Untitled Deck Flashcards
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”
Allusion
References a person, place, thing, or event. For example, a woman might say to her husband, “Thanks, Romeo,” after he’s offered some type of romantic gesture.
Anaphora
Repetition of a word or phrase.
Examples:
“Go big or go home.”
“Be bold. Be brief. Be gone.”
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
Examples: “I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse.”
“He heard an ear-splitting shriek.”
Irony
The use of words to imply the opposite meaning of what is actually stated.
Example: Telling a quiet group, “don’t everybody speak all at once”
Euphemism
An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant.
Example: This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He’s expired and gone to meet his maker! He’s a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace!
Metaphor
Figurative language that makes an implicit comparison between two things that are different, but still have common characteristics.
Examples: “Laughter is the best medicine”
“He was my North, my South, my East and West. My working week and my Sunday rest.”
Simile
comparing two things using the words “like” or “as”.
Examples: “Fits like a glove”, “Flat as a pancake”
Personification
the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman.
Examples: “My alarm yelled at me this morning.”, “The sunflowers hung their heads”, “The sun kissed my cheeks”
Pun
a “play on words” based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things. Examples: “This vacuum sucks”, “The skeleton model in our biology class is a bonehead.”
Satire
the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of politics and other topical issues.
Examples: “Family Guy-animated series that satirizes American middle class society and conventions”, “Deadpool-movie that satirizes super hero genre”
Symbol
A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.
Examples: The dove is a symbol of peace.
A red rose, or the color red, stands for love or romance.
Black is a symbol that represents evil or death.
Imagery
Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste).
Examples: “It was dark and dim in the forest”. The words “dark” and “dim” are visual images.
“He whiffed the aroma of brewed coffee”. “Whiff” and “aroma” evoke our sense of smell.
Onamatopoeia
words that imitate sounds.
Examples:
The BUZZING bee flew away.
The sack fell into the river with a SPLASH.
The RUSTLING leaves
Allegory
A story in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance.
One famous example of this is George Orwell’s 1945 novel Animal Farm. Orwell used a story line about farm animals to express his dissent toward the Russian government, a risky subject to discuss outright.
Foreshadowing
the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot
Flashback
A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time
Repetition
Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis
Juxtaposition
Highlighting differences between two or more characters, settings, or ideas to create interest or emphasise a point.
Dialogue
Conversation that’s written between two or more people
Atmosphere
The mood of a piece - it is described using words of feeling, and is created by other techniques including sensory imagery.
Characterisation
The qualities and actions of the characters in a text; how they are made to be fleshed out drivers of action
Motif
When a symbol is repeated throughout a text, reinforcing the ideas it represents and is exploring.
Truncated sentences
Short sentences. They can emphasise high emotion and/or create a rapid or broken rhythm on the page.
