Literary Terms

Question 0

Alliteration

Answer 0

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

Device of using a character and or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning

Question 2

Allusion

Answer 2

A direct or indirect reference to something that which is presumably commonly known

Question 3

Analogy

Answer 3

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them

Question 4

Antecedent

Answer 4

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun

Question 5

Anithesis

Answer 5

The opposition or contrast of ideas, the direct opposite

Question 6

Aphorism

Answer 6

A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle

Question 7

Apostraphe

Answer 7

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or personified abstraction

Question 8

Didatic

Answer 8

Words that have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles

Question 9

Euphamism

Answer 9

More agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept

Question 10

Figurative language

Answer 10

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to imaginative and vivid

Question 11

Hyperbole

Answer 11

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement

Question 12

Irony

Answer 12

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant

Question 13

Litotes

Answer 13

A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite

Question 14

Metaphor

Answer 14

A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other

Question 15

Metonymy

Answer 15

A figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it

Question 16

Onomatopoeia

Answer 16

A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words

Question 17

Oxymoron

Answer 17

Figure of speech in which the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox

Question 18

Paradox

Answer 18

A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity

Question 19

Parallelism

Answer 19

Also referred to as parallel construction or parallel structure

Question 20

Parody

Answer 20

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule

Question 21

Pedantic

Answer 21

An adjective that describes the words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic or bookish

Question 22

Satire

Answer 22

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or diciule

Question 23

Syllogism

Answer 23

A deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises

Question 24

Synechdoche

Answer 24

A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally the whole is used to represent a part. For example the President as the White House

Question 25

Synesthesia

Answer 25

When one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another