r&j critical terms Flashcards
(11 cards)
figurative language
Language that contains or uses figures of speech. This means that the actual meaning of the author uses language whose actual meaning differs from the literal meaning to create some effect.
quatrain
A stanza or poem of four lines, usually with alternate rhymes.
rhyming couplet
A couplet is a literary device which can be defined as having two successive rhyming lines in a verse and has the same meter to form a complete thought.
iambic pentameter
A common meter in poetry consisting of a line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable
extended metaphor
A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.
sonnet
A poem, properly expressive of a single, complete thought or idea, of 14 lines
soliloquy
An act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play.
pun
A play on words that produces a humorous effect by using a word that suggests two or more meanings, or by exploiting similar sounding words that have different meanings
oxymoron
A phrase that contradicts itself or that is inappropriate/ doesn’t make sense for the context
hyperbole
Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally, but rather to emphasize the real situation
characterization
the creation or construction of a fictional character
