Literary Devices and Techniques Flashcards
What is alliteration?
Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words next to each other
Eg we felt dreary and dismal in the darkness of the night
What is assonance?
Repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other
Eg he’s a bruisin’ loser
What is caesura?
A pause that breaks up a line of poetry usually marked by punctuation marks
What is enjambment?
When the meaning of a line of poetry runs on to the next line or stanza. It is the continuation of the logical sense beyond the end of a line of poetry.
What is a metaphor?
A direct comparison of two unlike things stating one IS the other or DOES the action of the other
Eg life is a grey cloud
Eg her fingers danced across the key board
What is an onomatopoeia?
When words sound like their meanings
Eg hiss , crackle, pop, gurgle, tick, boom, snap, buzz, zip, etc.
What is oxymoron?
Two words or statements placed together that appear to contradict each other
Eg random order, act naturally, original copy, old news, deafening silence
What is personification?
Giving human qualities or characteristics to inanimate objects or ideas
Eg the days crept by sorrowfully
Eg the tree’s branches danced in the wind
What is pathetic fallacy?
When the weather or landscape reflects the mood or atmosphere
Eg tonight the rain is crying on my windowpane, and the cruel wind is howling through the trees
What is a simile?
A direct comparison of two unlike things using the words ‘as’, ‘like’ or ‘than’
Eg her eyes are like carrots
What is a metaphor
Compares 2 things by saying something IS something else
What is the rule of three or Triadic structure
Listing three points makes the message stronger
Short, strong and repeated
Like a hammer
What is the effect of short sentences after each other
Short sentences mean quick reading and breathing
Adds tension
Keeps the readers attention
What is the effect of very long sentences and little punctuation
Give impression of uncertainty and a slower speed
What is the effect of colour and other adjectives
Give texture like in music, like a bass line and adding more instruments
What is the effect of a rhetorical question
Makes the reader think the answer is obvious so doesn’t need an answer and proves the point the writer is making
What is the effect of facts, statistics and quotes and examples
This is all information to make the writer’s argument stronger
What is the effect of direct address
If the writer is talking straight to the audience it feels like it is very personal and so keeps the reader’s attention
What is the effect of inclusive pronouns eg we and us
Make the reader feel like he agrees with the writer
What is the effect of powerful verbs and advanced adjectives
These make an impression on the reader
What is the effect of repetition
Repeating something tries to give more emphasis to the point
Like a hammer on a nail - keep going and the nail goes in
