It's All in the Syntax
repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"
alliteration
non-literal language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar. Similes, metaphors, personification, and hyperbole are all examples of ____________
figurative language
extreme exaggeration to add meaning, saying things like “I’m so hungry I could eat a cow,” or “I have a million things to do today.”
hyperbole
character that is the source of conflict in a literary work
antagonist
repetition of similar or identical sounds: “look and crook”
rhyme
standardized, conventional ideas about characters, plots, and settings
stereotype
a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but may include a latent truth: "The way to be safe is never to be secure” or "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others"
paradox
The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities
characterization
the use of any element—such as a sound, word, phrase, image, symbol, or sentence—more than once.
repetition
a direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as: “I wandered lonely as a cloud” or “My siblings fight like cats and dogs”
simile
figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics: “The sun smiled on our picnic”
personification
the method of returning to an earlier point in time for the purpose of making the present clearer
flashback
the use of words to produce mental images of specific sensory experiences (olfactory, gustatory, tactile, visual, auditory, emotional)
imagery
when one subject is implied to be another so as to draw a comparison between their similarities and shared traits: “Henry was a lion on the battlefield”; “life is but a dream”
metaphor
phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: “there was a deafening silence” or “There was a cold fire in his eyes”
oxymoron
a recurrent image, word, phrase, object, or action that tends to unify the literary work or that may be elaborated into a more general theme. (For example, you might argue that a _____ of birds underscores the theme of yearning for freedom in a text.)
motif
the vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told
point of view
the author’s attitude toward a specific character, place, or development. It can portray a variety of emotions ranging from solemn, grave, and critical to witty, wry, and humorous.
tone
a term for situations and for written and spoken observations that suggest some sort of incongruity (discrepancy) between appearance and reality. There are three basic forms of it
irony
type or category to which a literary work belongs
genre