Literary terms Flashcards
An appeal to emotion that can be used as a means to persuade
Pathos
A type of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is
Understatement
A repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row
Anaphora
A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration
Hyperbole
The repetition of sounds in two or more words or phrases that appear close to each other in a poem
Rhyme
A comparison of two unlike elements not using “like” or “as”
Metaphor
A scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event
Flashback
The word choice used to convey a certain effect in a work of literature or poetry
Diction
A type of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics
Personification
A reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place, or thing
Allusion
A persuasive appeal based on the character of the speaker
Ethos
The arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence
Syntax
The writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience, and is conveyed through the author’s choice of word and detail
Tone
A comparison of two different things through the use of words “like” or “as”
Simile
The use of words that mimic the sounds they describe
Onomatopoeia
The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest future action
Foreshadowing
A question that does not expect an explicit answer
Rhetorical question
This occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other
Paradox
The repetition of a consonant sound within a series of words to produce a harmonious effect
Consonance
Consist of words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses
Imagery
A form of personification in which the absent or the dead are spoken to as if present and the inanimate, as if animate
Apostrophe
A type of sentence structure in which conjunctions are omitted. Instead commas are used to separate a series of words
Asyndeton
The practice of beginning several consecutive or neighboring words with the same sound
Alliteration
A form of paradox that combines a pair of opposite in a single unusual expression
Oxymoron
The repetition of accented vowel sounds in a series of words
Assonance
The atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work
Mood
A type of sentence structure in which conjunctions are repeatedly used to link words together words, clauses, and sentences
Polysyndeton
The arrangement of similarly constructed clauses or sentences in a pairing or sequence
Parallel structure
A story with a second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning
Allegory
An appeal to logic or reason
Logos
