Writing Tools Flashcards
Allusion
Reference to a famous person
Direct address
Whenever someone is called by name in a sentence
Imperative sentences
Request, commanding the understood you
Ex: “eat this joe”
Assonance
Repetition of vowels
Ex: on a proud* round* cloud* (o,o,o)
Motif
A repeated object in a novel
Denotation
Primary meaning of a word
Connotation
The meaning in slang
Anadiplosis
The repetition of the last word (or phrase) from the previous line, clause, or sentence at the beginning of the next.
Ex: The love of wicked men converts to fear,
That fear to hate, and hate turns…
antithesis
contrasting two differing things in a parallel, balanced way.
Examples: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” “To err is human; to forgive divine.”
chiasmus
similar to antithesis except the parallelism features a reverse
order of words in the second part of the sentence.
Examples: That’s one small step for a man, for mankind has taken a giant leap, “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” –Macbeth, “He labors without complaining, and without bragging rests.”
epanalepsis
repeating the same word twice in a phrase or sentence
for dramatic effect. Examples: “Blood hath brought blood; blows have answered blows.” “The theory sounds all wrong, but if the machine works, we cannot worry about theory.” “Food, I must have food!”
anaphora
repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of
successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Examples: “To think on death is a misery; to think on life is a vanity.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven; blessed are they that mourn…”
epistrophe
similar to anaphora except the repeated word(s) are at
the end of each phrase, clause, or sentence. Examples: “And all the night he did nothing but weep Philoclea, sign Philoclea, and cry out, Philoclea.” “What do I earn for my work?-nothing; how much pride can a man have with that? -nothing.
polysyndeton
repetition of the same conjunction in a group of words.
Examples: “…and smothered in mud and lamed by stones and cut by
flints, and stung…”
asyndeton
no conjunctions used to separate lists of word(s).
Examples: She wept, staggered, fell. They spent the day working, searching, thinking, understanding.
synedoche
a part represents the whole. Examples: I wish I had some
wheels. Give me a hand. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
epithet
creative use of adjectives to emphasize nouns. Examples: life-giving words, oily personality, sneering contempt, untroubled sleep.
apostrophe
direct address to someone or something that cannot answer. Examples: “Jefferson! This nation needs your wisdom.” “Come on, car, start up, you can do it.”
Expletive
an interrupting word or phrase, set off by commas, to emphasize the words before and/or after it. Examples: He was, as usual, invited. Of course, it rained yesterday. Sid won again, naturally.
hyperbole
deliberate exaggeration for effect. Examples: I am
starving to death. I’ve told you a thousand times.
understatement
a deliberate expression that something is less
important than it really is. Examples: “War is not good for children and other living things.” Being struck by lightning will get your attention.
amplification
repeating a word or expression and adding rich detail.
She went to New York, cruel, dirty, fascinating New York. What we
need are jobs-jobs with dignity and security.
paradox
assertion that seems contrary to good sense, but contains
truth. Examples: We are all born to die. “What a pity youth must be wasted on the young.” –Shaw.
eponym
attributes a famous person’s characteristic to another.
Examples: My uncle is such a Scrooge. Joe is a regular Ulysses with his world travels.
procatalepsis
anticipating objectives to an argument by stating them.
Examples: Many will say that this bill lacks consistency. It could be argued that television is harmless.
analogy
comparison of two unlike things that do have elements in
common. Where simile and metaphor are more artistic, analogies seek a clearer, more practical explanation of a complex thing that is compared to a very familiar thing. Example: For answers successfully arrived at are solutions to difficulties previously discussed, and one cannot untie a knot if he is ignorant of it. –Aristotle
tone
the attitude an author reflects in his written work. For example,
Mark Twain uses a humorous tone in “Buck Fanshaw’s Funeral.” A successful tone creates a matching mood inside each reader.
symbol
object, person, or thing that represents an idea, feeling, or
another abstract concept. For example, a storm could represent the turbulent mind of those who are struggling against it, or a clear day might represent innocence
Metabasis
A change from one subject to another
“You have heard how the proposed plan will fail; now consider how an alternative might succeed.”
Zeugma
A figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses
Metanoia
Saying something again but better
epizeuxis
A repetition of words for emphasis
I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly.
hyperbaton
An inversion of the normal order of words
Paranthesis
Using parenthesis to give more info
Oxymoron
Noun
A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (e.g., faith unfaithful kept him falsely true).
