Literary Terms

Question 1

Ad hominem

Answer 1

Attacking an opponent’s motives or character rather than the policy or position they maintain.

Question 2

Allegory

Answer 2

A narrative in which the agents and action, and sometimes the setting as well, are contrived by both to make sense on the literal level and also to signify a second, correlated level of agents, concepts, and events.

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

A direct or indirect reference to another commonly known thing

Question 4

Analogy

Answer 4

A comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

Question 5

Anaphora

Answer 5

The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses.

Question 6

Anecdote

Answer 6

A short account of an interesting event to illustrate a point.

Question 7

Antecedent

Answer 7

The word, phrase, clause referred to by a pronoun.

Question 8

Antithesis

Answer 8

Parallel structure that juxtaposes contrasting idea.

Question 9

Aphorism

Answer 9

A short, astute statement of a general truth or moral principle.

Question 10

Apostrophe

Answer 10

Direct address either to an absent person or to an abstract or inanimate entity

Question 11

Asyndeton

Answer 11

A strategy of deliberately leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses.

Question 12

Cacophony

Answer 12

Language which seems harsh, rough, and unmusical.

Question 13

Caricature

Answer 13

A representation in which a subject’s distinctive features are exaggerated deliberately to produce a comic or grotesque effect.

Question 14

Chiasmus

Answer 14

A sequence of two phrases or clauses which a re parallel in syntax but with réeras in the order of the corresponding words.

Question 15

Colloquialism

Answer 15

An informal or conversational use of language.

Question 16

Connotation

Answer 16

That with is implied by a word, as opposed to the word’s literal meaning.

Question 17

Cumulative sentence

Answer 17

Like a loose sentence, one in which the main clauses comes first.

Question 18

Denotaion

Answer 18

The literal meaning of a word; its dictionary definition.

Question 19

Dialect

Answer 19

The language of a particular district, class, or group of persons.

Question 20

Didactic

Answer 20

Refers to words that are designed to promote a moral, religious, or philosophical theme or doctrine.

Question 21

Double entendre

Answer 21

The deliberate use of ambiguity in a phrase or image especially involving sexual or humorous meanings.

Question 22

Epiphany

Answer 22

A sudden realization

Question 23

Ethos

Answer 23

A Greek term referring to the character of a person.

Question 24

Euphemism

Answer 24

The use in place of the blunt term fro something disagreeable, terrifying, or offensive.

Question 25

Exposition

Answer 25

Background information presented in a literary work.

Question 26

Extended metaphor

Answer 26

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

Question 27

Homily

Answer 27

A sermon or speech involving moral or spiritual advice.

Question 28

Hortative sentence

Answer 28

A sentence that urges or strongly encourages.

Question 29

Hyperbole

Answer 29

Exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis.

Question 30

Invective

Answer 30

An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

Question 31

Verbal Irony

Answer 31

When a writer or speaker uses words that state the exact opposite of what is meant.

Question 32

Situational irony

Answer 32

When events turn out the opposite way from what would be expected.

Question 33

Dramatic irony

Answer 33

When the audience knows more about facts or events in a text or play that the characters do.

Question 34

Juxtaposition

Answer 34

Placement of two usually dissimilar things side by side for emphasis

Question 35

Litotes

Answer 35

Special for of understatement in which something is asserted by denying its opposite.

Question 36

Logical fallacy

Answer 36

Common errors in redoing that would undermine the logic of an argument.

Question 37

Logos

Answer 37

An attempt to persuade the audience with logic/facts.

Question 38

Metonymy

Answer 38

Use of one object to represent the something with which it is closely associated.

Question 39

Motif

Answer 39

A type of incident, device, or idea which recurs frequently in a literary work to develop a theme.

Question 40

Onomatopoeia

Answer 40

What the pronunciation of a word imitates the thing it describes.

Question 41

Paradox

Answer 41

A statement which seems on its face to be self- contradictory or absurd, yet turns out to make some around of sense.

Question 42

Parallelism

Answer 42

The repetitions of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns.

Question 43

Parody

Answer 43

A work that imitated and exaggerates the prominent features of another for comedic purposes.

Question 44

Pathos

Answer 44

An attempt to persuade an audience with emotion, often the emotion of pity.

Question 45

Pendantic

Answer 45

Overly concerned with minute details or formalismes, especially in teaching.

Question 46

Periodic sentence

Answer 46

A sentence that builds toward and ends with the main clause.

Question 47

Polysyndeton

Answer 47

Deliberate repetition of connectives or conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect.

Question 48

Pun

Answer 48

A play on words that often has a comic effect.

Question 49

Reductio ad absurdum

Answer 49

“To reduce to the absurd”

Question 50

Rhetoric

Answer 50

The use of effective, persuasive language.

Question 51

Sarcasm

Answer 51

Uses bitter, caustic language meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something

Question 52

Satire

Answer 52

An ironic, sarcastic, or witty composition that claims to argue for something, bit actually argues against it.

Question 53

Sentence length

Answer 53

A. Telegraphic, B. Short, C. Medium, D. Long and involved.

Question 54

Sentence types

Answer 54

A. Simple, B. Compound, C. Complex, D. Compound-complex

Question 55

Syllogism

Answer 55

A form of deductive resonating in which the two premise and a minor premise lead inevitably to a logia always conclusion.

Question 56

Synecdoche

Answer 56

A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to signify the whole.

Question 57

Understatement

Answer 57

Lack of emphasis in a statement or point.

Question 58

Wit

Answer 58

A kind of verbal expression which is brief, deft, and intentionally contrived to produce a pleasant and comic surprise.

Question 59

Zeugma

Answer 59

A construction in which one word (usually a verb) modifies or governs two or more words in a sentence.