Language/Literary Terms, Techniques and Devices Flashcards
Imagery
descriptive language that appeals to the senses and re-creates sensory experience
Imagery - visual
eg. “fast fading violets cover’d up in leaves”
Imagery - Auditory/sound
eg. “the deafening tic-tic-tic of the clock”
Imagery - Olfactory/smell
eg. “and lucent syrups, tinct with cinnamon”
Imagery - Tectile/touch
eg. “soft as a child’s nose”
Imagery - synthetic the effect of multiple senses
eg. “she stroked molten tones”
Simile
A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using an explicit word such as: like, resembles, as or than.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else
Mixed metaphor
the inconsistent mixture of two or more metaphors - (usually considered evidence of bad writing)
eg. “let’s set sail and get this show on the road”
dead metaphor
a metaphor that is so overused that it has become trite or cliché
eg. “the eye of the storm”
extended metaphor
a metaphor that is extended, or developed, over several lines of writing or even throughout an entire poem
synecdoche
a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to stand for the whole
eg. “and did those feet in ancient time/Walk upon England’s mountain green?”
antithesis
a figure of speech in which contrasting or opposite ideas are presented in parallel form
eg. “some praise at morning what they blame at night.”
hyperbole
a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement
eg. “all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”
personification
a figure of speech in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics
eg. “a smiling mood”
apostrophe
a figure of speech in which the speaker directly and often emotionally addresses a person who is dead or otherwise not physically present, an imaginary person or entity, something inhuman, or a place or concept (usually an abstract idea or ideal)
eg. “death, be not proud’
irony
a contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality - between what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected to happen and what really does, or between what appears to be true and what really is.
Irony - Verbal
a writer/speaker says one thing but means another (often resembling sarcasm which is NOT a literary device)
eg. “you’re a real babe ruth”
Irony - situational
a contrast between what would seem appropriate and what really happens.
eg. dying the day after you win the lottery
Irony - dramatic
a discrepancy between a character’s perception and what the reader or audience knows to be true
eg. Romeo drinks poison because he thinks Juliet is dead, while the audience knows that she is merely drugged and not dead at all
rhetorical question
any question asked for a purpose other than to obtain the information the question asks
eg. “why are you so stupid?”
oxymoron
a figure of speech that fuses two contradictory or opposing ideas
eg. “darkness visible”
allusion
a reference to a statement, person, place, event or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, myth, politics, sports, science, or pop culture
eg. “sons of Adam and daughters of Eve”
Symbol
anything that stands for or represents something larger and more complex