English 11 - List 17 literary terms

Question 1

alliteration

Answer 1

the repetition of initial consonant sounds (ie: Sally sells seashells…)

Question 2

allusion

Answer 2

a reference in a work of literature to another literary work or historical work, figure or event.

Question 3

anaphora

Answer 3

the intentional repetition of complete words or phrases for emphasis and unity.

Question 4

image

Answer 4

an image is a word or phrase that names something that can be seen, heard, touched, tasted or smelled. A collection or group of images is called imagery.

Question 5

irony

Answer 5

a contradiction, such as the difference between appearance and reality or a difference between what is said and what’s meant or expected.

Question 6

metaphor

Answer 6

a figure of speech in which one thing is described as if it were another. (ie: My love is a red, red rose)

Question 7

onomatopoeia

Answer 7

the use of words or phrases that sound like the things that they describe or sound words. (ie: buzz, chop)

Question 8

personification

Answer 8

a figure of speech in which a nonhuman is described as though it were human. (ie: the old car coughed)

Question 9

simile

Answer 9

a type of metaphor that uses like or as to make a comparison. (ie: My love is like a red, red rose)

Question 10

symbol

Answer 10

something that stands both for itself and something beyond itself. (ie: A dove is a symbol of peace)

Question 11

synecdoche

Answer 11

a part of something is used to signify the whole. (ie: to a shawl covered head or you’re in good hands)

Question 12

mood

Answer 12

the emotional quality of a literary work created by imagery, word choice, events that occur. Adjectives that describe moods include sad, joyful, reflective, suspenseful.

Question 13

paradox

Answer 13

an apparently contradictory statement that in fact has a certain truth to it. (ie: a poem should be wordless…)

Question 14

setting

Answer 14

the time and place in which a work of literature occurs.

Question 15

stanza

Answer 15

a group of lines in a poem.

Question 16

theme

Answer 16

the main idea in a literary work or message the author is attempting to get across to readers. (ie: a work on the subject of aging might have as its theme that older people can still be young and fresh in their thinking)

Question 17

tone

Answer 17

the attitude adopted by the speaker, narrator, or author of a literary work toward the subject or the reader of the work. Tone is created through author’s diction.

Question 18

blank verse

Answer 18

unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Question 19

free verse

Answer 19

poetry with neither rhyme or rhythm.

Question 20

sonnet

Answer 20

a fourteen line poem, written in iambic pentameter, using one of two specific rhyme schemes and ending in a rhyming couplet