Literary/ Rhetorical Terms Flashcards
Allusion
A literary, historical, religious, or mythological reference.
Comparing the trials of a person’s life to those of Job is an allusion
Allegory
A narrative in which the characters, behavior, and even the setting demonstrates multiple levels of significance.
Animal farm is an allegory
Anaphora
The regular repetition of the same words or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses
“To raise a child, it takes a family, it takes a teacher, it takes clergy, it takes us all”
Anecdote
A short story
Antithesis
The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, grammatical structures, or ideas
“To err is human, to forgive divine”
Aphorism
A short or terse statement embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”
Apostrophe
Talking to something inanimate as though it were a person
“o world, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Asyndeton
A syntactical structure in which conjunctions are omitted in a series
“I came, I saw, I conquered”
Chiasmus
A syntactical structure where the order of the terms in the first half is reversed in the second
“He thinks I am but a fool. A fool, perhaps, I am”
Conceit
An extended metaphor that is drawn out over the whole piece of literature
Connotation/ denotation
The set of attributes constituting the meaning of a term; an associated or secondary meaning or a word or expression in addition to its explicit meaning
Denotation is the opposite: the explicit or direct meaning of a word
Didactic
Writing that is meant to be instructive
Epistrophe
Like anaphora, only the depiction occurs at he end of the sentences
“If women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish”
Euphemism
An indirect, kinder, or less harsh or hurtful way of expressing unpleasant information
“Your job has been made redundant”
(You’re fired)
Genre
A category of art having a particular form, content, or technique
“The genre of epic poetry”
