Literary Devices Flashcards
Provides the main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then adds on lots of details after the main idea
cumulative sentence
A universal symbol; may be a character, a theme, a symbol, or even a setting
archetype
Beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound
alliteration
A question that is used for effect and does not expect a reply because the speaker already knows the answer and assumes the audience does too
rhetorical question
Situations in which the audience knows more about the situations, the causes of conflict, and their resolutions before the leading characters or actors
dramatic irony
A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration
hyperbole
The repetition of phrases or words at the beginning of clauses, sentences, or paragraphs
anaphora
Presents many details at the beginning of the sentence and ends with the main idea
periodic sentence
Conveys meaning through symbols, actions, characters, and setting
allegory
Contrasting opposite or differing words or ideas in a parallel construction in the same sentence or several times in a row
antithesis
A reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, thing
allusion
An advance hint of what is to come later in the story
foreshadowing
The deliberate omission of conjunctions between words and phrases within a sentence or between sentences or clauses
asyndeton
A poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are places next to one another
juxtaposition
Two opposite ideas joined to create an effect
oxymoron
