Literary Terms Set 1 Flashcards
I’m sick and tired of you letting me down. I’m sick and tired of you making me mad. And I’m sick and tired of you doing such silly things!
Anaphora
Every single day you let me down. Every single day you make me mad. Every single day you do such silly things!
Anaphora
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
Anaphora
When a sentence is purposefully left incomplete or cut off. It’s caused by an inability or unwillingness to continue speaking. This allows the ending to be filled in by the listener’s imagination. In order to show aposiopesis in a sentence, one may use the em dash (–) or ellipsis (…).
Aposiopesis
On tonight’s newscast, we will begin to discover what happens when two animals become unlikely friends… More on this story on The Evening News at 8.
Aposiopesis…gains the audience interest about what will be revealed later.
You know, if anyone ever talked to me the way I heard, the way she spoke to you…
(Her dramatic pause using the technique of Aposiopesis incites her companion to keep speaking and further charge the emtional scene…)
a narration or description in which events, actions, characters, settings or objects represent specific abstractions or ideas. Allegory generally operates on two levels as a literary device.
Allegory…
Two levels: overt or surface meaning and
abstract ideals
This is a short, pointed, and memorable saying that is based on facts, and which is considered a veritable truth by the majority of people.
Adage
“Well done is better than well said.” This is an example of a(n)
Adage
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. this is an example of a(n)
Analogy
A short and interesting story, or of an amusing event, often used to illustrate a point and to put the audience at ease.
Anecdote
Reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familiar.
Allusion
His smile is like kryptonite to me. (this is an example of a(n)
Allusion (to Superman)
My math teacher is he who must not be named. This is an example of…
Allusion [voldemort]
An ___________ is an earlier clause, phrase, or word to which a pronoun, noun, or another word refers….
Antecedent
_________________ is a literary device that can be defined as a technique in which a writer ascribes human traits, ambitions, emotions, or entire behaviors to animals, non-human beings, natural phenomena, or objects.
Anthropomorphism
Is there a difference between personification and anthropomorphism?
Anthropomorphism has the intent of making an animal or object appear like it is a human being. Personification give human characteristics to anumals or objects to create imagery.
This is a rhetorical device that results in a disappointing situation or sudden transition in discourse from an important idea to a ludicrous or trivial one.
Anti-Climax
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
We do what we like and like what we do.
Ask not what your country and do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
Each of the above is an example of this literary device.
Antimetabole…involves repeating a phrase in reverse order.
_______________is a literary device that refers to the juxtaposition of two opposing elements through the parallel grammatical structure.
Antithesis
Go big or go home.
Antithesis
No guts, no glory.
Antithesis
A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.
Antithesis
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” (MLK, Jr.)
Antithesis
“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” (AL)
Antithesis
“‘Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.’”
Antithesis
Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer.
Antithesis
An _____________ is a literary device in which a character is created based on a set of qualities or traits that are specific and identifiable for readers.
Archetype
When someone makes a statement investing his strong belief in it, as if it is true, though it may not be, he is making an _____________.
Assertion
____________________is a device used in descriptive writing and visual arts, in which particular aspects of a subject are exaggerated, to create a silly or comic effect.
Caricature
