Literary Terms Flashcards
Asyndeton
A figure of speech in which one or several conjunctions are omitted from a series of related causes.
“veni, vidi, vici”
Blank Verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter
Cacophony
A harsh unpleasant combination of sounds or tones.
Caesura
A pause, usually near the middle of a line of verse, usually indicated by the sense of the line, and greater than the normal pause.
“To err is human, to forgive divine.”
Allegory
A narrative that serves as an extended metaphor
Alliteration
A pattern of repetitive consonant sounds.
Allusion
A reference to a literary work, person, place or thing in history
Anastrophe
Figure of speech in which the syntactically correct order of subject, verb, and object is changed.
(ex. “Potatoes I like” vs “I like potatoes”)
Anaphora
A rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the beginnings of neighboring
clauses, thereby lending them emphasis.
(ex. “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”)
Anecdote
A short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident.
Antithesis
A figure of speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas.
(ex. Man proposes. God disposes.”)
Aphorism
Common brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted
general truth.
Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which someone (usually, but not always absent), some abstract quality, or a
nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present.
(ex. “Papa Above! Regard a Mouse.”)
Assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds.
(ex. “A land laid waste with all its young men slain”
Conceit
An ingenious or fanciful conception, usually expressed through an elaborate analogy, and pointing to a striking parallel between 2 seemingly dissimilar things. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning.”
Consonance
The repetition of similar consonant sounds in a group of words. The term usually refers to words in which the ending consonants are the same but the vowels that precede them are different.
Ex. (“Add & Read” / “Born & Burn)
Couplet
A two-line stanza, usually with end-rhymes the same.
Denotation
The exact meaning of a word, without the feelings or suggestions that word may imply.
Denouement
Literally meaning the action of untying… after a story’s climax
Diction
The use of words in a literary work.
Didactic
Literature which is intended primarily to teach a lesson..
Elegy
A poem about someone’s death or another solemn theme.
End-Stop
A line with a comma, a colon, a semicolon, and exclamation period, or a question mark are end stop lines.
Enjambment
When a sentence does not end with the line of poetry, rather it carries over the next line.
(Ex. …Or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flow’d)
Euphony
Combination of pleasant sounds. Opposite of Cacophony.
Eye Rhyme
(Ex. “Watch” and “Match”)
Ex. “love” and “move”
Feminine Rhyme
Aka double rhyme. A rhyme of 2 syllables, 1 stressed & 1 unstressed.
ex. (waken & forsaken)
ex. (audition and rendition)
“Gnus never knew pneumonia”
Alliteration
“One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Antithesis
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Aphorism
“Papa above! Regard a mouse.”
Apostrophe
“A land laid waste with all its young men slain”
Assonance: the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds
Foil
In fiction, a character who contrasts with another in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character.
(Ex. God & Satan)
Frame Story
A story within a story.
Hyperbole
A deliberate, extravagant, and often outrageous exaggeration.
(Ex. My shoes are killing me!”)
Internal Rhyme
Rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end.
In Media Res
Opening a story in a dramatic scene rather than exposition setting up the characters and situation.
Lyric Poem
Any short poem that presents a single speaker who expresses thoughts and feelings.
Masculine Rhyme
Rhyme that falls on the stressed and concluding syllables of the rhyme-words.
(Ex. “keep” and “sleep”)
Meter
The repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a line of poetry.
Metonymy
A figure of speech which is characterized by the substitution of a term naming an object closely
associated with the word in mind for the word itself. In this way we commonly speak of the king as the “crown,” an object closely associated with kingship.
Mixed Metaphors
The mingling of one metaphor with another immediately following with which the first is
incongruous. Lloyd George is reported to have said, “I smell a rat. I see it floating in the air. I shall nip it in the bud.”
Narrative
A collection of events that tells a story, which may be true or not, placed in a particular order and
recounted through either telling or writing.
Narrative Poem
A non-dramatic poem which tells a story or presents a narrative, whether simple or complex,
long or short. Epics and ballads are examples of narrative poems.
Onomatopoeia
The use of words whose sound suggests their meaning. Examples are “buzz,” “hiss,” or “honk.”
Oxymoron
A form of paradox that combines a pair of contrary terms into a single expression. This combination
usually serves the purpose of shocking the reader into awareness. Examples include “wise fool,” “sad joy,” and “eloquent silence.”
Paraphrase
A restatement of an ideas in such a way as to retain the meaning while changing the diction and form.
A paraphrase is often an amplification of the original for the purpose of clarity.
Personification
A kind of metaphor that gives inanimate objects or abstract ideas human characteristics.
