Literary and Rhetorical Devices Flashcards
Active Voice: Definition
The subject of the sentence performs the action.
Active Voice: Example
“Anthony drove while Toni searched for the house.”
Active Voice: Effect
More direct
Allusion: Definition
An indirect reference to something with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
Allusion: Example
“Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.”
Allusion: Effect:
Helps the reader understand something by having it be compared to something familiar.
Alter-ego: Definition
A character that is used by the author to speak the author’s own thoughts; when an author
speaks directly to the audience through a character.
Alter-ego: Example
In Shakespeare’s last play, The Tempest, Shakespeare
talks to his audience about his own upcoming retirement, through the main character in the play, Prospero.
Alter-ego: Effect
The speaker can talk to the audience directly.
Anecdote: Definition
A brief recounting of a relevant episode.
Anecdote: Example
A politician who is arguing for a different type of healthcare program includes an anecdote about a little girl who was not able to have a transplant due to insurance.
Anecdote: Effect
often inserted into fictional or non
fictional texts as a way of developing a point or injecting humor.
Antecedent: Definition
The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
Antecedent: Example
“If I could command the wealth of all the world by lifting my finger, I would not pay such a price for it.”
Antecedent: Effect
Replaces a word or phrase that may be too complex.
Classicism: Definition
Art or literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world; sticks to traditional themes and structures
Classicism: Example
Shakespeare in poetry and theatre
Classicism: Effect
To show the traditional structure of writing
Comic relief: Definition
when a humorous scene is inserted into a serious story, in order to lighten the mood
somewhat.
Comic relief: Example
“gatekeeper scene” in Macbeth
Comic relief: Effect
to lighten the mood in writing
Diction: Definition
Word choice, particularly as an element of style.
Diction: Example
An essay written in academic diction would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise than street slang.
Diction: Effect
The word choice has a big effect on the piece of writing.
Colloquial: Definition
Ordinary or familiar type of conversation.
Colloquial: Example
“She’s out” for “She is not at home.”
Colloquial: Effect
Makes the phrases shorter and into what people normally say.
Connotation: Definition
Rather than the dictionary definition (denotation), the associations suggested by a
word.
Connotation: Example
“policeman,” “cop,” and “The
Man”
Connotation: Effect
Implies the meaning instead of the literal meaning.
Denotation: Definition
The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.
Denotation: Example
Police man- a member of a police force.
Denotation: Effect
Gives literal meaning instead of implying it.
Jargon: Definition
The diction used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity.
Jargon: Example
Lawyers speak using particular jargon, as do soccer players.
Jargon: Effect
Only those people in that specific group know what is being said.
Vernacular: Definition
Language or dialect of a particular country. 2. Language or dialect of a regional clan or group. 3. Plain everyday speech
Vernacular: Example
How some people from a certain states talk differently that other people in other states.
Vernacular: Effect
Diversity of how people may talk.
Didactic: Definition
A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
Didactic: Example
Most books written for children
Didactic: Effect
teaches a lesson or moral
Adage: Definition
A folk saying with a lesson.
Adage: Example
“A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
Adage: Effect
Teaches a lesson
Allegory: Definition
A story, fictional or non fictional, in which characters, things, and events represent
qualities or concepts.
Allegory: Example
Animal Farm, by George Orwell,
Allegory: Effect
The interaction of these characters, things, and events is meant to reveal an
abstraction or a truth.
Aphorism: Definition
A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle.
Aphorism: Example
“God helps them that help themselves,”
Aphorism: Effect
memorable summation of the author’s point.
Ellipsis: Definition
The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author.
Ellipsis: Example
“The whole day, rain, torrents of rain.”
Ellipsis: Effect
used to show omitted text in a quotation.
Euphemism: Definition
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts.
Euphemism: Example
“Physically challenged,” in place of “crippled.”
Euphemism: Effect
used to exaggerate correctness to add humor.
Figurative Language: Definition
writing that is not meant to be taken literally.
Figurative Language: Example
The world is my oyster.
Figurative Language: Effect
To be taken not so serious and sometimes lighten the mood.
Analogy: Definition
comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables.
Analogy: Example
“America is to the world as the hippo is to the jungle.”
Analogy: Effect
argues that the relationship between the first pair of variables is the same as the relationship between the second pair of variables.
Hyperbole: Definition
Exaggeration.
Hyperbole: Example
“My mother will kill me if I am late.”
Hyperbole: Effect
To show exaggeration.
Idiom: Definition
A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally.
Idiom: Example
“I got chewed out by my coach.”
Idiom: Effect
To not be taken literally
Metaphor: Definition
Making an implied comparison, not using “like,” as,” or other such words.
Metaphor: Example
“My feet are popsicles.”
Metaphor: Effect
to compare two things
Metonymy: Definition
Replacing an actual word or idea, with a related word or concept.
Metonymy: Example
“Relations between London and Washington have been strained,”
Metonymy: Effect
Developing literally symbolization
Synecdoche: Definition
A kind of metonymy when a whole is represented by naming one of its
parts, or vice versa.
Synecdoche: Example
“The cattle rancher owned 500 head.”
Synecdoche: Effect
used as a rhetorical device
Simile: Definition
Using words such as “like” or “as” to make a direct comparison between two very
different things.
Simile: Example
“My feet are so cold they feel like popsicles.”
Simile: Effect
spark your reader’s imagination while getting the information across
Synesthesia: Definition
a description involving a “crossing of the senses.”
Synesthesia: Example
“A purplish scent filled the room.”
Synesthesia: Effect
one sense is described using terms from another.
Personification: Definition
Giving human-like qualities to something that is not human.
Personification: Example
“The tired old truck
groaned as it inched up the hill.”
Personification: Effect
connects readers with the object that is personified
Foreshadowing: Definition
When an author gives hints about what will occur later in a story.
Foreshadowing: Example
character’s thoughts can foreshadow
Foreshadowing: Effect
adds dramatic tension to a story by building anticipation about what might happen next
Genre: Definition
The major category into which a literary work fits.
Genre: Example
prose, poetry, and drama.
Genre: Effect
what kind of writing it is
Gothic: Definition
Writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear and/or death.
Gothic: Example
Dracula
Gothic: Effect
how the piece of writing is written
Imagery: Definition
Word or words that create a picture in the reader’s mind.
Imagery: Example
The familiar tang of his grandmother’s cranberry sauce reminded him of his youth.
Imagery: Effect
Uses the five senses to compare things
Invective: Definition
A long, emotionally violent, attack using strong, abusive language.
Invective: Example
I cannot but conclude the bulk of your natives to be the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.
Invective: Effect
device used to insult a person or thing.
Irony: Definition
When the opposite of what you expect to happen does.
Irony: Example
someone who talks a lot having nothing to say when asked a question
Irony: Effect
intended to provoke the reader into thinking harder and analyzing a situation
Verbal irony: Definition
- When you say something and mean the opposite/something different.
Verbal irony: Example
“walk in the
park”
Verbal irony: Effect
expresses humor, affection, or emotion, by saying the opposite of what they mean to somebody who is expected to recognize the irony.
Dramatic irony: Definition
When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the
character doesn’t and would be surprised to find out.
Dramatic irony: Example
horror movies, we (the
audience) know who the killer is, which the victim-to-be has no idea who is doing the slaying.
Dramatic irony: Effect
effective tool to sustain and excite the readers’ interest
Situational irony: Definition
Found in the plot (or story line) of a book, story, or movie. Sometimes it makes you laugh because it’s funny how things turn out.
Situational irony: Example
example, Johnny spent two hours
planning on sneaking into the movie theater and missed the movie.
Situational irony: Effect
To lighten the mood while being ironic.
Juxtaposition: Definition
Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison.
Juxtaposition: Example
juxtapose the average day of a
typical American with that of someone in the third world in order to make a point of social commentary
Juxtaposition: Effect
Authors often use juxtaposition
of ideas or examples in order to make a point.
Mood: Definition
The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice
Mood: Example
mood of most horror films is eerie.
Mood: Effect
evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions
Motif: Definition
a recurring idea in a piece of literature.
Motif: Example
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the idea that “you never really
understand another person until you consider things from his or her point of view” is a motif,
Motif: Effect
to suggest a mood, theme, or even a moral.
Oxymoron: Definition
When apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox
Oxymoron: Example
“wise fool,”
Oxymoron: Effect
produces a dramatic effect in both prose and poetry
Pacing: Definition
The speed or tempo of an author’s writing.
Pacing: Example
author’s pacing can be fast, sluggish, stabbing, vibrato, staccato, measured
Pacing: Effect
controls the pace of the story.
Paradox: Definition
A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true
Paradox: Example
“You can’t get a job without
experience, and you can’t get experience without getting a job.”
Paradox: Effect
makes statements that often summarize the major themes of the work they are used in
Parallelism: Definition
Sentence construction which
places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns.
Parallelism: Example
“Cinderella swept the
floor, dusted the mantle, and beat the rugs.”
Parallelism: Effect
used to add emphasis, organization, or sometimes pacing to writing.
Anaphora: Definition
Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences or clauses in a row.
Anaphora: Example
“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Anaphora: Effect
helps make the writer’s point more
coherent.
Chiasmus: Definition
When the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of the words is reversed.
Chiasmus: Example
“Fair is foul and foul is fair.”
Chiasmus: Effect
used for emotional aesthetic
Antithesis: Definition
Two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure.
Antithesis: Example
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
Antithesis: Effect
proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect
Zuegma (Syllepsis): Definition
When a single word governs or modifies two or more other words, and the
meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it governs or modifies.
