Literary Terms (English)

Question 1

Simile

Answer 1

A figure of speech that uses like or as to compare two essentially different objects, actions, or attributes

Question 2

Irony

Answer 2

Using a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or normal meaning

Question 3

Analogy

Answer 3

A comparison of similar things, often for the purpose of using something familiar to explain something unfamiliar. An analogy is not a figure of speech; in other words, an analogy is a more developed comparision

Question 4

Rhetoric

Answer 4

The faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion

Question 5

Idiom

Answer 5

An expression whose meaning is usually more metaphorical than literal

Question 6

Direct Characterization

Answer 6

The character details the author explicitly describes

Question 7

Dramatic Irony

Answer 7

When the reader or the audience knows more than the character(s)

Question 8

Foreshadowing

Answer 8

In literature, the technique of giving hints or clues that suggest or prepare for events that occur later in the work. Foreshadowing can only occur in works of fiction.

Question 9

Verbal Irony

Answer 9

A discrepancy between the words spoken and the intended meaning

Question 10

Anecdote

Answer 10

A brief narrative of an entertaining and presumably true incident. Anecdotes are used in biographical writings, essays, and speeches to reveal a personality trait or illustrate a point.

Question 11

Colloquialism

Answer 11

A word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing, but often inappropriate in a formal piece. Colloquial expressions are often regional

Question 12

Point of View

Answer 12

The perspective (the eye and mind) through which a story is told

Question 13

Inference

Answer 13

A general conclusion made by the reader from the events/information provided in the text

Question 14

Situational Irony

Answer 14

When there is a difference between the purpose of a particular action and the result

Question 15

Rhetorical Analysis

Answer 15

Explaining the choices the author has made in order to convey their attitude/opinion/conviction on a particular topic

Question 16

Figurative Language

Answer 16

Language that contains figures of speech/expressions that make comparisons or associations meant to be interpreted imaginatively rather than literally

Question 17

Personification

Answer 17

A figure of speech in which a non-human thing is given human-like characteristics

Question 18

Exigency

Answer 18

The importance of the moment

Question 19

Alliteration

Answer 19

The repetition of CONSONANT sounds at the beginning of words or within words

Question 20

Indirect Characterization

Answer 20

Shows the characters’ traits without explicitly describing them

Question 21

Internal Monologue

Answer 21

The presentation of the flow of a character’s inner emotional experience stream of consciousness

Question 22

Diction (word choice)

Answer 22

The conscious selection of words to further the author’s purpose

Question 23

Allusion

Answer 23

A passing reference to historical or fictional characters, places, events or other works that the author assumes the reader will recognize

Question 24

Tone

Answer 24

The reflection in a work of the author’s attitude towards their topic/subject, characters and readers

Question 25

Syntax

Answer 25

Word order or the arrangement of words in a sentence

Question 26

Hyperbole

Answer 26

A figure of speech in which emphasis is achieved through exaggeration

Question 27

Cacophony

Answer 27

Meaning “bad sound” and refers to words combining sharp or harsh sounds

Question 28

Rhyme

Answer 28

Repetition of identical or closely related sounds in the syllables of different words most often at the end of lines

Question 29

Third Person POV Omniscient

Answer 29

The narrator can relate the actions & thoughts of all the characters

Question 30

Third Person POV Limited

Answer 30

The narrator can relate the actions of one or more characters

Question 31

Anaphora

Answer 31

Repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.

Question 32

Euphemism

Answer 32

The use of a word or phrase that is less direct, but is also considered more tasteful or less offensive than another.

Question 33

Antithesis

Answer 33

A figure of speech in which opposing or contrasting ideas are balanced against each other in parallel syntax.

Question 34

Chiasmus

Answer 34

A form of syntax in which the second half of the statement inverts the word order of the first half. The purpose is to create a new meaning not the opposite meaning.

Question 35

Denotation

Answer 35

The precise, literal meaning of a word, without emotional associations or overtones. The dictionary definition.

Question 36

Connotation

Answer 36

The associations, images, or impressions carried by a word, as opposed to the word’s literal meaning.

Question 37

Litotes

Answer 37

Opposite of hyperbole; a form of ironic understatement that affirms something by stating the negative of its opposite.