Literary terms

Question 1

An appeal to emotion that can be used as a means to persuade

Answer 1

Pathos

Question 2

A type of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is

Answer 2

Understatement

Question 3

A repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row

Answer 3

Anaphora

Question 4

A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration

Answer 4

Hyperbole

Question 5

The repetition of sounds in two or more words or phrases that appear close to each other in a poem

Answer 5

Rhyme

Question 6

A comparison of two unlike elements not using “like” or “as”

Answer 6

Metaphor

Question 7

A scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event

Answer 7

Flashback

Question 8

The word choice used to convey a certain effect in a work of literature or poetry

Answer 8

Diction

Question 9

A type of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics

Answer 9

Personification

Question 10

A reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing

Answer 10

Allusion

Question 11

A persuasive appeal based on the character of the speaker

Answer 11

Ethos

Question 12

The arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence

Answer 12

Syntax

Question 13

The writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience, and is conveyed through the author’s choice of word and detail

Answer 13

Tone

Question 14

A comparison of two different things through the use of words “like” or “as”

Answer 14

Simile

Question 15

The use of words that mimic the sounds they describe

Answer 15

Onomatopoeia

Question 16

The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest future action

Answer 16

Foreshadowing

Question 17

A question that does not expect an explicit answer

Answer 17

Rhetorical question

Question 18

This occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other

Answer 18

Paradox

Question 19

The repetition of a consonant sound within a series of words to produce a harmonious effect

Answer 19

Consonance

Question 20

Consist of words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses

Answer 20

Imagery

Question 21

A form of personification in which the absent or the dead are spoken to as if present and the inanimate, as if animate

Answer 21

Apostrophe

Question 22

A type of sentence structure in which conjunctions are omitted. Instead commas are used to separate a series of words

Answer 22

Asyndeton

Question 23

The practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound

Answer 23

Alliteration

Question 24

A form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite in a single unusual expression

Answer 24

Oxymoron

Question 25

The repetition of accented vowel sounds in a series of words

Answer 25

Assonance

Question 26

The atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work

Answer 26

Mood

Question 27

A type of sentence structure in which conjunctions are repeatedly used to link words together words, clauses, and sentences

Answer 27

Polysyndeton

Question 28

The arrangement of similarly constructed clauses or sentences in a pairing or sequence

Answer 28

Parallel structure

Question 29

A story with a second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning

Answer 29

Allegory

Question 30

An appeal to logic or reason

Answer 30

Logos