Key terms (prose) Flashcards
Adverb
word that characterises a verb (often ends ly)
Verb
a doing word
Noun
A person, place or thing
Personification
Attributing human actions to inanimate objects
Elision
The omission of one or more letters or syllables from a word (usually marked by an aspostrophe)
Fabliau
A short, pithy story, usually of a bawdy kind
Lexical set
words that typically form one set (e.g. monday, tuesday, wednesday … form a lexical set)
Metaphor
the transfer of quality or attribute from one thing to another in such a way to imply some resemblance
Irony
irony says one thing but means the opposite
Polysyndeton
The use of multiple conjunctions, usually where they aren’t necessary
Simile
a comparison between two things, using ‘like’ or ‘as’
Participle
a word derived from a verb which functions like an adjective, ‘let SLEEPING dogs lie’
Preposition
A part of speech that indicates a connection between two other parts of speech (to, with, by, from)
Syntax
the way words are arranged and modified to construct sentences
Allusion
An indirect reference to something outside the text (can be biblical, classical)
Anachronism
A historically inaccurate detail in a literary work, included by the author either unintentionally or deliberately
Antithesis
A rhetorical technique that uses parallel grammatical structure to contrast two opposing ideas
Aphorism
A brief, memorable statement that captures a broad universal truth (e.g. god helps them that help themselves)
Apostrophe
A rhetorical device in which a speaker addresses either an inanimate object or a person who is absent or dead
Chiasmus
A figure of speech in which one phrase is followed by another that inverts its grammatical construction (e.g. bad men live that they may eat and drink; whereas good men eat and drink that they may live)
Consonance
The repetition of one or more constant sounds in words that are close together
Double Entendre
A figure of speech with two possible interpretations, one of which usually ironic or lewd
Elegy
A poem or song of lamentation written in honour of a deceased person
Ellipsis
A device used to omit details from a narrative, usually for the purpose of allowing readers to draw their own conclusion about what is missing
Epithet
A descriptive phrase that accompanies or replaces the name of a character or thing (e.g. his freshe May)
Euphemism
A figure of speech that softens an unpleasant or offensive idea by substituting a polite phrase instead of
Hyperbole
an extreme exaggeration
Paradox
A provocative statement that contradicts itself yet is typically true in some sense
