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Grd. 12 English > Literary Devices > Flashcards

Literary Devices Flashcards

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1
Q

Hook

A

what grabs the reader’s attention

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2
Q

Theme

A

statement of meaning (complete sentence; not one word)

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3
Q

Thesis

A

statement of what the author attempts to prove

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4
Q

Verbal Irony

A

gap between what is said and what is meant

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5
Q

Pathos

A

sympathy created by writing devices

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6
Q

Metaphor

A

implied comparison

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7
Q

Symbol

A

making something stand for something else

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8
Q

First person narrative

A

telling a story from “I” or “we” point of view

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9
Q

Simile

A

comparison using “like” or “as”

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9
Q

Personification

A

giving human traits to something which is not human

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10
Q

Resolution

A

tie-up at the end of the story

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10
Q

Complication

A

even which sends the plot in a new direction

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11
Q

Third person narrative

A

telling a story from “he”, “she”, “it”, or “they”

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12
Q

Characterization

A

methods by which character traits of fictional people are suggested (flat, dynamic, etc.)

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13
Q

Foreshadowing

A

hint of future occurrences

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13
Q

Rising action

A

series of events leading towards a climax

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14
Q

Persona

A

put-on or assumed personality

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14
Q

Anachronism

A

placing a person, thing or event out of its correct time or period

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15
Q

Setting

A

time and place of the action

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16
Q

Anti-hero

A

main character who nevertheless displays no traditional noble virtues

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17
Q

Sarcasm

A

saying the opposite of what you mean, intending to wound the target

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18
Q

Leitmotif

A

a recurring word, image, or theme that unifies a literary work

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19
Q

Wit

A

surprise in language or idea

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20
Q

Aside

A

remark made by a stage character which others on stage do not hear

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21
Q

Soliloquy

A

speech made by character alone on the stage

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22
Q

Comic relief

A

amusing material inserted in serious plays

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23
Q

Catharsis

A

purging of emotions like pity and fear

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24
Q

Monologue

A

speech by one person

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25
Q

Drama

A

a literary form designed for the theatre

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26
Q

Dramatic irony

A

situation in which the audience knows more than at least one character

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27
Q

Tragic hero

A

person in a drama with good and bad traits who falls from a high position

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27
Q

Rhyming couplet

A

a pair of rhymed lines, usually showing end of act or scene

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28
Q

Hamartia

A

error of judgment or tragic flaw which leads to downfall of a tragic hero

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29
Q

Hubris

A

pride which leads to fall

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30
Q

Protagonist

A

main character in play, novel, or other work

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31
Q

Exposition

A

type of writing in which the writer explains, informs or persuades

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32
Q

Plot

A

sequence of plot events

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33
Q

Rhetorical question

A

question to which the answer is obvious and implied

34
Q

Paragraph hook

A

device in topic sentence of paragraph connecting new topic to what has gone on before

35
Q

Tone

A

the speaker’s or writer’s attitude to audience, character or material

36
Q

Genre

A

a literary form such as a play, novel, poem, etc

37
Q

Pun

A

a play on words

38
Q

Anecdote

A

a brief, illustrative, usually humorous narrative

39
Q

Atmosphere

A

a feeling the writing creates by words, symbols, setting

39
Q

Contrast

A

juxtaposition of two elements to emphasize their differences

40
Q

Allegory

A

a story in which characters and events have a continuing underlying message

40
Q

Satire

A

critical writing which holds society up to ridicule in order to improve it

41
Q

Citing authority

A

referring to important people to support ideas

42
Q

Denotation

A

the primary dictionary definition of a word

43
Q

Connotation

A

the felt meaning of a word, what it suggests

44
Q

Allusion

A

a brief reference to something

45
Q

Diction

A

choice of words for a particular purpose

46
Q

Alliteration

A

repetition of initial consonants in a sequence of words

47
Q

Imagery

A

sensual mind-pictures created by author’s words, something forming clusters when similes/metaphors are repeated

48
Q

Rhythm

A

recognizable pattern in the beats or stresses in poetry

49
Q

Poetic license

A

poet’s freedom to depart from strict rules of grammar, style, fact

50
Q

Oxymoron

A

two words side by side but opposite in meaning

51
Q

Paradox

A

apparently contradictory, but true upon closer inspection

52
Q

Onomatopoeia

A

meaning of a word is suggested by its sound

53
Q

Pathetic fallacy

A

natural phenomena seem to respond emotionally to human situations

54
Q

Juxtaposition

A

placing side by side

55
Q

Rhyme

A

regular occurrence of similar sounds, usually at the ends of lines

56
Q

Euphony

A

use of sweet sounds to create a pleasant effect

57
Q

Cacophony

A

use of harsh sounds to create an unpleasant effect

58
Q

Iambic pentameter

A

pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables repeated 5 times in a line of poetry

59
Q

Lyric

A

usually short, non-narrative poem showing single speaker, in presence of another, delivers a speech which becomes a poem

60
Q

Ballad

A

song-like narrative

61
Q

Sonnet

A

14 line poem with a problem and a solution

62
Q

Stanza

A

grouping of lines into a verse paragraph

63
Q

Anti-climax

A

let-down of expectations at the end of a build-up

64
Q

Parable

A

story containing deep, moral truth

65
Q

Allusion

A

(historical, literary, Biblical) a figure of speech that refers to an historical, Biblical, literary or topical figure, event or object
- it is direct
- it taps the knowledge and memory of the reader to get an
emotional effect for an association already in the reader’s mind

66
Q

Analogy

A

an extended metaphor (comparison of two things)

67
Q

Antithesis:

A

a figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences or ideas; balances one term against the other for emphasis

68
Q

Citing authority

A

attempting to prove something by the endorsement of a ‘higher power’ (religious, government, law enforcement, an expert)

69
Q

Colloquialism

A

an expression used in informal conversation but not accepted universally in formal speech or writing (between formal and slang)

70
Q

Connotative language

A

language with emotional implications, either private, group or general in nature

71
Q

Direct address

A

directing comments to the reader

72
Q

Euphemism

A

a figure of speech in which indirectness replaces directness of statement; usually in an effort to avoid offensive bluntness in a subject involving delicacy or taboo

73
Q

Exaggeration

A

to make something seem greater than it actually is; to overstate

74
Q

Figurative language

A

similie, metaphor, personification

75
Q

Humour

A

the quality of anything that is funny or appeals to the comic sense

76
Q

Inversions

A

the placing of a sentence element out of its normal position to gain emphasis or give poetic effect

77
Q

Irony

A

the recognition of a reality different than appearance

78
Q

Loose sentence

A

a sentence grammatically complete at some point before the end

79
Q

Parallelism

A

the arrangement of parts of a sentence, sentences, paragraphs and larger units of composition such that one element of equal importance with another is similarly developed and phrased. Coordinate ideas have coordinate presentation.

80
Q

Periodic sentence

A

a sentence not grammatically complete before its end; its construction throws the mind forward to the idea that will complete its meaning; holds idea in suspense before final revelation

81
Q

Repetition

A

the repeating of a key word or phrase to give emphasis and rhythm

82
Q

Sarcasm

A

a form of verbal irony which, disguised as praise, is a bitter expression of strong personal disapproval

83
Q

Rhetorical question

A

a question used for its rhetorical effect and not requiring a reply.
- used in persuasion
- the question is obvious and only one answer is possible
- deeper impression is that speaker is making a direct statement

84
Q

Sentence structure

A

using loose and periodic sentences; using abnormal word order; a variation of the subject-verb-object sentence pattern

85
Q

Sentence variety

A

length - using short and long sentences; kind - using simple, compound, complex, compound-complex sentences to gain variety in prose

86
Q

Statistics

A

quantitative data, pertaining to a subject or group, especially when systematically gathered and collated

87
Q

Typography

A

the style and appearance of printed matter

Grd. 12 English (1 decks)

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