Literary Terms/Concepts
Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification, allusion and alliteration are examples of
What is figurative language?
A statement that is contradictory or opposite in meaning
What is a paradox?
Linguistic technique used to persuade, provoke emotion or make a message more meaningful.
Examples: Ethos/Pathos/Logos
What is rhetorical device?
Arrangement of units/stanzas in any poem
What is stanza structure?
Origin, history and evolution of words or languages
What is etymology?
Organizational framework a creator uses to present a story (setting/plot/rising-falling action/ending).
What is narrative structure?
Feeling conveyed by the writer/poet in any literary work.
What is tone?
The use of matching grammatical structures - like nouns, verbs or phrases - to balance related ideas in a sentence of paragraph
What is parallelism?
14-line poem usually following a particular rhyme scheme
What is sonnet form?
Refers to the emotional, cultural or associative meaning of a word, beyond its literal dictionary definition.
"suggested" or "implied" meaning of a word or text; not explicit or openly stated.
What is connotation?
A conclusion or reasoning that the reader makes from the story.
What is inference?
A rhetorical & literary device where the same word or phrase is intentionally repeated at the beginning of consecutive sentences, clauses or lines.
Example in literature: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." Charles Dickens
What is anaphora?
Set of rules that govern how words or phrases are arranged to create well-formed, meaningful sentences.
What is syntax?
Intentional choice and arrangement of words in writing or speaking, establishes tone, conveys meaning and affects how an audience perceives a message.
What is diction?
Latin phrase translated to "for this."
Something created, arranged or done for a specific, immediate purpose, rather than planned in advance.
Organized framework authors use to arrange and deliver the events of a story.
A rhetorical & literary device where a word or phrase is repeated at the end of successive phrases, causes or sentences.
Example in music/poetry: "I am whatever you say I am. If I wasn't, then why would I say I am? In the paper, the news, every day I am." Eminem
What is an epistrophe?
Refers to the use of a hyphen (-) to join words, link parts of a compound word or split a long word at the end of a line; to clarify meaning and ensure readability in written text.
What is hyphenation?
Repetition of identical or similar sounds at the end of words.
Example: "the cat in the hat"
What is rhyme?
Hints, words and/or sentences surrounding an unfamiliar word or phrase that help you figure out its meaning.
What is context clue?
A distinctive, concrete, recurring element—such as an image, sound, action, or idea—that appears throughout an artistic work (like a book, film, or piece of music) to help develop a larger theme or mood
What is motif?
A literary scheme in which one or several conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a series of related clauses.
"Reduce, reuse, recycle."
"I came, I saw, I conquered." Julius Caesar is the most famous example of an...
What is an asyndeton?
A slight variation in tone, color or meaning, a subtle distinction, slight variation or delicate shading in meaning, color, sound or feeling.
What is nuance?
"She's a rat trap" is what type of figurative language used by George in Of Mice and Men to describe Curley's wife?
What is metaphor?
Intent or reason that the writer created the literary work.