Literary Terms Flashcards
Define - Zoomorphism
Where animal attributes are imposed upon non-animal objects, humans, gods and events
Define - Zeugma
Where a word, usually a verb or an adjective, applies to more than one noun
Define - Vignette
A small impressionistic scene, illustration or passage focusing on one particular aspect
Define - Verismilitude
Likeness to the truth i.e. resemblance of a fictitious work to a real event even if it is a far-fetched one
Define - Verbal Irony
When a speaker speaks something contradictory to what he intends to
Define - Truism
A statement that is based on evidence and is accepted as an obvious truth in a way that further proof is not considered necessary
Define - Tmesis
A practice of dividing a phrase or word into its components by inserting another word in the middle (“fan-bloody-tastic”)
Define - Synesis
A grammatical construction that is in agreement with the sense instead of the strict syntax
Define - Stream of Consciousness
A method of narration that describes in words the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters
Define - Situational Irony
It occurs when incongruity appears between expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead
Define - Sesquipedalian
The use of words that are very long and have several syllables
Define - Syllogism
Where an argument starts with a reference to something general and from this it draws conclusion about something more specific
Define - Static Character
A character that does not undergo inner changes or undergoes a little change
Define - Sonnet
A poem with 14 fourteen lines, 10 syllables, iambic pentameter and has a specific rhyme scheme and a “volta” or a specific turn
Define - Synesthesia
To present ideas, characters or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one sense
Define - Syncope
The contraction or the shortening of a word by omitting sounds, syllables or letters from the middle of the word
Define - Sestet
Second part of a Petrarchan sonnet, a poem of six lines, or a six lined-stanza in a poem
Define - Round Character
A complex personality. Like real people, he/she has depth in his feelings and passions
Define - Reductio Ad Absurdum
To reduce an argument to absurdity by drawing the conclusions with logical limits or showing ridiculous consequences
_ comes from Anglo-Norman and Old French romanz, romans, which means a story of chivalry and love
Romance
Define - Red Herring
An irrelevant topic introduced in an argument to divert the attention of listeners or readers from the original issue
Define - Refrain
A poetic device that repeats at regular intervals in different stanzas
Define - Prosthesis
The addition of an extra sound or syllable to the beginning of a word that helps in making it easier to pronounce
Define - Polysyndeton
Where several coordinating conjunctions (“and”) are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect
Define - Pleonasm
The use of a second or more words (phrase) to express an idea
Define - Paronomasia
A phrase intentionally used to exploit the confusion between words having similar sounds but different meanings
Define - Parallelism
The use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter
Define - Polyptoton
A rhetorical repetition of the same root word, however, each time the word is repeated in a different way (“lovi, lovis, lovem”)
Define - Paraprosdokian
A phrase or sentence that ends in an unexpected way
Define - Paralipsis
Where an idea is deliberately suggested through a brief treatment of a subject, while most of the significant points are omitted
Define - Periphrasis
Using excessive and longer words to convey a meaning which could have been conveyed with a shorter expression or in a few words
Define - Parrhesia
Saying something boldly and freely without leaving any doubt behind
Define - Non Seuitur
Literary devices which include the statements and conclusions that do not follow the fundamental principles of logic and reason
Define - Tetracolon
Succession of four sentences, phrases and clauses with grammatically equal structures
Define - Tricolon
Succession of three sentences, phrases and clauses with grammatically equal structures
Define - Bicolon
Succession of two sentences, phrases and clauses with grammatically equal structures
Define - Metalepsis
Where one thing is referred to another thing that is only slightly related to it
Define - Meiosis
A witty understatement that belittles or dismisses something or somebody
Define - Litotes
A figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives
Litotes
Define - Kenning
A stylistic device and can be defined as a two-word phrase that describes an object through metaphors
Define - Kinesthesia
A poetic device that gives a feeling of natural or physical bodily movement or action (like a heartbeat, a pulse and breathing)
Define - Inversion
A literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed in order to achieve a particular effect of emphasis or meter
Define - Internal Rhyme
Metrical lines in which its middle words and its end words rhymes with each other
Define - Isocolon
A rhetorical device that involves a succession of sentences, phrases and clauses of grammatically equal length
Define - Hypallage
An abnormal, unexpected change of two segments in a sentence
Define - Hubris
Extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character that ultimately brings about his downfall
Define - Homograph
Words that are used in such a manner as to give two or more different meanings where the words have the same spelling
Define - Hypotaxis
The subordination of one syntactic unit to another in a complex sentence (one unit is modified by successive clauses)
Define - Hyperbaton
Where writers play with the normal position of words, phrases and clauses in order to create differently arranged sentences
Define - Half-Rhyme
A rhyme in which the stressed syllables of ending consonants match, however the preceding vowel sounds do not match
Define - Hypophora
Where a writer raises a question and then immediately provides an answer to that question
Define - Homophone
A word that when pronounced seems similar to another word but has a different spelling and meaning such as bear and bare
Define - Analepsis
An interruption of the chronological sequence (as of a film or literary work) of an event of earlier occurrence
Define - Prolepsis
A literary device in which the plot goes ahead of time
Define - Flat Character
A type of character in fiction that does not change too much from the start of the narrative to its end
Define - Logos
An appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason
Define - Pathos
An appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response
Define - Pararhyme
Vowels in identical consonant pairs, such as in the words “groined, and groaned.”
Define - Monorhyme
Using just a single rhyme in a stanza such as in Black’s poem “silent, silent night.”
Define - Feminine Rhyme
Rhymes on one or two unstressed syllables like in “enticing,” and “endicing.”
Define - Masculine Rhyme
Rhyme ending on stressed syllables like in “bells and hells.”
Define - Identical Rhyme
Rhyme using the same the word having identical sense and sound
Define - Eye Rhyme
Rhyme comprising of similar spellings not pronunciation such as in “rough” and “through.”
Define - Slant Rhyme
The rhyming words sound similar; however, they are often not very close to make complete rhyme
Define - Euphemism
Polite, indirect expressions which replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite or which suggest something unpleasant
Define - Epizeuxis/Diacope
A rhetorical device in which the words or phrases are repeated in a quick succession after each other for emphasis
Define - Epistrophe
A stylistic device that can be defined as the repetition of phrases or words at the end of the clauses or sentences
Define - Enjambement
Moving over from one line to another without a terminating punctuation mark
Define - Expletive
A grammatical construction that starts with the words like “it, here and there”, etc
Define - Discordia
Where the writers and speakers engage in a heated argumentation without reaching a conclusion or solving a particular issue
Define - Epithet
Describing a place, a thing or a person which makes their characteristics more prominent than they actually are
Define - Elision
The removal of an unstressed syllable, consonants, or letters from a word to decrease the number of letters or syllables (“ne’er”)
Define - Euphony
Using words and phrases that are distinguished as having a wide range of noteworthy melody or loveliness in the sounds they create
Define - Epiphora
A stylistic device in which a word or a phrase is repeated at the end of successive clauses
Define - Enthymeme
An argumentative statement in which the writer omits one of the premises, does not clearly pronounce it, or keeps it implied
Define - End Rhyme
Occurs when last syllables or words in two or more lines rhyme with each other
Define - Dysphemism
The use of disparaging or offensive expressions instead of inoffensive ones
Define - Didactisim
The idea that art and literature ought to convey information and instructions along with pleasure and entertainment
Define - Diacope
A repetition of a phrase or word broken up by other intervening words, “to be, or not to be”
Define - Dynamic Character
A character which undergoes implied changes as they encounter conflicts on their journey
Define - Mixed Metaphor
A combination of two or more incompatible metaphors
Define - Conceit
A figure of speech in which two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors
Define - Chiasmus
A rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures
Define - Catachresis
A figure of speech in which writers use mixed metaphors in an inappropriate way to create rhetorical effect
Define - Caesura
A rhythmical pause in a poetic line or a sentence
Define - Cadence
The rising and falling of the voice when reading a literary piece. In poetry, it is the changes in rhythm and pitch
Define - Consonance
Repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase
Define - Circumlocution
A rhetorical device that can be defined as an ambiguous or paradoxical way of expressing things, ideas or views
Define - Cacophony
The use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds primarily those of consonants
Define - Bathos
An effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous
Define - Bildungsroman
A novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character from his or her youth to adulthood
Define - Ballad
A type of poetry used in dance songs in the ancient France/set to music, usually about love, romance and hardships
Define - Archetype
A typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature
Define - Aphorismus
A figure of speech that brings into question the meaning of words in case the words are used inappropriately
Define - Apostrophe
A figure of speech sometimes represented by exclamation “O”
Define - Antecedent
An earlier clause, phrase or word to which a pronoun, another word or a noun refers back to
Define - Amplification
A rhetorical device writers use to embellish a sentence or statement by adding further information
Define - Antiphrasis
Where a phrase or word is employed in a way that is opposite to its literal meaning in order to create an ironic or comic effect
Define - Antanaclasis
A rhetorical device in which a phrase or word is repeatedly used. However, the meaning of a word changes in each case
Define - Anacoluthon
A stylistic device and is defined as a syntactic deviation and interruption within a sentence from one structure to another
Define - Assonance
When two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds
Define - Appositive
A noun phrase or a noun that defines or explains another noun, which it follows
Define - Antimetabole
A literary term or device that involves repeating a phrase in reverse order
Define - Anthropomorphism
Where a writer ascribes human traits, ambitions, emotions or behavior to animals, non-human beings, natural phenomena or objects
s, sh sounds
Sibilant
b, d, g sounds
Plosive (weak)
p, t, k sounds
Plosive (strong)
m, n sounds
Nasal
l, r sounds
Liquid
p, b, f, v, w sounds
Labial
g, k sounds
Guttural
d, n, s, t sounds
Dental
f, th, ph sounds
Fricative
h sounds
Aspirant
Define - Signified
The concept of the word
Define - Signifier
The word
Define - Referent
The actual thing
Define - Parataxis
Lots of clauses without subordination i.e. oracy
Define - Anachronism
An error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece
Define - Adynaton
A rhetorical device that is a form of hyperbole in which exaggeration is taken to a great extreme where it seems impossible
Define - Accumulation
A list of words which embody similar qualities or meanings with the intention to emphasize the common qualities that words hold
Define - Tautology
The saying of the same thing twice over in different words
Define - Synecdoche
Figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something or vice versa
Define - Asyndeton
Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words, speeds up flow of sentence
Define - Dramatic Irony
When a reader is aware of something that a character isn’t
