Sy-Z Flashcards
A thing, event, or person that represents or stands for some idea or event. Symbols also simultaneously retain their own literal meanings. A figure of speech in which a concrete object is used to stand for an abstract idea —e.g. the cross for Christianity.
Symbol
Conch in Lord of the Flies
Water/Sea in The Awakening
Ozymandias’ expression
Symbol
Part of something is used to stand for the whole —e.g. “threads” for clothes; “wheels” for cars
Synecdoche
“the hand that mocked, the heart that fed”
“all hands on deck!”
Glasses, when referring to eyeglasses.
Synecdoche
In grammar, the arrangement of words as elements in a sentence to show their relationship.
Syntax
Can involve inversion
“the sculptor well those passions read”
Particular patterns used again and again
“I love thee…”
Syntax
A central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction, revealed and developed in the course of a story or explored through argument.
Theme
The MESSAGE, not just the subject.
“Ozymandias” – Power is temporary, but art/words lasts forever.
Metamorphosis – Our work is pointless, or those who should be grateful for us seldom are.
Etc.
Theme
A writer’s attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization of the sentence and global levels.
Tone
Hemingway’s feeling of isolation after WWI
Sophocles’ feelings about moral responsibility to the gods
Chopin’s issues with women’s traditional roles
Tone
When the reader is aware of a discrepancy between the real meaning of a situation and the literal meaning of the writer’s words.
Verbal Irony
“as pleasant and relaxed as a coiled rattlesnake” (Kurt Vonnegut from Breakfast of Champions)
“O Tell it! Tell everyone! Think how they’ll hate you when it all comes out if they learn that you knew about it all the time!” Antigone to Ismene (Sophocles 1265)
Verbal Irony
A writer often adopts a fictional voice to tell a story. Voice is usually determined by a combination of subject matter and audience.
Voice
