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English; > Nieb - Literary Terms > Flashcards

Nieb - Literary Terms Flashcards

1
Q

figures of speech

A

expressions that stretch words beyond their literal meanings

increase breadth and subtlety of expressions

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2
Q

alliteration

A

repetition of similar sounds at the beginning of words

“sweet scented stuff”

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3
Q

aposiopesis

A

a breaking off of speech, usually because of rising emotion or excitement

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4
Q

apostrophe

A

a direct address to an absent or dead person or to an object, quality, or idea

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5
Q

assonance

A

repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words

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6
Q

cacophony

A 
class of discordant or harsh sounds within sentence or phrase
~dissonance (has diff musical meaning)
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7
Q

chiasmus

A

two phrases in which the syntax is the same but the placements of words is reversed
“To be beloved is all I need,/And whom I love, I love indeed”

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8
Q

cliche

A

an expression that has been used so frequently it has lost its expressive power

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9
Q

colloquialism

A

an informal expression or slang, especially in the context of formal writing

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10
Q

conceit

A

an elaborate parallel between two seemingly dissimilar objects or ideas

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11
Q

epithet

A

an adjective or phrase that describes a prominent feature of a person or thing

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12
Q

euphemism

A

the use of decorous language to express vulgar or unpleasant ideas, events, or actions
“ethnic cleansing” vs “genocide”

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13
Q

euphony

A

a pleasing arrangement of sounds

“cellar door” - most euphonious phrase

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14
Q

hyperbole

A

an excessive overstatement or conscious exaggeration of fact

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15
Q

idiom

A

a common expression that has acquired a meaning that differs form its literal meaning
“raining cats and dogs”

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16
Q

litotes

A

a form of understatement in which a statement is affirmed by negating its opposite
“he is not unfriendly”

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17
Q

meiosis

A

intentional understatement

opposite of hyperbole and often employs litotes to ironic effect

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18
Q

metaphor

A

the comparison of one thing to another that does not use like or as

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19
Q

mixed metaphor

A

a combination of metaphors that produces a confused or contradictory image

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20
Q

metonymy

A

the substitution or one term for another that generally is associated with it
“suits” vs “businessmen”

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21
Q

onomatopoeia

A

the use of words that sound like the thing they refer to

“hiss”, “pop”, “boing”

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22
Q

oxymoron

A

the association of two contrary terms

“wise fool”, “same difference”

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23
Q

paradox

A

a statement that seems absurd or even contradictory on its face but often expresses a deeper truth
“all men kill the thing they love”

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24
Q

bathos

A

a sudden and unexpected drop from the lofty to the trivial or excessively sentimental

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25
Q

Caricature

A

A description or characterization that exaggerates or distorts a character’s prominent features, usually to elicit mockery. For example, in Candide, Voltaire portrays Pangloss as a mocking caricature of the optimistic rationalism of philosophers like Leibniz

26
Q

Deus ex machina

A

Greek for “God from a machine.”

More generally a sudden or improbable plot twist that brings about the plot’s resolution

27
Q

Epiphany

A

A sudden, powerful, and often spiritual or life changing realization that a character reaches in an otherwise ordinary or everyday moment

28
Q

Foreshadowing

A

An author’s deliberate use of hints or suggestions to give a preview of events or themes that do not develop until later in the narrative

29
Q

In medias res

A

Latin for “in the middle of things.”

Refers to the technique if starting a narrative in the middle of the action

30
Q

Interior monologue

A

A record of a characters thoughts, unmediated by a narrator
Sometimes takes the form of stream-of-consciousness narration but often is more structured and logical than stream of conscious

31
Q

Invocation

A

A prayer for inspiration to a god or muse, usually placed at the beginning of an epic

32
Q

Irony

A

A wide-ranging technique of detachment that draws awareness to the discrepancy between words and their meanings, between expectation and fulfillment, or, most generally, between what is and what seems to be

33
Q

Verbal irony

A

The use of a statement that, by its context, implies its opposite
“Brutus is an honorable man”
Sarcasm is a particularly blunt form of verbal irony

34
Q

Situational irony

A

A technique in which one understanding of the situation stands in sharp contrast to another usually more prevalent understanding of the same situation

35
Q

Romantic irony

A

An authors persistent reminding of his or her presence in the work. By drawing attention to the artifice of the work the author ensures that the reader or audience will maintain critical detachment and not simply accept the writing at face value

36
Q

Dramatic irony

A

Technique in which the author lets the audience or reader in on a character situation while the character himself remains in the dark. With dramatic irony the characters words or actions carry a significant that the character is not aware of.

37
Q

Cosmic irony

A

The perception of fate or the universe as malicious or indifferent to human suffering which creates a painful contrast black and it’s ultimate meaninglessness

38
Q

Melodrama

A

The use of sentimentality gushing emotion or sensational action or plot twists to provoke audience or reader response

39
Q

Parallelism

A

Similarities between elements in a narrative (such as two characters or two plot lines). parallelism can also occur on the level of sentences or phrases

40
Q

Pathos

A

From the Greek word for feeling, the quality in a work of literature that evokes high emotion, most commonly sorrow, pity, or compassion

41
Q

Poetic diction

A

The use of specific types of words phrases or literary structures that are not common in contemporary speech or prose

42
Q

Poetic license

A

Liberty that authors sometimes take with ordinary rules of syntax and grammar, employing unusual vocabulary, metrical devices or figures of speech or committing factual errors in order to strengthen the passage of writing

43
Q

Wit

A

A form of wordplay that displays cleverness or ingenuity with language. Often, but not always, wit displays humor.

44
Q

Archetype

A

A theme motif symbol or stock character that holds a familiar fixed place in a cultural consciousness

45
Q

Emblem

A

A concrete object that represents something abstract. Emblem differs from a symbol in that and emblems meaning is fixed

46
Q

Imagery

A

Language that brings to mind sense impressions especially via figures of speech. sometimes certain imagery is characteristic of a particular writer

47
Q

Motif

A

A reoccurring structure contrast or other device that develops or informs a work’s major themes

48
Q

Symbol

A

An object character figure or color that is used to represent an abstract idea or concept. Unlike emblem a symbol may have different meanings in different contexts

49
Q

Theme

A

A fundamental and universal idea explored in a literary work

50
Q

Thesis

A

The central argument that an author makes in a work

51
Q

Tone

A

The general atmosphere created in a story or the narrators attitude toward story or reader

52
Q

Paralipsis

A

Also know as praeteritio, the technique of drawing attention to something by claiming not to mention it

53
Q

Parallelism

A

The use of similar grammatical structures or word order in two sentences or phrases to suggest a comparison or contrast between them

54
Q

Pathetic fallacy

A

the attribution of human feeling or motivation to a nonhuman object, especially an object found in nature
“weeping” cloud

55
Q

Periphrasis

A

An elaborate and roundabout manner of speech that uses more words than necessary
“I appear to be entirely without financial resources” vs “I’m broke”
Euphemisms often employ this technique

56
Q

Personification

A

The use of human characteristics to describe animals, things, or ideas

57
Q

Pun

A

A play on words that exploits the similarity in sound between two words with distinctly different meanings

58
Q

Rhetorical question

A

A question that is asked not to elicit a response but to make an impact or call attention to something

59
Q

Sarcasm

A

A simple form of verbal irony in which it is obvious from context and tone that the speaker means the opposite of what he or she says
Usually, but not always, expresses scorn

60
Q

Simile

A

A comparison of two things through the use of “like” or “as”

61
Q

Synaesthesia

A

The use of one kind of sensory experience to describe another

English; (2 decks)

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