H-p Flashcards
a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once,
I’ve told you a million times….”
Hyperbole
the use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience
Imagery
the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase.
Inversion
a discrepancy between appearances and reality.
Irony
occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else.
Verbal irony
takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what
would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.
Situational irony
is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one
thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better
Dramatic irony
poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Ezra Pound: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough.” Juxtaposition is also a form of contrast by which writers call attention to dissimilar ideas or images or metaphors. Martin Luther King: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Juxtaposition
is a form of understatement in which the positive form is emphasized through the negation of a negative form: Hawthorne— “…the wearers of petticoat and farthingale…stepping forth into the public ways, and wedging their not unsubstantial persons, if occasion were, into the throng…”
Litotes
one in which the main clause comes first, followed by further dependent grammatical units. See periodic sentence. Hawthorne: “Hester gazed after him a little while, looking with a half-fantastic curiosity to see whether the tender grass of early spring would not be blighted beneath him, and show the wavering track of this footsteps, sere and brown, across its cheerful verdure.”
Loose sentence
a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles
Metaphor
a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (conceit if it is quite elaborate).
Extended metaphor
is a metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison is no longer vivid: “The head of the house”, “the seat of the government”, “a knotty problem” are all dead metaphors
Dead metaphor
is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. “The President is a lame duck who is running out of gas.”
Mixed metaphor
a figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing, is referred to by something closely associated with it. “We requested from the crown support for our petition.” The crown is used to represent the monarch.
Metonymy
An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected
Mood
a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. Kurt Vonnegut uses “So it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death.
Motif
the reasons for a character’s behavior
Motivation
the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pop.” “Zap.”
Onomatopoeia
a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. “Jumbo shrimp.” “Pretty ugly.” “Bitter-sweet”
Oxymoron
a relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life.
Parable
a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.
Paradox
(parallelism) the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures
Parallel Structure
a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style.
Parody
a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.
Personification
the series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline
Plot
introduces characters, situation, and setting
Exposition
complications in conflict and situations (may introduce new ones as well)
Rising action
that point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest. Also called “turning point”
Clímax
the conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have been settled; often called the
denouement
Resolution
the vantage point from which the writer tells the story
Point of view
one of the characters tells the story.
First person point of view
an unknown narrator, tells the story, but this narrator zooms in to focus
on the thoughts and feelings of only one character.
Third person point of view
an omniscient or all-knowing narrator tells the story, also using the third
person pronouns. This narrator, instead of focusing on one character only, often tells us everything about many characters.
Omnisciente point of view
a narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no
comment on any characters or events.
Objective point of view
the central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or anti-hero; in a tragic hero, like John Proctor of The Crucible, there is always a hamartia, or tragic flaw in his character which will lead to his downfall.
Protagonist
a “play on words” based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things
Pun
