Literary Analysis Glossary: Techniques Flashcards
Anachronism
An element in a story that is out of place, given its time period
Amphiboly
When two or more different literal meanings can be reasonably derived
Antithesis
A figure of speech in which words expressing opposite ideas are juxtaposed
Apophasis
A rhetorical devices in which the speaker sneakily mentions something by claiming not to mention it
Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which an absent person or non-human entity is addressed at though capable of responding
Archaism
The use of language characteristic of an earlier time period
Asyndeton
The omission of a conjunction where one is normally expected
Blazon
The detailed enumeration and idealized poetic description of each of a beloveds body parts
Conciet
A figure of speech that established a striking or far fetched analogy between seemingly very dissimilar things
Ekphrasis
Description of a work of visual art such as a painting or statue
Ellipse
Three periods used to mark a long pause or the omission of a word or phrase
Litotes
A kind of understatement in which something affirmed merely by defining its opposite
Malapropism
Someone says the wrong word by accident
Parody
A humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature
Persona
The character projected by the author
Redundance (pleonasm)
The use of more words than necessary to convey an idea
Polysyndeton
The use of more conjunctions than are required
Prolepses
A figure of speech in which something in the future is represented as already done or present
Shared line
When one character finished a line begun by another (finishing somebody else’s sentence)
Significant name
A name chosen to hint at that elements nature or role in the story
Stock Sharacter
Any of a number of traditional characters easily identified by a single stereotypical character
Zeugma
The linking of a word with several other parts of a sentence when the word must be taken in a different sense with regard to each.
