Literary Techniques Flashcards
Irony Definition:
Which the full significance of a character’s words or actions is clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.
What are the four main types of irony?
Verbal Irony, Situational Irony, Structural Irony and Dramatic Irony.
What is Verbal Irony?
A form of irony when a statement leads to a sense of irony. When a sentence expresses ideas or feelings that would conventionally mean something else or the opposite.
What is Situational Irony?
A form of irony that occurs when a situation leads to a sense of irony. When a statement or situation conveys something that is incongruous between what the setting is and what a character would be expected to say or do.
What is Structural Irony?
A form of irony that is conveyed by a text’s structure. This is a technique most commonly found onward from nineteenth-century literature and is signified by features like naive or unreliable narrators and ambiguous texts.
What is Dramatic Irony?
A form of structural irony particular to dramatic texts. Dramatic irony functions by having the audience become aware of some idea, event, or thing that the character(s) are not aware of. This is a means of developing tension in stage plays, operas, TV shows, contemporary video games, and films.
Example of Verbal Irony
A character says, “Thanks very much!” in response to a waiter spilling a drink on them.
Clearly, they are not happy about this.
Example of Situational Irony
A character at sea observes they are surrounded by water before lamenting there is nothing to drink.
Example of Structural Irony
A character navigates a text thinking and proclaiming that they are really smart and insightful, while their constant mistakes mark them as being very naive.
Example of Dramatic Irony
A character informs the audience that they will play the villain in a play, but the rest of the characters are shocked when the character is revealed to be evil.
Allegory Definition:
An allegory is an extended metaphor where objects, persons, and actions in a narrative are equated with meanings outside of the narrative. The meaning of an allegory can have moral, social, religious, or political significance, often relatable to the context of the author.
Allusion Definition:
The meaning of allusion varies, but you should treat it as a relatively indirect reference in one text to another text, place, historical period, or author.
Types of Allusion:
Historical, Mythological, Literary and Religious
What is Historical Allusion?
An allusion to a historical event or period.
What is Mythological Allusion?
An allusion to a mythological figure or story.
What is Literary Allusion?
An allusion to a literary text or figure.
What is Religious Allusion?
An allusion to a religious text, story, or figure.
Example of Historical Allusion
For example, “He was a Nero” suggests disturbing behaviour like that from the infamous Roman emperor.
Example of Mythological Allusion
For example, “She ran faster than Hermes.” – the messenger of the Greek gods.
Example of Literary Allusion
For example, “No matter how Dorian adjusted the electric blanket it was either too hot or too cold, never just right.” – Goldilocks
Example of Religious Allusion
For example, “reflecting on her cruel behaviour, Cinderella’s stepmother stood still like a pillar of salt.” – Lot’s wife
What is a Kernel Sentence?
A kernel sentence is a short, declarative sentence that contains a subject and a verb. It is the most basic kind of sentence, and is easy to understand.
An example sentence might be “The man went downstairs”.
The subject is “the man” and the verb is “went”, which tells us what the man did (went down the stairs).
