Literary Terms Flashcards
(26 cards)
The repitition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words.
Alliteration
Device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition tot the literal meaning.
Allegory
A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.
Allusion
The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage.
Ambiguity
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.
Analogy
The word, phrase, or clause reffered to by a pronoun.
Antecedent
A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle.
Aphorism
A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.
Apostrophe
The emotional mood created by the entirely of a literary work, established partly by the setting.
Atmosphere
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.
Clause
The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing.
Colloquial
A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.
Conceit
The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.
Connotation
Referring to style, diction refers to the writer’s word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, cleaness, or effectiveness.
Diction
The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid any emotinal, attitude, or color.
Denotation
From the greek, literally means “teaching”.
Didoctic
(Greek)-“Good Speech”, a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept.
Euphemism
Metaphor developed at a great length, occuring frequently in or throughout a work.
Extended Metaphor
Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literary meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.
Figurative Language
Device used to produce figuratie language.
Figure of Speech
derived from a Greek word asyndeton which means unconnected. It is a stylistic device used to intentionally eliminate conjunctions betweene the phrases and in the sentence, yet maintain the grammatical accuracy. Asyndeton helps in speeding up the rhythm of words. EX. “This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely”.
Aasyndeton
the opposite of epistrophe and means the repetition of the same phrase or word, at the beginning of successive sentences such as in this example.
Five Years have passed,
Five summers, with the length of
Five long winters! and again I hear these waters. . .
Anaphora
Derived from a Greek word that means turning upon, which indicates the same word returns at the end of each sentence.
EX: Hourly joys be still upon you! Juno sings her blessings on you. . . .
Scarcity and want shall shun you,
Ceres’ blessing so is on you.”
Epistrophe
a short and interesting story or an amusing event often proposed to support or demonstrate some point and make readers and listeners laugh. Anecdotes can include an extensive range of tales and stories. In fact, it is a short description or an account of any event that makes the readers laugh or brood over the topic presented for the purpose.
Anecdote
