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English L1 > Literary & Poetic Terminology > Flashcards

Literary & Poetic Terminology Flashcards

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1
Q

allegory

A

a story/play/picture…representing an idea/quality or historic event using symbols in order to make a point

e.g. animal farm symbolising russian history

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2
Q

alliteration

A

when 2 or more consecutive words have the same starting letter

  • To make something sound nice
  • To help create atmosphere
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3
Q

allusion

A

something said/written that refers to/compares with a person/subject in an indirect way

  • Hints at things
  • Deepens the reader’s understanding of what the writer is talking about

(verb: to allude)

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4
Q

apostrophe

not the punctuation

A

to address someone who is absent, whether they have passed or are absent

  • Shows a state of mind – madness or sadness
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5
Q

aside

A

like a soliloquy – only the audience hears it

  • Attempting to make contact with the audience for them to get to know you
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6
Q

assonance

A

the effect created when 2 syllables in words have the same vowel sound but different consonants (or other way around)

e.g. sonnet + porridge or cold + killed

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7
Q

atmosphere

A

a feeling/mood created by the author by using setting, objects, internal thoughts of a character…

  • Creates a certain atmosphere for the reader
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8
Q

audience

A

a group of listeners/ spectators/ readers

  • Different people view/ understand things differently
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9
Q

ballad

A

a song or poem that tells a story – often has short stanzas

  • Often about romance and relationships
  • thoughtful mood due to length and slow pace of the song/poem
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10
Q

beat

A

like the rhythm but harsher & it breaks up a single line into multiple parts while rhythm breaks up more of a stanza

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11
Q

blank verse

A

poetry that has a regular rhythm of 5 or 10 syllables per line but doesn’t rhyme

  • The iambic pentameter (or other rhythmic pattern) brings about
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12
Q

cacophony

A

a combination of words/ phrases that sound harsh and unpleasant

  • To set an unpleasant tone
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13
Q

characterisation

A

creating and describing a characters physical and personal traits in detail

  • Creates more of a connection between reader and character since they know more personal information about them
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14
Q

cliché

A

the use of a popular expression that is overused and unoriginal

  • Loses individuality & meaning in some cases
  • The reader knows what the poet is talking about/referring to without lots of explanation -> makes something obvious quickly (brings immediacy)
  • Could also be used in a negative way to point fun at something unoriginal
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15
Q

catharsis

A

process of releasing strong feelings (through e.g.plays ) as a way of providing relief from anger, mental pain…

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16
Q

Colloquialism

A

use of words and expressions that a commonly and pften used in everyday life & not in formal writing

  • Brings familiarity and perhaps some informality to the poem
  • used to show the level of the conversation
  • wanna intead of want to/ wee or bonnie -> common for a certain area (Umgangssprache)
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17
Q

conflict

A

a literary device showing struggle between 2 opposing forces (right or wrong, different wants, needs…)

  • Adds suspense and drama
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18
Q

connotation

A

a suggestion made by the use of a particular word; something you think of/ associate with a word

  • Helpful in poetry where the poet doesn’t have multiple pages to talk about something
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19
Q

consonance

A

the repetition of consonant sounds in a line of text. The consonant sounds con appear at the beginning, middle or end of the word

  • Creates a certain sound that can be used to create a certain mood/tone in a poem (soft: n or l; or harsh: c or k…)
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20
Q

contrast

A

a rhetorical device through which writers identify differences between 2 things (places, people, things…)

  • Opposition between 2 things, used to emphasize their differences
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21
Q

couplet

A

a pair of lines in a stanza/verse where the ending words rhyme

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22
Q

denotation

A

the act of naming something with a word – the actual object or the idea to which the word refers

e.g. let the angels sing thee to thy sleep

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23
Q

dialogue

A

a conversation between 2 or more people

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24
Q

diction

A

the choice of language used by the speaker/writer

For e.g. hey, yo, howdy…

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25
Q

dissonance

A

the use of inharmonious, impolite and harsh sounding words, deliberately creating harsh sounding and disturbing effects

  • Break peace in a poem
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26
Q

dramatic irony

A

a device used in which the audience knows more about situations (causes of conflict & resolutions for e.g.) than the leading characters

  • Causes suspense (will the characters find out???) and helps engage the audience
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27
Q

elegy

A

a poem/song that expresses sad feelings, especially for someone who has died

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28
Q

epigram

A

a short witty saying; a short and interesting idea or thought about a subject expressed in a clever or humorous way

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29
Q

euphony

A

a literary term that refers to the combining of certain words and sounds to create pleasing and soothing sounds

  • Brings about peaceful and pleasant feelings to make the reading more enjoyable and pleasant
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30
Q

extended metaphor

A

a metaphor that extends throughout multiple lines/stanzas/paragraphs in a poem or other piece of literature; comparison between 2 unlike things continuing throughout a series of sentences or lines

(can even last the whole poem)

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31
Q

fable

A

a short story intended to provide a moral lesson at the end

  • Helpful in teaching children good moral lessons
  • Can be humorous by making fun of the ways of humans
32
Q

figurative language

A

the use of figures of speech

  • To be more effective, persuasive and impactful
33
Q

figures of speech

A

a word or phrase that is used in a non-literal way; the use of words in other ways than their literal meanings or typical ways of application

  • To create effect
  • To create imagery
34
Q

First person point of view

A
35
Q

flashback

A
36
Q

foreshadowing

A

hinting towards future events/things

  • Makes it a bit mysterious/exciting
  • Grabs your attention
37
Q

form

A
38
Q

free verse

A

poetry that is free from the limitations of a regular structure, rhythm…; often without a rhyme scheme or rhythm

  • The poet can give his own shape to a poem
  • Gives more possibility for artistic expression in a poem
39
Q

hyperbole

A

a way of speaking/ writing making something sound more than it really is – an overstatement or exaggeration

  • Used to emphasise the word
  • Used for comic effect
40
Q

imagery

A

description used to help paint a picture

  • Should appeal to some if not all of your senses – descriptions of taste, smell, feeling, sound, look… to help paint the full picture
  • Used to pull on your heartstrings and touch your emotions
41
Q

irony

A

literary device in which statement/situations contradict what the audience expects form a character or story

  • Keeps the audience engaged and interested and willing to find out what happened next
42
Q

jargon

A

the use of specific phrases and words in particular situations used to convey hidden meanings

43
Q

Limited omniscient point of view

A

when an author is limited to one person but remains in third person (rather than 1st)

  • Author can provide lots of detail to that one character making the audience learn more about/ connect with the character
44
Q

Lyric

A

a collection of verses and choruses making up a complete song; uses a single speaker who expresses personal emotions and thoughts

  • Lyrical poems are also pleasing to the ear and can be used as a song
45
Q

Metaphor

A

the comparison of 2 unlike things, saying something IS something

e.g. the snow is a white blanket

46
Q

metonym

A

a figure of speech in which one object or idea takes the place of another with which it has a close association

  • A way of replacing an object or idea with something related to it instead of stating what is actually meant
47
Q

mood

A

the emotional response the writer wants to evoke in the reader through a story/poem – can feature more than one mood

  • Allows the writer to create a memorable and meaningful story with which the reader can connect
48
Q

narrative

A

(a story) the account of events, experiences… for the purpose of entertaining/ educating/ communicating with readers/listeners

49
Q

ode

A

a form of poetry like a sonnet or elegy; a short lyric poem that often praises people or things

50
Q

onomatopoeia

A

the use of words that sound like what it refers to or describes

E.g. bang, splash, drip…

51
Q

oxymoron

A

a phrase combining 2 words that seem to be opposites

e.g. a deafening silence

52
Q

paradox

A

a statement that appears at first to be contradictory, but upon reflection then makes sense

  • Allows readers to understand concepts in a different and untraditional way
53
Q

parody

A

an imitation of the style and manner of a particular writer or thing that is deliberately exaggerated to create a comedic effect

  • Makes the read more enjoyable for the reader
54
Q

pastoral

A

a literary work dealing with rural life/ life in the countryside, often by comparing it to city life

  • emphasizes the gentle, leisurely and often pleasurable aspects of that life, in contrast to the corruption and misery of city life
55
Q

personification

A

giving human features/ emotion/ feelings to inhuman things

  • To make it more relatable
56
Q

point of view

A

indicates the angle or perspective from which a story is being told

  • Governs the reader’s access to the story by limiting it to one person (the person telling the story)
  • Reader only gets one perspective of the story (could be seen as negative)
57
Q

pun

A

the clever or humourous use of a word that has more than 1 meaning, or of words that have different meaning but sound the same

E.g. we’re banking on them lending us money

58
Q

repetition

A

using a phrase/word often

  • Puts emphasis on the repeated word and its meaning
59
Q

rhetorical devices

A

a technique or type of language that is used for the purpose of evoking a particular reaction from the audience making them think in a certain way

  • Repetition, figurative language and rhetorical questions are examples of rhetorical devices
60
Q

rhyme

A

a literary device in which identical or similar concluding syllables in different words are repeated, often occurring at the ends of lines in poems

  • Mainly referring to sound rather than spelling
61
Q

rhyme scheme

A

a pattern of rhyme that comes at the end of each verse or line in poetry

  • Used to create balance and relieve tension, manage flow, create rhythm and highlight important ideas in a poem
62
Q

rhythm

A

a literary device that demonstrates long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables helping/creating the flow of a poem;

  • (rhythm is more harmonious than beat and is more considering the beat/rhythm/flow of each line put together instead of the breaking up of a single line)
63
Q

satire

A

a literary device generally making fun of/exposing human actions

  • Utilizes tones of amusement, scorn or annoyance towards a flawed subject hoping to create awareness and change
64
Q

scansion

A

marks the pattern of a poem and divides the poetic form into feet and highlighting accented and unaccented syllables

65
Q

setting

A

a literary device in which the writer establishes the time, location and environment in which a narrative takes place

  • Helps the reader create more of a picture of the story and its events
66
Q

simile

A

a figure of speech in which 2 different things are compared with one another through the use of “like” or “as”

  • Helps emphasize things/ create imagery
67
Q

soliloquy

A

a speech in play in which a character, who is alone on stage, speaks their thoughts

  • Helps audience connect to the character
68
Q

sonnet

A

a poem by Shakespeare, consisting of 14 lines and written in iambic pentameter

69
Q

stanza

A

a paragraph in a poem

70
Q

stereotype

A

the construction of the image of a person, group, object… through generalizations

  • (a fixed idea or image that many people have of a particular type of person or thing, but which is often not true in reality and may cause hurt and offence)
71
Q

style

A

the way in which the writer writes

  • The style of a writer influences the mood and picture created by his work
72
Q

synecdoche

A

a figure of speech in which part of something is used to signify the whole (or vice-versa)

  • (a word or phrase in which a part of something is used to represent a whole, or a whole is used to represent a part of something. For example, in ‘Australia lost by two goals’, Australia is used to represent the Australian team.)
73
Q

symbol

A

an object, person, situation or action that has a literal meaning and is used to represent/suggest other meanings

  • Helps with imagery and understanding
74
Q

theme

A

refers to the central, deeper meaning/ main idea of a piece of literature

75
Q

thesis

A

a statement in a non-fiction or fiction work that a writer intend to support or prove

  • (often known as a long piece of writing completed by a student as part of a degree)
76
Q

third person point of view

A

a perspective in which the narrator exists outside the events of the story and relates to the actions of the characters in third person (he, she, they)

  • Allows the reader to have more than one view of the story
77
Q

tone

A

reflects the writer’s attitude towards the subject or audience of a literary work, sometimes reflecting the writer’s personal attitude or opinion

  • The writer creates a particular relationship with the reader, influencing the meaning and intention of the written words
  • Used to convey the attitudes and feelings of a certain character or narrator

English L1 (1 decks)

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