Literature Devices Flashcards
Alliteration
The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line
Anthropomorphism
Where animals or inanimate objects are portrayed in a story as people, such as by walking, talking, or being given arms, legs, and/or facial features. (This technique is often incorrectly called personification.)
Blank verse
Non-rhyming poetry, usually written in iambic pentameter
Creative license
Exaggeration or alteration of objective facts or reality for the purpose of enhancing meaning in a fictional context
Dialogue
Where characters speak to one another; may often be used to substitute for exposition
Dramatic irony
Where the audience or reader is aware of something important, of which the characters in the story are not aware
Exposition
Where an author interrupts a story in order to explain something, usually to provide important background information
Figurative language
Any use of language where the intended meaning differs from the actual literal meaning of the words themselves. There are many techniques that can rightly be called verbal irony and oxymoron.
Foreshadowing
Where future events in a story, or perhaps the outcome, are suggested by the author before they happen. Foreshadowing can take many forms and be accomplished in many ways, with varying degrees of subtlety. However, if the outcome is deliberately and explicitly, information doesn’t constitute Foreshadowing.
Hyperbole
A description that exaggerates
Iambic pentameter
Poetry written with each line containing ten syllables, in five repetitions of a two-syllable pattern where in the pronunciation emphasis is on the second syllable
Imagery
Language, which describes something in detail, uses words to substitute for and create sensory stimulation, including visual imagery and sound imagery. Also refers to specific and recurring types of images, such as food imagery and nature imagery.
Irony (aka situational irony)
Where an event occurs which is unexpected, and which is in absurd or mocking opposition to what is expected or appropriate. See also dramatic irony; verbal irony
Metaphor
A direct relationship where one thing or idea substitutes for another
Onomatopoeia
Where sounds are spelled out as words: or, when words describing sounds actually sound like the sounds they describe
Oxymoron
A contradiction in terms
Paradox
Where a situation is created that can not possibly exist because different elements of it cancel each other out
Parallelism
Use of similar or identical language, structures, events, or ideas in different parts of a text
Personification 1
Where inanimate objects or abstract concepts are seemingly endowed with human self-awareness; where human thoughts, actions, and perceptions are directly attributed to inanimate objects or abstract ideas. (Not to be confused with anthropomorphism)
Personification 2
Where an abstract concept, such as a particular human behavior or a force of nature, is represented as a person.
Repetition
Where a specific word, phrase, or structure is repeated several times to emphasize a particular idea.
Simile
An indirect relationship where one thing or idea is described as being similar to another. Similes usually contain the word “like” or “as”, but not always.
Symbolism
The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas. This term is commonly misused, describing any and all representational relationships, which, in fact, are more often metaphorical than symbolic. A symbol must be something tangible or visible, while the idea it symbolizes must be something abstract or universal
Verbal irony
Where the meaning is intended to be the exact opposite of what the words actually mean. (Sarcasm is a tone of voice that often accompanies verbal irony, but they are not the same thing.)
