Literary Techniques Flashcards
What is Alliteration?
A phrase where consonants, especially at the beginning of sentences, are repeatedly for effect
What is Assonance?
The repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighbouring words.
What is Bathos?
The effect of anti-climax.
What is Caesura?
A strong pause, usually in the middle of a line, marked by a semi-colon, comma or full stop
What is Connotations?
Not the literal definition of a word, but how it makes you feel. The emotional or social feelings associated with a word.
What is an Ellipsis?
Omission (missing out) of words from a sentence to achieve brevity (shorter time) and compression.
What is a Enjambment?
In poetry, where the phrase/sentence flows on, from one line to another.
What is a Hyperbole?
Exaggeration for effect and emphasis
What is a Juxtaposition?
Two or more ideas, places, characters or their actions placed side by side for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts.
What is a Litotes
An ironic understatement; uses negative terms to make a positive statement. A double negative.
What is a Metaphor
An image where something is described, substituting it directly with another object/image.
What is a Monosyllabic
Where a phrase / line / sentence contains only 1-syllable (beats / stresses) words.
What is a Onomatopoeia
The word actually imitates the actual sound.
What is a Oxymoron
Opposite ideas, placed together.
What is a Paradox
A person or thing which contains contradictory qualities or features. A seemingly absurd statement which may prove to be true.
What is a Pathos
The appeal to the emotion of the reader – stirs up emotions of sympathy, sorrow, pity, compassion.
What is a Personification
Giving an inanimate object human attributes
What is Rule of 3
An idea that lists of 3 are funnier, more satisfying and more memorable; often used in public speaking.
What is Sibilance
Repetition of the “s” sound.
What is a Simile
An image where something is compared or likened to another object or image
What is Symbolism
An object representing something else or another idea, rather than just its literal meaning.
What is Synaesthesia
A crossover of the senses, eg a visual image representing a sound
What is Syntax
The word order. Inverted syntax is where the word order is jumbled up – Yoda speak! It puts the emphasis on different words.
What is Tone
The emotional voice of the text
What is Turn
A distinctive moment of change in mood, thought or feeling
