literary devices/terms

Question 1

direct characterization

Answer 1

told directly what the character is like

Question 2

indirect characterization

Answer 2

readers use their own judgement to decide what a character is like, based on what evidence the writer gives them

Question 3

how can writers reveal characters?

Answer 3

A - action
D - dialogue
A - appearence
T - thoughts
E - effect

Question 4

dominant impression

Answer 4

a readers overall picture of a character

Question 5

diction

Answer 5

writer or speakers choice of words (effect of word)

Question 6

types of diction

Answer 6

connotations and denotations

Question 7

connotation

Answer 7

all associations behind a word, besides their literal defenition

Question 8

denotation

Answer 8

the specific meaning of a word (dictionary)

Question 9

imagery

Answer 9

descriptive language that appeals to any of the 5 senses

Question 10

tone

Answer 10

narrators/speakers attitude towards a subject

Question 11

mood

Answer 11

story’s atmosphere or feeling it evokes in the reader

Question 12

allusion

Answer 12

figure of speech that refers to a story, event, person, or object in order to make a comparison

Question 13

metaphor

Answer 13

figure of speech that compares two unlike things WITHOUT THE USE OF THE WORD LIKE, AS, THAN, OR RESEMBLES

Question 14

simile

Answer 14

figure of speech that compares two unlike things USING THE WORDS LIKE, AS, THAN, OR RESEMBLES

Question 15

oxymoron

Answer 15

two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect (cruel kindness, living death)

Question 16

personification

Answer 16

nonhuman thing or quality is given human qualities

Question 17

pun

Answer 17

a joke with words that sound alike but have different meanings

Question 18

what is juxtaposing

Answer 18

highlighting the contrast between two different sentances with similar words to compare then

Question 19

what specifically is juxtaposition used for

Answer 19

describe a character in detail, create suspense, or making a rhetorical effect (“Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate”)

Question 20

irony

Answer 20

situation or language involving incongruity

Question 21

different types of irony

Answer 21

verbal, dramatic, situational

Question 22

verbal irony

Answer 22

speaker intentionally says the opposite of what they mean

Question 23

dramatic irony

Answer 23

author implies a different meaning from what the character means (audience knows, speaker doesn’t)

Question 24

situational irony

Answer 24

circumstances of an event is opposite from what is expected

Question 25

theme

Answer 25

a message based on ones interpretation of the text (always more than one)

Question 26

what is juxtaposing two directly or indirectly related entities close together used for

Answer 26

highlighting the contrast between the two and compare then

Question 27

eponym

Answer 27

refers to a person or thing after which something else is named

Question 28

eponymous

Answer 28

a character in a play or book that has the same name as in the title

Question 29

motif

Answer 29

an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work

Question 30

symbolism

Answer 30

concrete objects that represent abstract ideas

Question 31

foil

Answer 31

a contrasting character who highlights and emphesizes details about the other

Question 32

diction

Answer 32

writer or speakers choice of words (what effect is the word creating)

Question 33

imagery

Answer 33

descriptive language that appeals to any of the 5 senses

Question 34

suspense

Answer 34

sense of anticipation or worry that the author makes the reader feel

Question 35

plot

Answer 35

main events presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence

Question 36

conflict

Answer 36

struggle between two opposing forces

Question 37

foreshadowing

Answer 37

use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in the plot

Question 38

flashback

Answer 38

transition in a story to an earlier time that interrupts the chronological order of events

Question 39

point of view

Answer 39

perspective a story is told

Question 40

first person

Answer 40

no narrator (character)

Question 41

third person

Answer 41

narrator not in the story (all-knowing)

Question 42

third person limited point of view

Answer 42

story told from the perspective of one character (inside thinking)

Question 43

shift

Answer 43

when narrater changes position/opinion

Question 44

perspective

Answer 44

attitude toward or a way of regarding something

Question 45

theme

Answer 45

ideas the text explores (life lesson) there can be more than one

Question 46

antithesis

Answer 46

two opposite ideas put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect

Question 47

epithet

Answer 47

descriptive phrase used to characterize something (ex: utterson the lawyer)