Literary Terms Flashcards
Alliteration
repetition of initial consonant sounds
Allusion
a reference to another book, person, event, etc.
Appeal
ethos, pathos, logos
Apostrophe
address to an absent or imaginary person
Assonance
repetition of a vowel sound
Asyndeton
absence of conjunctions in a sentence
Characterization
how a character is portrayed in a piece
Consonance
repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in the word
context
information provided to give the reader background
diction
the choice and use of words
dramatic irony
when the audience knows something the characters don’t
ellipsis
omission of a word or phrase bc its implied in the text
epistrophe
repetition of a word at the end of sentences
ethos/pathos/logos
credibility, emotion, evidence
euphemism
nice way to describe something unpleasant
exclamation
sentence to explain extreme shock or emotion
flashback
a scene set in a time earlier than the main story
foreshadowing
predicting something before it happens
hyperbole
an exaggerated statement
idiom
common phrase not meant to be taken literally
juxtaposition
2 contrasting or similar elements placed together in a sentence
metaphor
comparison without using like or as
onomatopoeia
words that imitate sounds
oxymoron
phrase consisting of 2 contradictory terms
paradox
statement that seems contradictory but its actually true
personification
characterizing an object
polysyndeton
repetition of conjunctions
preposition
word that connects a noun or pronoun to another word in sentence
pun
a joke
rhetorical question
question not meant to be answered
simile
comparison using like or as
situational irony
outcome is very different to what is expected
symbol
thing that stands for something else
tone
writers attitude
understatement
under- exaggerating something
verbal irony
sarcasm
