devices Flashcards
allegory
a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. A symbol
alliteration
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
“the alliteration of ‘sweet birds sang’
allusion
to make a reference to something, usually biblical
amplification
extending a sentence to elaborate or exaggerate
anagram
An anagram is a type of word play in which the letters of a word or phrase are rearranged to create new words and phrases
analogy
where 2 unrelated objects are compared for their similarities
anastrophe
the order of the noun and the adjective are exchanged. e.g. ‘He spoke of times past and future, and dreamt of things to be.’
anecdote
a very short story relevant to the topic at hand
anthromorphism
giving objects human qualities
antithesis
means opposite. 2 statements which contrast each other, for example, ‘That’s one small step for a man – one giant leap for mankind.’(Neil Armstrong, 1969)
aphorism
a short statement of general truth, e.g. ‘If the shoe fits, wear it.’
archetype
a universal story, character or symbol used in many different stories. e.g. a hero
assonance
the repetition of similar vowel sounds
asyndeton
leaving out conjunction words
authorial intrusion
where the author steps away from the text and speaks to the reader
biblomancy
the practice of foretelling the future by interpreting a randomly chosen passage from a book, especially the Bible
bildungsroman
is a story about the development of a certain character, a ‘coming-of-age’ story
cacophony
the use of harsh sounding words for a noisy effect
caesura
a pause in the middle of a line
characterisation
creating characters for a narrative
chiasmus
saying one thing, and then saying something very similar, but flipped around.
circumlocution
talking around the subject when you don’t want to directly address it
connotation
a common feeling associated with the word
consonance
where a constant sound occurs in a sentence
