Trope Flashcards
Allusion
A reference in a written or spoken text to another text or to some particular body of knowledge.
Ex 1: “I doubt if Phaethon feared more – that time/ he dropped the sun-reins of his father’s chariot/ and burned the streak of sky we see today” (Dante’s Inferno).
Ex 2: “Have you read ‘The rise of the Coloured Empires’ by this man Goddard?” (Fitzgerald 17).
Allegory
An extended metaphor.
Ex 1: “During the time I have voyaged on this ship, I have avoided the cabin; rather, I have remained on deck, battered by wind and rain, but able to see moonlight…”
Ex 2: “This is a valley of ashes–a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take forms of houses and…of men…” (Fitzgerald 27).
Anastrophe
Inversion or reversal of the usual order of words.
Ex: Echoed the hills.
Inversion from: The hills echoed
Anthimeria
The substitution of one part of speech for another. It is the use of a word that is normally one part of speech in a situation that requires it to be understood as a different part of speech. In English, and this is one of its greatest virtues, almost any noun can be verbed.
Ex 1: “To scarf,” for example, was the verb implied in Hamlet’s speech, where he says, ‘My sea-gown scarf’d about me.’
Ex 2: The thunder would not peace at my bidding.
Ex 3: You jesus’d that.
Antithesis
The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas, often in parallel structure. Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.
Ex 1: “Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” (Barry Goldwater)
Ex 2: “…found her lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flowered dress–and as drunk as a monkey” (Fitzgerald 81).
Ex 3: “Setting foot on the moon may be a small step for a man but a giant step for mankind.”
The use of contrasting ideas, “a small step” and “a giant step”, in the sentence above emphasizes the significance of one of the biggest landmarks of human history.
Flat Character
A figure readily identifiable by memorable traits but not fully developed. Flat characters are two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work. By contrast, round characters are complex and undergo development, sometimes sufficiently to surprise the reader.
Ex: Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.
Format
The structural elements that constitute the presentation of a written text.
Ex: The Modern Language Association (MLA) has created a format for research papers.
Freewriting
Intuitive writing strategy for generation of ideas by writing without stopping.
Ex: In English 1, I performed freewriting for two short pieces.
Functional Part
A part of a text classified according to its function.
Ex: The introduction.
Hyperbole
An exaggeration for effect.
Ex 1: “I told you a billion times not to exaggerate.”
Ex 2: “…we scattered light through half Astoria…” (Fitzgerald 72).
Invention
The art of generating material for a text; the first of the five traditional canons of rhetoric.
Ex: I use brainstorming before an essay as invention.
Journal
A text in which writers produce informal compositions that help them “think on paper” about topics and writing projects.
Ex: I had a journal last year for Honors English in which I recorded my thoughts on various novels I read.
Journaling
The process of writing in a journal.
Ex: I wrote a journal last year for Honors English on the books I read.
Loose Sentence
A sentence that adds modifying elements after the subject, verb, and complement.
Ex: “Bells rang, filling the air with their clangor, startling pigeons into flight from every belfry, bringing people into the streets to hear the news.”
Meiosis
Representation of a thing as less than it really is to compel greater esteem for it.
Ex 1: Calling an act of arson a prank.
Ex 2: Calling lying about killing someone a little white lie.
