Literary Features

Question 1

Tone

Answer 1

Attitude of the narrator/speaker

Question 2

Diction

Answer 2

Word choice

Question 3

Modality

Answer 3

Level of certainty of langauge

Question 4

Imperative Language

Answer 4

An authoritative command

Question 5

Voice

Answer 5

Perspective of the narrator/speaker (1st, 2nd, 3rd person)

Question 6

Allusion

Answer 6

A reference to something outside the text (history, culture, literature etc)

Question 7

Metaphor

Answer 7

Direct comparison of an object to something else

Question 8

Simile

Answer 8

Indirect comparison of an object to something else (using ‘like’ or ‘as’)

Question 9

Personification

Answer 9

Human-like description of a non-human object

Question 10

Pathetic Fallacy

Answer 10

The attribution if human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature (e.g. the sun was smiling down upon him)

Question 11

Visual Imagery

Answer 11

Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of sight

Question 12

Auditory Imagery

Answer 12

Details that appeal to the sense of sound

Question 13

Olfactory Imagery

Answer 13

Descriptive language that appeals to the sense of smell

Question 14

Kinaesthetic Imagery

Answer 14

Language that creates a sense of motion

Question 15

Symbol

Answer 15

Something that stands for an abstract idea

Question 16

Alliteration

Answer 16

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Question 17

Assonance

Answer 17

Repetition of vowel sounds (e.g. “his tender heir might bear his memory.”- Shakespeare’s Sonnet 1)

Question 18

Consonance

Answer 18

Repetition of consonant sounds (e.g. he stood on the road and cried)

Question 19

Sibilance

Answer 19

Hissing sounds represented by s, z and sh (e.g. sadly, Sam sold seven venomous serpents to Sally and Cyrus in San Francisco)

Question 20

Rhyme

Answer 20

Repetition of sounds at the end of words

Question 21

Cacophony

Answer 21

Harsh sounds (opposite of rhyme and melody)

Question 22

Onomatopoeia

Answer 22

A word that imitates the sound it represents

Question 23

Repetition

Answer 23

Anything repeated

Question 24

Anaphora

Answer 24

The repetition of words at the beginning of successive clauses

Question 25

Listing

Answer 25

This, this, that and this

Question 26

Enjambment

Answer 26

A run-on line of poetry which logical and grammatical sense carries over from one line into the next

Question 27

Endstop

Answer 27

The poetic line end with a punctuation mark

Question 28

Caesura

Answer 28

A pause or sudden break in a line of poetry

Question 29

Stanza Length

Answer 29

How long a stanza is

Question 30

Line Break

Answer 30

Where a line of poetry ends

Question 31

Verbal Irony

Answer 31

Saying one thing but meaning another

Question 32

Dramatic Irony

Answer 32

Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in text

Question 33

Juxtaposition

Answer 33

Placement of two things closely together to emphasise comparisons or contrasts

Question 34

Hyperbole

Answer 34

An exaggeration

Question 35

Paradox

Answer 35

A statement that seems contradictory but actually contains a hidden truth

Question 36

Oxymoron

Answer 36

A combination of contradictory terms (e.g. bittersweet)

Question 37

Antithesis

Answer 37

A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words, phrases or clauses (e.g. “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”- Charles Dickens)

Question 38

Syntax

Answer 38

Arrangement of words in phrases and sentences

Question 39

Asyndeton

Answer 39

Leaving out conjunctions between words, phrases and clauses

Question 40

Polysyndeton

Answer 40

Deliberate use of many conjunctions

Question 41

Rhetorical Question

Answer 41

A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected

Question 42

Internal Monologue

Answer 42

Private sensations, thoughts and emotions of a character

Question 43

Dramatic Monologue

Answer 43

When a character/speaker addresses a silent listener (audience/reader)

Question 44

Foil Character

Answer 44

A character who is used as a contrast to another character; the contrast emphasises the differences between the two characters, bringing out the distinctive qualities in each

Question 45

Characterisation

Answer 45

Actions, dialogue and narrative description that reveal a sense if a character’s personality to the reader