Literary and Poetic Devices Flashcards
Allegory
story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities
Alliteration
repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together
Allusion
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, etc.)
Ambiguity
deliberately suggestion two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work; an event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way - this is done on purpose by the author, when it is not done on purpose, it is vagueness, and detracts from the work
Analogy
comparison made between two things to show how they are alike
Anaphora
repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row; this is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent
Anastrophe
inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence; purpose is rhythm of emphasis or euphonium; it is a fact word for inversion
Anecdote
brief story , told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something
Antimetabole (also Chiasmus)
repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order; “one should eat to live, not live to eat”
Antithesis
balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted; “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
Anthropomorphism
attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (personification)
Aphorism (Maxim, Epigram)
brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general truth
Apostrophe
calling out to the imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea; if the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation
Assonance
the repetition of similar vowel sounds
Asyndeton
commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y, and Z… the writer uses X,Y,Z…
Bathos
an abrupt transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect; “the ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant”
Chiasmus (also Antimetabole)
a type of rhetorical balance in which the second part is syntactically balanced against the first, but with he parts reversed: “flowers are lovely, love is flowerlike”
Cliche
a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse
Colloquialism
a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations
Conceit
an elaborate/extended metaphor that compares two thing that are startlingly different
Connotation
the associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition
Couplet
two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry
Dialect
a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area
Diction
a speaker or writer’s choice of words
Didactic
form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking
Elegy
a poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died
Eulogy
great praise or commendation, a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died
Epigraph
a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme
Epistrophe
device of repetition in which the same expression (single word or phrase) is repeated at the end of two or more lines/clauses/sentences (opposite of anaphora)
