Unit 1.3 Literary Language

Question 1

Forms of meaning in literary language

Answer 1

connotation and denotation

Question 2

Refers to the dictionary definition of a term

Answer 2

denotation

Question 3

Refers to the meaning that extend beyond the dictionary definition as a result of various factors that may influence and color the meaning of a term at any given time.

it can have positive and negative meanings to a term

Answer 3

connotation

Question 4

Language of sound in literary language. A passage of prose, a poem, or lines in a play or song can contain some or all of these techniques, and these sound qualities add to and enhance meanings.

Answer 4

onomatopoeia
assonance
alliteration

Question 5

Words that sound like what they mean. In poems it is used as a literary device to create some kind of rhetorical effect–sounds used to convey meanings and images.

ex: sizzle, ooze, murmur

Answer 5

onomatopoeia

pronounced:
ah-nah-mah-tah-pea-ah

Question 6

The repetition of consonant sounds in a literary work.

ex: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” where the “p” sounds repeat to create a rhythmic effect and to emphasize the repetitious act of picking.

Answer 6

alliteration

Question 7

The repetition of vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, regardless of he surrounding consonants. They may be at the beginning of words, as in “over the old open plain, “ or internal, as in “painted bails of hay.” When combined with repeating consonants an internal rhyme is created.

ex: The Rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain.” The repetition of the “long a” creates a crisp, clean tone that emphasizes a sense of decorum, a quality that two character in the play are trying to instill in the main character.

Answer 7

assonance

note:
“The Rain in Spain” written by Alan Jay Lerner appears in the play My Fair Lady

Question 8

Language of Speech

Answer 8

dialogue
diction
dialect

Question 9

Lines that directly represent spoken conversation. In drama, these would be characters’ lines spoken back and forth; in fiction, the dialogue would consist of word-for-word exchanges, usually designated by quotation marks and speech tags, between characters.

Answer 9

dialogue

Question 10

The word choice an author uses to convey certain characteristics related to accents, intonations, inflections, and other speech-related qualities.

Answer 10

diction

Question 11

A style of speech associated with a certain region, group, and/or culture.

Answer 11

dialect

Question 12

Language of Comparison

Answer 12

figurative language

Question 13

Based on using language to describe “figuratively” rather than directly. The root, “figure” as a picture that is used to show something through image, rather than word, form.

ex: “The weather is hot.” Is expressed directly.
“Going outside today feels like crawling into a brick-fire oven.” Is expressed figuratively.

Answer 13

figurative language

Question 14

Two most common figurative language terms

Answer 14

metaphor

simile

Question 15

A direct comparison.

ex: “The outdoors is a brick-fire oven today.”

Answer 15

metaphor

Question 16

A comparison using “like” or “as.”

ex: “Going outside today feels like crawling into a brick-fire oven.”

Answer 16

simile

Question 17

Other figurative language terms

Answer 17

apostrophe
conceit
hyperbole (or overstatement)
imagery
metonymy
synecdoche
paradox
personification
symbolism
transferred epithet
understatement

Question 18

A direct address to a person or abstraction that is not present.

ex: John Donee’s sonnet, “Death be not proud”:
“Death be not proud, through some have called thee/ Mighty and dreadful.”

Here, Donne addresses the abstract idea of death directly as though it were a person standing there listening to him.

Answer 18

apostrophe

Question 19

A particularly elaborate and/or unexpected comparison. A detailed comparison of a beloved teacher to a “sun shining bright in the skies of life” would be a conceit.

Answer 19

conceit

Question 20

The use of exaggeration

ex: “This hot day is going to last forever.”

Answer 20

hyperbole (or overstatement)

Question 21

the way in which an author utilizes the senses (not just sight, but any of the senses) to create a realistic moment for the reader. Think of imagery, therefore, as being descriptive images that engage our senses - those of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. The author will often use many techniques, including figurative language, to convey the essence of a work through imagery.

Answer 21

imagery

Question 22

A reference to some thing to represent an entire concept.

ex: “The suits entered the boardroom and prepared for the meeting.”
The term “suits” does not refer, literally, to “suits” but suggests a group of generic professionals.

Answer 22

metonymy

Question 23

A reference to one small part of something to represent the whole of the something.

ex: “please give me a hand”

The common expression, as by “hand,” we are referring to the help of a whole person.

Answer 23

synecdoche

Question 24

A statement that seems like a contradiction but holds truth.

ex: “I am lying.”

If someone were to say this statement, would the person be telling the truth, or lying?

Answer 24

paradox

Question 25

A technique of ascribing human characteristics to anon-human entity.

ex: “The sun smiled down.”

“Smiling” is human trait; ascribing it to the “sun” gives teh sun human qualities to emphasize a happy, warm feeling.

Answer 25

personification

Question 26

Using objects or ideas to convey a meaning beyond the literal meaning.

ex: The American flag. For Americans, the fle symbolizes freedom and democracy. In literature, it can represent many things simultaneously.
ex: the flea in John Donne’s poem, “The Flea,” represents sexual intercourse, the marriage bed, a woman’s womb, and the holy trinity.

Answer 26

symbolism

Question 27

Also called hypallage, a transferred epithet is when an adjective or adverb (the epithet) that describes one term or person is transferred to another.

ex: “I had a lazy day playing video games”

The day was not lazy; rather, the individual who sat around playing video games was. Transferring the descriptor “lazy” from the person to the day changes the connotation of the word and, hence, the sentence. We see a “lazy day” as positive and relaxing, but “lazy person” as nonproductive.

Answer 27

transferred epithet (hypallage)

Question 28

In contrast to “hyperbole,” an ironic expression that reveals less than what is expected.

ex: a blizzard drops 10 feet of snow and you say, “We got a littlw snow last night.”

Answer 28

understatement