157586330 | alliteration | use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse | |
157586331 | allusion | a reference to another work of literature, person, or event | |
157586332 | onomatopoeia | the use of words that imitate the sounds they make (i.e. buzz, sizzle, hiss, gurgle) | |
157586333 | chiasmus | a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary.") | |
157586334 | hyperbole | Exaggeration | |
157586335 | antagonist | the character who works against the protagonist in the story | |
157586336 | personification | the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc. | |
157586337 | anaphora | The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences | |
157586338 | caesura | a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse line | |
157586339 | assonance | repetition of vowel sounds | |
157586340 | oxymoron | a figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms | |
157586341 | consonance | repetition of consonant sounds | |
157586342 | paradox | (logic) a self-contradiction | |
157586343 | (metronym) metonymy | when a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by something associated with the concept. Ex: you can't fight city hall | |
157586344 | antithesis | the direct opposite, a sharp contrast | |
157586345 | scansion | the analysis of verse in terms of meter | |
157586346 | trochee | stressed, unstressed | |
157586347 | soliloquy | monologue where speaker is alone | |
157586348 | sonnet | 14 line poem | |
157586349 | syntax | sentence structure | |
157586350 | meter | patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables | |
157586351 | polysyndeton | using a number of conjunctions close together | |
157586352 | epiphany | Aha! moment | |
157586353 | simile | like or as statement | |
157586354 | lyric | short poem expressing intense emotion | |
157586355 | Imagery | language that appeals to the senses | |
157586356 | parable | a short moral story (often with animal characters) | |
157586357 | colloquial | characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation | |
157586358 | dactylic | unstressed, unstressed, stressed pattern | |
157586359 | tone | mood | |
157586360 | rising action | events leading up to the climax | |
157586361 | apostrophe | address to an absent or imaginary person | |
157586362 | In Media res | in the middle of things | |
157586363 | Iambic | unstressed, stressed | |
157586364 | motif | recurrent device, used to symbolize something | |
157586365 | ellipsis | omission of words to express complete thought (...) | |
157586366 | theme | main idea | |
157586367 | synthesia | describing one kind of sensation in terms of another ("a loud color", "a sweet sound") | |
157586368 | euphonious | pleasing in sound | |
157586369 | Falling action | denouement metaphor | |
157586370 | Denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression | |
157586371 | connotation | implied meaning of a text | |
157586372 | foreshadowing | the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot | |
157586373 | blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter | |
157586374 | conceit | Extended Metaphor | |
157586375 | exposition | introduces characters, situations at story's start, introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation | |
157586376 | litotes | a form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis or intensity | |
157586377 | synecdoche | using a part of something to represent the whole thing | |
157586378 | pathos | a style that has the power to evoke feelings | |
157586379 | cacophonous | consonants (unpleasant noises) | |
157586381 | end stop | and odd line corresponds with natural speech pause | |
157586382 | free verse | poetic line is its basic rhythmic unit so it's no different than a line of prose |
Literary terms
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