Literary Devices and Rhetorical Terms (54).
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| 4806490429 | Allegory | A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Example: Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an allegory for the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism. | 0 | |
| 4806490430 | Alliteration | The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Example: Chris cooked the crispy chicken carefully. | 1 | |
| 4806490431 | Allusion | An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. Example: Doug was a real Romeo with the ladies (This refers to Romeo and Juliet, in which Romeo is very romantic in expressing his love for Juliet). | 2 | |
| 4806491811 | Ambiguity | Uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language. Example: Each of us saw her duck. (Does this refer to the action of ducking, or a physical duck?). | 3 | |
| 4806491812 | Antagonist | A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary. Example: In the Harry Potter series, Voldemort is the main antagonist. | 4 | |
| 4806497543 | Aphorism | A concise observation that contains a general truth. Example: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. | 5 | |
| 4806497544 | Apostrophe | A punctuation mark ( ' ) used to indicate either possession or the omission of letters or numbers. Example: Mark's graduating class, whom graduated in '87, recently had their reunion. | 6 | |
| 4806498573 | Assonance | In poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible. Example: I feel depressed and restless. | 7 | |
| 4806498574 | Attitude | The way in which authors approach subjects and situations. Example: "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." | 8 | |
| 4806500192 | Cacophonous | Cacophonous refers to the use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds primarily those of consonants to achieve desired results. Example: I detest war because cause of war is always trivial. | 9 | |
| 4806501937 | Cliché | A phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. Example: All's well that ends well: This means that even if there were problems along the way, it doesn't matter as long as there is a happy ending. | 10 | |
| 4806501938 | Climax | A climax in a story occurs when there is a turning point from which there is no going back. The climax is the point of highest tension in a narrative. Example: A little girl has been looking for her lost dog. She hears a bark coming from around the corner, and she looks around to see... | 11 | |
| 4806504271 | Colloquial | The use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing. Example: go bananas - go insane or be very angry. | 12 | |
| 4806504272 | Conflict | A literary element that involves a struggle between two opposing forces usually a protagonist and an antagonist. Example: Atticus Finch goes up against the racist society in which he lives, while defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a woman. | 13 | |
| 4806504273 | Connotation | A meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Example: A dove implies peace. | 14 | |
| 4806505653 | Consonance | Repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase, usually within quick succession. Example: He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts. | 15 | |
| 4806505654 | Denotation | Literal or dictionary meanings of a word in contrast to its connotative or associated meanings. Example: "I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." (Daisy wants her daughter to be blissfully ignorant, because that's better than being aware). | 16 | |
| 4806506930 | Dénouement | The resolution of the issue of a complicated plot in fiction. Example: "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." | 17 | |
| 4806506931 | Dialect | The language used by the people of a specific area, class, district or any other group of people. Example: Jersey has its own dialect. | 18 | |
| 4806507969 | Dialogue | A conversational passage or a spoken or written exchange of conversation in a group or between two persons directed towards a particular subject. Example: "'Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!' Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore.'" | 19 | |
| 4806508773 | Diction | Style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer. Example: "I'm a bit upset," vs. "I'm so pissed off." | 20 | |
| 4806508774 | Epigram | A rhetorical device that is a memorable, brief, interesting and surprising satirical statement. Example: "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put and end to mankind." - John F. Kennedy. | 21 | |
| 4806509851 | Epigraph | A short quotation that is set at the beginning of a text or section of a text to suggest the theme of what's to come. Example: "Lawyers, I suppose, were children once. — Charles Lamb" (TKAM) | 22 | |
| 4806509852 | Euphemism | Polite, indirect expressions which replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite or which suggest something unpleasant. Example: In a better place; pass away; meet your maker—to die. | 23 | |
| 4806511528 | Euphonious | The quality of being pleasant to listen to. It generally comes about through a harmonious combination of sounds and words. Example: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky." | 24 | |
| 4806511529 | Exposition | Used to introduce background information about events, settings, characters etc. to the audience or readers. Example: You know who I'm talking about: Patty, the one who used to work at the library and always wears her hair in a bun. | 25 | |
| 4806512951 | Falling action | Falling action occurs right after the climax, when the main problem of the story resolves. Example: The falling action in TFIOS follows with Hazel and Augustus' return to Indianapolis, where Hazel decides to be with him to take care of him. But, deep down she is aware of this reality that he doesn't have much time to live. | 26 | |
| 4806512952 | Figures of Speech | A phrase or word having different meanings than its literal meanings. Example: The water leapt and jumped all over the sides of the ship, thrashing both crew and equipment. | 27 | |
| 4806513874 | Flashback | An interruption of the chronological sequence of an event of earlier occurrence. Example: "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'" (Gatsby) | 28 | |
| 4806513875 | Foreshadowing | When a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story. Example: The locket in Harry Potter that ended up later being a horcrux. | 29 | |
| 4806515692 | Hyperbole | Hyperbole is the use of obvious and deliberate exaggeration. Example: I'm so angry, I could kill him! | 30 | |
| 4806515693 | Irony | A figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. Example: "But Brutus says he was ambitious; / And Brutus is an honourable man." (Mark Antony, verbal irony). | 31 | |
| 4806516698 | Metaphor | A rhetorical figure of speech that compares two subjects without the use of "like" or "as." Example: It was raining cats and dogs. | 32 | |
| 4806516699 | Mood | A literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions. Example: Coca Cola: Open happiness. | 33 | |
| 4806516700 | Objective | The objective point of view is when the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. Example: Textbooks | 34 | |
| 4806518334 | Onomatopoeia | A word which imitates the natural sounds of a thing. Example: boom, crash, whack, thump | 35 | |
| 4806518335 | Oxymoron | When two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. Example: Controlled chaos | 36 | |
| 4806518336 | Paradox | The juxtaposition of a set of seemingly contradictory concepts that reveal a hidden and/or unexpected truth. Example: "It's weird not to be weird." -John Lennon | 37 | |
| 4806520198 | Paraphrase | To express an idea or somebody's message in our own words by maintaining the meaning of original material. Example: Verbally recounting a story from the news in your own words. | 38 | |
| 4806520199 | Parody | An imitation of a particular writer, artist or a genre, exaggerating it deliberately to produce a comic effect. Example: "Weird" Al Yankovic's music videos | 39 | |
| 4806521450 | Personification | When a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. Example: The city never sleeps | 40 | |
| 4806522530 | Point of view | The mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers "hear" and "see" what takes place in a work. Example: First person, third person omniscient. | 41 | |
| 4806522531 | Protagonist | The central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, novel or any other story. Example: Harry Potter in... Harry Potter (shocker). | 42 | |
| 4806523599 | Rising action | A series of relevant incidents that create suspense, interest and tension in a narrative. Example: the baseball game in Twilight. | 43 | |
| 4806523600 | Satire | A genre of literature that uses wit for the purpose of social criticism. Example: Steven Colbert | 44 | |
| 4806523601 | Setting | An environment or surrounding in which an event or story takes place. Example: New York, New York 1989 | 45 | |
| 4806524592 | Simile | A comparison using like or as. Example: Bright as the sun | 46 | |
| 4806524593 | Speaker | The voice behind the poem—the person we imagine to be saying the thing out loud. Example: Narrator in various novels and poems. | 47 | |
| 4806526681 | Subjective | The subjective point of view is when the writer tells what happens while stating what can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. Example: Fiction novels | 48 | |
| 4806526682 | Symbol | Objects with a certain meaning that is different from their original meaning or function. Example: The green light in Gatsby | 49 | |
| 4806533061 | Syntax | The arrangement of words into a sentence that make sense in a given language. Example: We ate fish for dinner. versus For dinner ate we fish. | 50 | |
| 4806534204 | Theme | A main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly. Example: Revenge is the theme in "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson. | 51 | |
| 4806534205 | Thesis | A statement in a non-fiction or a fiction work that a writer intends to support and prove. Example: You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. (TKAM). | 52 | |
| 4806534206 | Tone | An attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Example: "The movie was amazing! I was laughing so hard I cried!" Vs. "You can only watch infantile humor for so long before you want to punch yourself in the face." | 53 |
