Literary and Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
Active Voice: Definition
The subject of the sentence performs the action. This is a more and preferred style of writing in most cases.
Active Voice: Example
“Anthony drove while Toni searched for the house.”
Active Voice: Effect
Active voice usually generates a more lively form of writing.
Allusion: Definition
An indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
Allusion: Example
It’s evident in things like plays, songs, and historical events.
Allusion: Effect
I adds more layers to the general text.
Alter-Ego: Definition
A character that is used by the author to the Author’s own thoughts; when an author speaks directly to the audience.
Alter-Ego: Example
William Shakespeares’ “The Tempest”
Alter-Ego: Effect
It allows the play write to speak to their audience.
Anecdote: Definition
A brief recounting of relevant episode.
Anecdote: Example
They are used in fictional and non-fictional text.
Anecdote: Effect
It pads out the story and usually creates more dialogue.
Antecedent: Definition
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Antecedent: Example
“I would not pay such a price for it”
Antecedent: Effect
It gives a pronoun to an unknown thing.
Classicism: Definition
Art or literature characterized by realistic views of the world.
Classicism: Example
Romanticism.
Classicism: Effect
It adds for a more grounded and realistic concepts within the literature.
Comic Relief: Definition
A humorou scene injected into a serious story.
Comic Relief: Example
The “gatekeeper scene” in Macbeth.
Comic Relief: Effect
It adds a form of levaty within a serious story.
Diction: Definition
Word choice, particularly as an element of style.
Diction: Example
Formal of Informal.
Diction: Effect
It gives the author a certain style when they’re writing.
Colloquial: Definition
Ordinary or familiar sounding dialogue.
Colloquial: Example
It’s a common saying used by people.
Colloquial: Effect
It adds a relevant and common aspect to the dialogue.
Connotation: Definition
Rather than the dictionary definition, the association is suggested by the emotion behind the word.
Connotation: Example
“cop, policeman, and the man”
Connotation: Effect
It gives characters there own personal form of dialogue.
Denotation: Definition
The literal meaning of a word.
Denotation: Example
Policemen are simple Policemen.
Denotation: Effect
It is simply the use of words.
Jargon: Definition
The common diction used by a group of people.
Jargon: Example
The language used by Lawyers.
Jargon: Effect
It gives a common dialogue between groups of people.
Vernacular: Definition
Language or dialect of a particular region.
Vernacular: Example
Spanish in South America
Vernacular: Effect
It gives each region their own form of language
Didactic: Definition
A form of literature that teaches a lesson or moral.
Didactic: Example
The Tortoise and The Hare
Didactic: Effect
It gives the literature educational value.
Adage: Definition
A folk saying with a message
Adage: Example
“A rolling stone gathers no moss”
Adage: effect
It educates the reader
Allegory: Definition
Literary elements represent realistic concepts
Allegory: Example
Animal Farm
Allegory: Effect
It can put real life events into digestible concepts
Aphorism: Definition
A tense statement that holds great principle
Aphorism: Example
“Watched pot never boils”
Aphorism: Effect
It educates the reader
Ellipsis: Definition
a pause in a characters dialogue
Ellipsis: Example
she went to… the store
Ellipsis: Effect
It adds variety to dialogue and intensity to certain statements
Euphemism: Definition
A less offensive substitute for a risky concept
Euphemism: Example
physically challenged in place of crippled
Euphemism: Effect
political correctness or humor
Figurative Language: Definition
Writing that is not meant to be taken literally
Figurative Language: Example
Metaphor and Simile
Figurative Language: Effect
It adds variety to dialogue and literature
Analogy: Definition
A comparison between two sets of variables
Analogy: Example
America is to the world as a hippos is to the jungle
Analogy: Affect
it’s a descriptor that adds variety to literature
Hyperbole: Definition
An extreme exaggeration
Hyperbole: Example
My mother will kill me if I’m late
Hyperbole: Affect
it adds a variety to literature
Idiom: Definition
A common phrase
Idiom: Example
I got chewed out on my couch
Idiom: Affect
It adds a bit of commonality
Metaphor: Definition
Making implied comparisons
Metaphor: Example
he’s a rock
Metaphor: Affect
imagery
Metonymy: Definition
Replacing an actual word or idea with a related concept
Metonymy: Example
I could not understand his tongue
Metonymy: Affect
Imagery
Synecdoche: Definition
When a whole is named by it’s parts
Synecdoche: Example
The rancher owned 500 head
Synecdoche: Affect
Imagery
Simile: Definition
Comparing something using like or as
Simile: Example
Solid as a rock
Simile: Affect
Imagery
Synesthesia: Definition
The crossing of two sensing
Synesthesia: Example
I was deafen by their colorful shirt
Synesthesia: Affect
Imagery
Personification: Definition
Giving human features to inhuman entity
Personification: Example
The stars danced
Personification: Affect
Imagery
Foreshadow: Definition
When the author gives hints to what occurs
Foreshadow: Example
For example, in a western movie, the good guy enters a bar, has a drink, and leaves. The bad guy scowls and spits on the floor and you know there is definitely more to come between them.
Foreshadow: Affect
literary tensity
Genre: Definition
The majority category that the book fits within
Genre: Example
Horror, Romance, Fantasy
Genre: Affect
The style of writing
Gothic: Definition
Writing characterized with darkness and gloom
Gothic: Example
Edgar Allan Poe
Gothic: Affect
Literary style
Imagery: Definition
Words that create pictures
Imagery: Example
the pie’s warm golden crust smelled of butter and fresh berries
Imagery: Affect
Variety in text and visual descriptor
Invective: Definition
A long emotional attack using abusive language
invective: Example
A knave, a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave
Invective: Affect
Violent dialogue
Irony: Definition
The opposite of what’s expected happens
Irony: Example
A fire station burns down.
Irony: Affect
Comedy or Tragedy
Verbal Irony: Definition
Saying the opposite of what you mean
Verbal Irony: Example
sarcasm
Verbal Irony: Affect
It adds humor
Dramatic Irony: Definition
when the audience understands what’s going on in a situation while the characters are unaware
Dramatic Irony: Example
the last scene in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, when Romeo commits suicide because he thinks Juliet is dead
Dramatic Irony: Affect
It adds a different layer of tensity to the production
Situational Irony: Definition
when incongruity appears between expectations of something to happen
Situational Irony: Example
Johnny spent two hours sneaking into the movies, only to miss it
Situational Irony: Affect
Comedy
Juxtaposition: Definition
Putting to things beside each other for comparison
Juxtaposition: Example
Comparing an average day for an american to someone in a third world country
Juxtaposition: Affect
to portray their characters in great detail, to create suspense, and to achieve a rhetorical effect
Mood: Definition
The atmosphere created by the writer
Mood: Example
setting, theme, diction, and tone
Mood: Affect
ensures emotional attachment to the literary piece
Motif: Definition
A recurring idea in the story
Motif: Example
Any idea repeated multiple times
Motif: Affect
It solidifies the themes of the narrative
Oxymoron: Definition
Putting two contradictory concepts together
Oxymoron: Example
Jumbo Shrimp
Oxymoron: Affect
Comedy
Pacing: Definition
The speed or tempo of a an author’s writing
Pacing: Example
Da Vinci Code (by Dan Brown)
Pacing: Affect
It allows media to feel like a smooth ride
Paradox: Definition
A seemingly contradictory situation
Paradox: Example
I am nobody
Paradox: Affect
it adds layers
Parallelism: Definition
There’s a pattern on the sentence structure
Parallelism: Example
swept the floor, dusted the mantle, beat the rug
Parallelism: Affect
nice sentence
Anaphora: Definition
Repetition of a or word sentence structure
Anaphora: Example
I came, I saw, I conquered
Anaphora: Affect
It’s pleasing
Chiasmus: Definition
When words are used twice
Chiasmus: Example
when the going gets tough the tough gets going
Chiasmus: Affect
it fits the situation
Antithesis: Definition
Two contradictory words
Antithesis: Example
IT was the worst of times, it was the best of times
Antithesis: Affect
it’s the opposite
Zuegma: Definition
When one word effects two or more words
Zuegma: Example
The butler killed the wife, and then the mistress
Zuegma: Affect
One word effects others
Parenthetical Idea: Definition
Parenthesis is used to set ideas apart from the original
Parenthetical Idea: Example
In a short time (and time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will be out of oil
Parenthetical Idea: Affect
It allows additional information to be added to the sentence
Parody: Definition
An exaggerated imitation of a serious work
Parody: Example
The Simpsons often parody Shakespeare’s plays
Parody: Affect
Comedic Effect and Political commentary
Persona: Definition
The fictional mask or narrator that tells the story
Persona: Example
The Narrator
Persona: Affect
The reader has a guide that will move them through the story
Poetic Device: Definition
Devices in poetry used to manipulate sounds of words
Poetic Device: Example
Alliteration
Poetic Device: Affect
It creates a better sounding poem
Alliteration: Definition
When sounds are repeated consecutively in a sentence
Alliteration: Example
She sells seashells by the sea shore
Alliteration: Affect
It creates a better sounding poem
Assonance: Definition
The repetition of multiple vowels
Assonance: Example
From the molten golden note
Assonance: Affect
It creates a better sounding poem
Consonance: Definition
The repetition of the same consonant sound
Consonance: Example
“Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door”
Consonance: Effect
It creates a better sounding poem
Onomatopoeia: Definition
The use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes.
Onomatopoeia: Example
Snap, rustle, boom, murmur
Onomatopoeia: Effect
It creates imagery
Internal rhyme: Definition
When a line of poetry contains a rhyme within a single line.
Internal rhyme: Example
“To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!”
Internal rhyme: Affect
It creates a better sounding poem
Slant rhyme: Definition
When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly – they are merely similar.
Slant rhyme: Example
“I sat upon a stone, / And found my life has gone.”
Slant rhyme: Affect
It creates an aesthetically pleasing poem
End Rhyme: Definition
When the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme.
End Rhyme: Example
“Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you.”
End Rhyme: Affect
It creates a nice sounding poem
Rhyme Scheme: Definition
The pattern of a poem’s end rhymes.
Rhyme Scheme: Example
For example, the following lines have a
rhyme scheme of a b a b c d c d:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. b
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May. a
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. b
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines c
And often is his gold complexion dimmed d
And every fair from fair sometime declines c
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed d
Rhyme Scheme: Affect
It creates a nice sounding poem.
