F List Literary Devices Flashcards
a brief story with an explicit moral provided by the author; typically include animals as characters
fable
in the plot of a story or play, the action following the climax of the work that moves it towards its denouement of resolution
falling action
poetic meters such as trochaic and dactylic that move or fall from a stressed to an unstressed syllable (ex; tree-top, freedom)
falling meter
a kind of fiction that pictures creatures or events beyond the boundaries of known reality
fantasy
a dramatic form marked by wholly absurd situations, slapstick, raucous wordplay, and/or innuendo; emphasizes coarse wit over characterization or articulated plot
force
literary works that explore (either overtly or implicitly) women’s identity and role in society; feminist criticism reexamines literary works and the role of women in literature
feminist literature
an imagined story, whether in prose, poetry, drama, or an imagined character
fiction
broadly, any way of saying something other than the ordinary way; more narrowly, a way of saying one thing and meaning another
figure of speech
language that uses figures of speech; nonliteral language, usually evoking strong images; sometimes referred to as metaphorical language, most of its forms explain, clarify, or enhance an idea by comparing it to something else; the comparison can be explicit (simile) or implied (metaphor); other forms of this include personification, paradox, hyperbole, understatement, and irony
figurative language
a form of poem in which the length and patter are prescribed by previous usage or tradition, such as sonnet, limerick, villanelle, or haiku
fixed form
an interruption of a work’s chronology to describe or present an incident that occurred prior to the main time frame of a work’s action
flashback
a character whose distinguishing moral qualities or personal traits are summed up in one or two traits
flat/static character
a character who contrasts and parallels a protagonist in a play or story, allowing the protagonist’s primary qualities to stand out more distinctly
foil
a narrative poem designed to be sung, composed by an anonymous author, and transmitted orally for years or generations before being written down, usually undergoing modification through this process of oral transmission
folk ballad
the basic unit used in the scansion or measurement of verse; usually contains one accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables; there are five typical feet in English verse (iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, and spondee)
foot
