapropism

Answer 32

The unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one of similar sound, often with humorous results

Question 33

Metre

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Motif

Answer 34

A recurring image or idea in a piece of writing

Question 35

Omniscient Narrator

Answer 35

A narrator who is all-knowing about plot, characters as well as characters’ motivations and emotions

Question 36

Oxymoron

Answer 36

A figure of speech that puts together opposite elements

Question 37

Paradox

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Parady

Answer 38

A comic imitation of another writer’s work

Question 39

Parallelism

Answer 39

Where similar ideas are arranged in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that balance one element with another of equal importance and similar wording

Question 40

Pathetic Fallacy

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Polysyndeton

Answer 41

The overuse of the same connective (for example, using “and” in between every item in a long list)

Question 42

Quatrain

Answer 42

A four line stanza (traditionally the most popular)

Question 43

Refrain

Answer 43

A recurring line or phrase, especially at the end of a verse

Question 44

Rhetoric

Answer 44

Speech or writing intended to influence or persuade people

Question 45

Rhyme Scheme

Answer 45

A poet's chosen pattern of lines whose last syllables rhyme with other lines in a poem (for example ABAB, or CDCD)

Question 46

Sestet

Answer 46

A six line stanza

Question 47

Sibilance

Answer 47

Words which make a “s”, “z” or “sh” sound repeated for effect

Question 48

Sonnet

Answer 48

A fourteen line poem, written in iambic pentameter. Traditionally about the theme of love

Question 49

Tercet

Answer 49

A set or group of three lines of verse rhyming together or connected by rhyme with an adjacent triplet

Question 50

Triplet

Answer 50

A three-lined stanza

Question 51

Villanelle

Answer 51

A 19-line poetic form consisting of five tercets (made up of three lines) followed by a quatrain (consisting four lines)

Question 52

Volta

Answer 52

A turning point in the line of thought or argument in poem