lit devices 4-7

paradox

a seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true

parallelism

sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other, or repeats identical patterns

antithesis

two opposite or contrasting words, phrases, or clauses, or even ideas, with parallel structure

parenthetical idea

parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence. it is almost considered an aside, should be used sparingly for effect

parody

an exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes

persona

the fictional mask or narrator that tells a story

pun

when a word that has two or more meanings is used in a humorous way

rhetoric

the art of effective communication

rhetorical question

question not asked for information but for effect

sarcasm

a bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded

satire

a work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect

sentence

a group of words that expresses a complete thought

appositive

a word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its meaning

clause

a grammatical unit that contains both a subject and verb.

style

the choices in diction, tone, and syntax that a writer makes

symbol

anything that represents or stands for something else

syntax.sentence variety

grammatical arrangement of words, grouping of words

theme

the central idea or message of a work

thesis

the sentence or groups of sentences that directly expresses the author’s opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition

tone

a writer’s attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization

understatement

the ironic minimizing of fact

balanced sentence

a sentence in which 2 parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights

compound sentence

contains at least 2 independent clauses but no dependent clause

complex sentence

contains only one independent clause and one dependent clause

cumulative sentence

when the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements

periodic sentence

when teh main idea is not completed until the end of the sentence

declarative sentence

states an idea

imperative sentence

issues a command

interrogative sentene

sentences incorporating interrogative pronouns