Literary Terms G-M Flashcards
the major category into which a literary work fits (e.g. prose, poetry, and drama)
genre
refers to traditions for each game
generic conventions
literally “sermon”, or any serious talk, speech, or lecture providing moral or spiritual advice
homily
a figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement
hyperbole
the sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions
imagery
to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented
infer(inference)
an emotionally violent , verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language
invective
the contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant
irony
words literally state the opposite of speaker’s true meaning
verbal irony
events turn out the opposite of what was expected
situational irony
facts or events are unknown to a character but known to the reader or audience or other characters in work
dramatic irony
a type of sentence in which the main idea comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units
loose sentence
a figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity
metaphor
from the Greek “changed label”, the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it (e.g. “the White House” for the President
metonymy
grammatically, the verbal units and a speaker’s attitude (indicative, subjunctive, imperative); literarily, the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a word
mood
is derived from a Greek word asyndeton which means unconnected. It is a stylistic device used to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases and in the sentence, yet maintain grammatical accuracy. Asyndeton helps in speeding up the rhythm of words. EX: “This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who mean to betray you completely.”
Asyndeton
is derived from a Greek word that means turning upon, which indicates the same word returns at the end of each sentence. EX: “Hourly joys be still upon you! Juno sings her blessing on you…. Scarcity and want shall shun you, Ceres’ blessing so is on you.”
epistrophe
is the opposite of epistrophe and means the repetition of the same phrase or word at the beginning of successive sentences such as in this example. Five years have passed; Five summers, with length of Five long winters and again I hear these waters
anaphora
Logos is a Greek word meaning logic. Logos is a literary device that can be defined as a statement, sentence or argument used to convince or persuade the targeted audience by employing reason or logic. In everyday life, arguments depend upon pathos and ethos besides logos. Logos mostly employs the utilization of inductive and deductive reasoning methods to be effective. There are many examples of logos in literature and in debates.
logos
