Literary Devices E-G

Question 1

Define EKPHRASIS

Answer 1

• it’s writing about the visual arts
• ex: JK’s ‘OtaGU’

Question 2

Define ELEGY

Answer 2

• ‘tis a poem about a dead person or thing

Question 3

Define ELISION

Answer 3

• that’s when you REMOVE letters, syllables, or sounds from a word in order to make it shorter, and stick am apostrophe in its place
  -EX: shortening until to ‘til
• writers shorten words perhaps to imitate speech or to create rhythm
• DIFFERENCE between contractions and elisions?
  contractions are when you join 2 words to form a shorter word: ex: do not- don’t

Question 4

Define END-STOP

Answer 4

• occurs when a line of poetry ENDS with a definite punctuation mark, such as a colon or a full stop
• when lines are end-stopped, EACH line is its own phrase or unit of syntax
• SO when you read an end-stopped line, you naturally pause
• in that sense, it’s the OPPOSITE of enjambment- which encourages you to move right along to the next line without pausing

Question 5

Define END-RHYME

Answer 5

• end rhyme refers to rhyme that occurs at the ends of lines

Question 6

Define ENJAMBMENT

Answer 6

• french for “straddling”
• occurs when a phrase carries over a line-break without a major pause

Question 7

Define EPIGRAPH

Answer 7

• is a short phrase or quotation that PRECEDES a literary work
• can be a way for the author to establish the tone and themes of the text that follows
  EX: ASND- Hart Crane ‘A Broken Tower’

Question 8

Define EPIGRAM

Answer 8

• a short, witty, memorable and highly quotable statement
  EX: Catherine the Great: “If you can’t be a good example, you’ll just have to be a horrible warning”

Question 9

Define EPITHET

Answer 9

• it’s an adjective or adjective phrase that’s used to characterise someone or something
• When WS refers to R&J as “star crossed lovers”, that’s an epithet because their intense romance is one of their most defining qualities
• Sometimes an epithet is so commonly used that it unofficially becomes part of a person’s name: EX: CtG- the epithet “Great”

Question 10

Define ETHOS

Answer 10

• it’s all about judging character
• In Aristotle’s ‘Rhetoric’, it’s one of the 3 types of appeals you can make to your audience (along with pathos and logos)
• ethos: is your trustworthy factor
  EX: you make a speech about the health benefits of desert
  Ethos: to convince your audience appeal to their moral character, which is what ethos is really about. Tell them eating ice-cream makes them good people

Question 11

Define EUPHONY

Answer 11

means harmony in sound, i.e. the opposite of CACOPHONY

Question 12

Define EXPOSITION

Answer 12

• when an author is upfront about background info instead of revealing it gradually throughout the narrative
• this is when we’re told info, not shown it

Question 13

Define EYE RHYME

Answer 13

• when two words look alike but don’t sound alike
• ex: “laughter” and “slaughter”; “blood” and “mood”

Question 14

Define FALLING ACTION

Answer 14

when a plot starts packing things up
- occurs after the plot’s climax and ENDS in the plot’s resolution
- it’s when you get the good stuff: i.e. after a fight etc

Question 15

Define FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Answer 15

• uses figures of speech like similes and metaphors to build meaning beyond the literal
• words that have more than 1 level of meaning

Question 16

Define FOIL

Answer 16

• a foil is a character whose main purpose is to offer a CONTRAST to another character, usually the protagonist
• they set off and accentuate the main character and are convenient ways to complicate and deepen the characterisation of the protagonist
• everything the foil is, the protagonist is not

Question 17

Define FOOT

Answer 17

• refers to the most basic unit of a poem’s meter
• a foot is a combo of stressed and unstressed syllables
• there are all kinds of feet in poetry
• a combo of feet makes up a line of meter
• EX: IP made up of 5 iambs, all in a row

Question 18

5 types of FEET

Answer 18

• IAMB: da-DUM
• TROCHEE: DUM-da
• SPONDEE: DUM-DUM
• ANAPEST: da-da-DUM
• DACTYL: DUM-da-da

Question 19

Define FREE INDIRECT DISCOURSE

Answer 19

• describes a special type of 3rd person narration that slips in and out of characters’ consciousness
  i.e. characters’ words, thoughts, and feelings are filtered through the 3rd person narrator in free indirect discourse
• The narrator reports to us the thoughts and dialogue of the character; it’s almost as if he IS the character, except he’s still that 3rd person

Question 20

Define FREE VERSE

Answer 20

• is a poetic style that LACKS a regular meter or rhyme scheme
• it may sound like free verse has NO style at all, but it does
• free verse poets just use different tools (like internal rhyme) to create that style