Literary Terms Flashcards
Allegory
Story with a hidden meaning
-George Orwell’s Animal Farm
Alliteration
repetition of constant sounds
-Nick’s nephew needed new notebooks now not never.
Allusion
reference to a character or event
-“He was a real Romeo with the ladies.”
Antithesis
Using opposite phrases in close conjunction
- Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
- Man proposes, God disposes.
Apostrophe
author address an absent person or abstract idea
-Lorenz Hart, “Blue Moon”
Assonance
The repetition of similar vowel sounds
-Try to light the fire
Ballad
poem with a serious subject
- “Ballata 5” by Guido Cavalcanti
- “Ballad of the Gibbet” by Francois Villon
Blank Verse
verse don’t rhythm
-Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Conceit
fancy image of two dissimilar thing have a relationship
-Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?by William Shakespeare
-All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances
Connotation
The feelings or emotions surrounding a word.
-childlike and childish
Couplet
two lines of rhyming poetry
-“I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.” - Joyce Kilmer
Denotation
direct meaning of a word
-Cheap(low cost)
Diction
The choice and use of words
- Thy
- Thee
English sonnet
3 quatrain (2 couplet - 18 lines)
-Sonnet 18 - Shakespeare
Petrarchan sonnet
2 part (8 lines / 6 lines)
- Poem 292 - The SongBook
Epic
narrative about a significant event, often featuring a hero.
- “The Divine Comedy” - Dante
- Epic of Gilgamesh
Figurative language
Describe something by comparing it with something else.
- Alright, the sky misses the sun at night.
- The poorest man is the richest, and the rich are poor.
Hyperbole
exaggeration is used for emphasis
-“I’ve told you a million times”
Imagery
vivid descriptive language that appeals to the senses
-On a starry winter night in Portugal
Verbal irony
occurs when people say the opposite of what they mean.
- The cake is as soft as concrete”
- “Water is as clear as mud
Situational irony
the situation is different from what common sense indicates it is.
-A man who is a traffic cop gets his license suspended for unpaid parking tickets.
Dramatic irony
characters know less than the audience
-Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. When Romeo finds Juliet in a drugged sleep, he assumes her to be dead and kills himself. Upon awakening to find her dead lover beside her, Juliet then kills herself.
Metaphor
describe by implying that two different thing are related
- Time is a thief
- He is the apple of my eye
Metonymy
Substitution of word because of the word closely related
- Crown - in place of a royal person
- The White House - in place of the President or others who work there
Narrative poem
a poem that tell a story
- The Divine Comedy - Dante
- The epic of gilgamesh
Mood
the atmosphere of a piece of literature
- Amuse
- Jubilant
Ode
A lyric poem of a serious subject
“An Ode to Halloween”
Onomatopoeia
Word use to imitate sound
- Hiss
- Buzz
Oxymoron
a statement with two parts which seem contradictory
- Sad joy
- Wise fool
Paradox
Statements whose two parts seem contradictory yet make sense with more thought
- They have ear but hear not
- Deep down here’s really very shallow
Personification
given human attributes to inanimate objects.
- The wind whispered
- The teddy bear hug him
Pun
a play on words
- I met this girl in internet café, but we did not click
- I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.
Refrain
a regularly recurring phrase or verse.
- Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost
- annabel lee edgar allan poe
Satire
Ridicule human foolishness
-Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Stanza
a group of lines within a poem.
-Nothing Gold Can Stay - Robert Frost
Symbol
something that stands for or represents another thing.
- Dove is a symbol of peace.
- Rose rose stands for love.
Synecdoche.
a part represent a whole or whole represent a part
- The word “wheels” refers to a vehicle.
- US win gold medal - team from usa not the country
Theme
the main idea of a text
- Man struggles against nature
- Overcoming adversity
Tone
The writer’s attitude toward the material
- Atticus was feeble: he was nearly fifty.”
- “The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Understatement
make a situation less than it is
- “The desert is sometimes dry and sandy” -
- “It’s just a scratch”
Analogy
comparison between two different things
- You are as annoying as nails on a chalkboard.
- Life is like a box of chocolates.
Pathos
persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions.
- “Doctors all over the world recommend this type of treatment.”
- “Made in China”
Ethos
convince an audience of the author’s credibility.
- President Obama’s Acceptance Speech
- Michael Jordan’s Nike commercial
Logos
convince an audience by use of logic or reason
- Car accidents rise 10% during the first week of daylight savings time.
- 3/4 of people do not know fractions
Epiphany
a character has a sudden insight that change his or her understanding.
-Hamlet - Shakespeare
Malaprop
The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar sounding one.
- dance a flamingo
- Rainy weather can be hard on the sciences
Commedia dell’arte
Humorous theatrical presentation.
- Mezzetin
- A dance in the Country
Parody
a work for comic effect
- Will you veddy much bring me a coke please?”
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat”
Stream of consciousness
Flow of thought of character as they occur
- Les Lauriers sont Coupes”
- “The Sound and the Fury”
Flashback
a shift to an earlier point in time
-Birches - Robert Frost
Foreshadowing
Hinting that something will occur
-Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Euphemism
word use to soften meaning
-Passed away instead of died
enjambment
A run-on line of poetry
- Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale
