Lit Devices Pt 2: Figurative Language

Question 1

Allusion

Answer 1

Reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture; an indirect reference to something usually from literature

Question 2

Ambiguity

Answer 2

Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work

Question 3

Aphorism

Answer 3

Brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or general truth, i.e. “the journey of 1000 miles begins with one step“ – Lao Tau; also known as a maxim or epigram

Question 4

Conceit

Answer 4

An elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly different; often called an extended metaphor

Question 5

Conflict

Answer 5

The struggle between opposing forces or characters in the story

Question 6

External Conflict

Answer 6

Conflicts that can exist between two people or between a person and nature, machine, society, etc.

Question 7

Internal Conflict

Answer 7

A conflict involving opposing forces within a person’s mind (man vs self)

Question 8

Double Entendre

Answer 8

A word or phrase open to two interpretations, one of which is usually irony, risqué, or indecent

Question 9

Hypophora

Answer 9

A figure of speech in which the speaker both asks a question and immediately answers it

Question 10

Idiom

Answer 10

A saying, phrase, or fixed expression in a culture that has a figurative meaning different from its literal meaning, i.e. it’s raining cats and dogs

Question 11

Irony

Answer 11

The discrepancy between appearances and reality

Question 12

Verbal Irony

Answer 12

When someone says something but means something else

Question 13

Situational Irony

Answer 13

A discrepancy between what is expected to occur and what actually occurs

Question 14

Dramatic Irony

Answer 14

When the audience or reader knows the truth, but the character does not

Question 15

Juxtaposition

Answer 15

Poetic and rhetorical device in which normally and associated ideas, words, or phrases our place next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit

Question 16

Motif

Answer 16

A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by the same author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme

Question 17

Paradox

Answer 17

A statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth

Question 18

Synesthesia

Answer 18

When a writer presents an idea in such a manner that it appeals to more than one sense simultaneously, thus creating additional layers of meaning, i.e. “back to the region where the sun is silent.“ -Dante’s Inferno

Question 19

Theme

Answer 19

The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work

Question 20

Tone

Answer 20

The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization

Question 21

Zeugma

Answer 21

A figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses (i.e. John and his license expired last week.) or to two others of which it semantically suits only one (i.e. with weeping eyes and hearts)