Style, Figurative Language, and syntax Flashcards
(29 cards)
Analogy
A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.
Archaic language
Language that was once common in a particular historical period but which is no longer commonly used
Colloquial language
Informal language, language that is conversational
Complex sentence
A sentence that contains one independent clause and one or more subordinate clause (usually begins with words such as after, before, although, because, until, when, while, and if)
Compound sentence
A sentence structure made up of two independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunction. “Don’t open the door or a deadly smell will kill”
Concrete diction
Specific words that describe physical qualities or conditions. These words refer to what we can immediately perceive with our senses
Connotation
All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests. An idea or feeling that a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
Cumulative sentence
An independent clause followed by subordinate clauses or phrases that supply additional detail.
Denotation
Literal meaning of a word. The dictionary definition of a word
Diction
A writer/speaker’s choice of words
Extended metaphor
A comparison between two unlike things that continues through a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem
Figures of speech
Writing or speech meant to be understood imaginatively instead of literally (hyperbole, metaphor, personification, simile, understatement)
Imagery
Consists of words and phrases that appeal to a reader’s five senses
Inverted sentence
Any sentence in which the normal word order is reversed, with the verb coming before the subject or the complete subject/predicate coming after another clause
Irony
A figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words
Metaphor
A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared. Comparison of two unlike things without using the word like or as
Mood
The feeling the reader experiences as a result of the tone; emotional coloring of a work
Overstatement/hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration used for emphasis or to produce a comic effect.
Paradox
A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense, but after close examination contains some degree of truth
Parallel structure
Repetition of words/phrases that have similar grammatical form
Periodic sentence
Begins with details, qualifications, or modifications, building toward the main clause.
Presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end
Personification
A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes things but endowing them with human attributes or emotions
Simile
A figure of speech used to explain or clarify an idea by comparing us explicitly to something else using the worlds like or as
Simple sentence
A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause
