Lit terms Part 3 Flashcards
A line containing six feet.
hexameter
Deliberate exaggeration, overstatement. As a rule, hyperbole is self-conscious, without the intention of being accepted literally. “The strongest man in the world” and “a diamond as big as the Ritz” are hyperbolic.
hyperbole
A two-syllable foot with an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. The iamb is the most common foot in English poetry.
iamb
The images of a literary work; the sensory details of a work; the figurative language of a work. Imagery has several definitions, but the two that are paramount are the visual, auditory, or tactile images evoked by the words of a literary work or the images that figurative language evokes. When you are asked to discuss the images or imagery of a work, you should look especially carefully at the sensory details and the metaphors and similes of a passage. Some diction (word choice) is also imagery, but not all diction evokes sensory responses.
Imagery
an allusive or oblique remark or hint, typically a suggestive or disparaging one.:”she’s always making sly innuendoes” “a constant torrent of innuendo, gossip, lies, and half-truths”. Its use is almost always derogatory. However, it must be kept in mind that it is the most thinly-veiled form of satire and when it is strong, it takes the shape of criticism
Innuendo
Rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end.
“God save thee, ancient Mariner!
From the friends, that plague thee thus!-
Why look’st thou so?” - With my crossbow
I shot the Albatross.
internal rhyme
denotes speech or writing that attacks, insults, or denounces a person, topic, or institution. It involves the use of abusive and negative use of language. The tool of invective is generally employed in both poetry and prose to reiterate the significance of the deeply felt emotions of the writer.
Invective
A figure of speech in which intent and actual meaning differ, characteristically praise for blame or blame for praise; a pattern of words that turns away from direct statement of its own obvious meaning.
Irony
The idea that fate, destiny, or a god controls and toys with human hopes and expectations; also, the belief that the universe is so large and man is so small that the universe is indifferent to the plight of man
Cosmic Irony
a pose of ignorance assumed in order to entice others into making statements that can then be challenged.
technique where the questioner admits (falsely) to not knowing something as a way of tricking the other person into revealing his own lack of knowledge or a flaw in his logic.
Socratic irony
The special language of a profession or group.
jargon
a poem that expresses grief, not necessarily about death
Lament
is a figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions.
For example, using the expression “not too bad” for “very good” is an understatement as well as a double negative statement that confirms a positive idea by negating the opposite. Similarly, saying “She is not a beauty queen,” means “She is ugly” or saying “I am not as young as I used to be” in order to avoid saying “I am old”
Litote
Songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination.
lyrical
rhyme that falls on the stressed and concluding syllables of the rhyme-words. Examples include “keep” and “sleep” “spell” and “impel.” “boat” and “denote”
masculine rhyme
