Literary Devices

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

when a number of words that have the same first consonant sound occur close together

Question 2

Allusion

Answer 2

a figure of speech that refers to well known stories, events, people, or objects in order to make a comparison in the reader’s mind

Question 3

Assonance

Answer 3

the occurrence of a series of repeating, stressed vowel sounds that are close enough to one another to resemble an echo

Question 4

Consonance

Answer 4

repetitive sounds produced by contestants within a sentence or a phrase generally in quick succession, “pitter patter”

Question 5

Connotation

Answer 5

the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning

Question 6

Denotation

Answer 6

a word’s literal meaning or main definition, absent of emotion

Question 7

Diction

Answer 7

the style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker of writer

Question 8

Metaphor

Answer 8

a direct comparison, does not use like or as

Question 9

Meter

Answer 9

the rhythm or syllabic pattern in a line or verse

Question 10

Mood

Answer 10

evokes certain feelings in readers through words and description, the overall atmosphere of a literary piece

Question 11

Onomatopoeia

Answer 11

the sound of the work echoes the meaning

Question 12

Pacing

Answer 12

speeds up of slows down a sentence

Question 13

Paradox

Answer 13

a self-contradictory statement, may hold a concealed meaning

Question 14

Personification

Answer 14

an idea, an object, or an animal is given human attributes

Question 15

Free Verse

Answer 15

poetry that is free from limitations of regular meter or rhyme with fixed form

Question 16

Foreshadow

Answer 16

a literary device where an author uses an advance hint of what is to come in a future event

Question 17

Flashback

Answer 17

an interruption in chronological order

Question 18

Hyperbole

Answer 18

an over exaggeration of ideas to show how someone feels about something

Question 19

Imagery

Answer 19

using figurative language to show actions, objects, and ideas that appeal to our physical senses

Question 20

Inference

Answer 20

a rational deduction based on premises assumed to be true

Question 21

Internal Rhyme

Answer 21

when a middle word and the end word of a line rhyme with each other

Question 22

Point of View

Answer 22

the mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers hear and see what takes place in a piece of literature

Question 23

Simile

Answer 23

a comparison using like or as

Question 24

Speaker

Answer 24

the narrative voice that speaks of a writer’s feelings or situation, not necessarily the author

Question 25

Symbolism

Answer 25

the act of using a word or an object to represent a complex idea or emotion

Question 26

Syntax

Answer 26

sentence structure; the order in which words are spoken

Question 27

Theme

Answer 27

the central idea, topic, or point of a piece of literature

Question 28

Tone

Answer 28

speaker's attitude toward the subject