English 10H - Literary Terms Flashcards
when consecutive words start with the same letter or sound
alliteration
comparing two things
analogy
describing the attributes of a character
characterization
highlighting differences
contrast
something that happens before the story that you can “see”
flashback
something that happens before the story that is talked about or mentioned
antecedent incident
clue or hint to future events
foreshadowing
description of anything
imagery
when the opposite of what you expect happens
irony
calling something something else
metaphor
the feeling the audience takes away from the situation
mood
the way the narrator expresses the topic
tone
contradictory word or phrase
oxymoron
giving something a personality or human characteristics
anthropomorphism/personification
perspective of the narrator (how the story’s told)
point of view
play on words
pun
word or phrase that occurs again and again
repetition
place and time in which the story takes place
setting
calling something something else using “like” or “as”
simile
voice of the literature
speaker/narrator
something that stands for something else
symbol
underlying meaning/message of the literature
theme
story taking abstract concepts and giving them physical identites/meaning
allegory
when the meaning is unclear (cliffhanger)
ambiguity
reference to another piece of literature, person, or event
allusion
connection of middle vowels to make “rhymes”
assonance
words we associate with other words
connotation
three-step logical argument (given, given, conclusion)
syllogism
two lines of rhyming poetry
couplet
connection of consonants to make “rhymes”
consonance
dictionary definition of words
denotation
word choice
diction
metaphor continued throughout the literature
extended metaphor
a character that doesn’t change
flat character
a character that changes
round character
intended exaggeration
hyperbole
suggests something without actually saying it
implied metaphor
comparing two very different things
juxtaposition
repeated image
motif
contradictory situation
paradox
two parts of a plot mirror eachother
parallel structure
setting mirrors the character’s emotions
pathetic fallacy
four lines of poetry
quatrain
choices an author makes
style
sentence structure (order things go in)
syntax
repeating the same phrase in consecutive lines of poetry
anaphora
refer to something that’s not physically present
apostrophe
refer to part of a whole
synecdoche
closely related word to something else
metonymy
clever extended metaphor
conceit
when someone makes you choose between two different options when in reality there are many more
either/or
when someone insults their opponent instead of the argument
ad hominem
fake person made in order to illustrate a point
strawman
slowly changing something’s meaning to support your argument
the beard
claiming universal ignorance to support your argument (“no one really knows so I must know”)
from ignorance
“after the fact, therefore because of the fact”; just because something happened before the fact doesn’t mean it caused the fact
post hoc ergo propter hoc
when someone’s argument sounds too unbelievable to be true
incredulity
multiple examples leading to a general truth
inductive reasoning
general truth leading to the judgment of multiple examples
deductive reasoning
a short, personal story
anecdote
making an unpleasant idea more pleasant
euphemism
informal language
slang
logical appeals
logos
emotional appeals
pathos
ethical appeals
ethos