lit and rhetorical devices

active voice

the subject of the sentence performs the action

ex- “anthony drove while toni searched for the house”

allusion

indirect reference to something

alter-ego

character used by the author to speak the author’s own thoughts

author speaks directly to the audience through a character

anecdote

brief recounting of relevant episode

way if developing a point or injecting humor

antecedent

word phrase or clause referred to by a pronoun

classicism

art / literature characterized by a realistic view of people and the world; stick to trad themes and structures

comic relief

humorous scene is inserted into a serious story in order to lighten the mood

diction

word choice — element of style

formal, informal, ornate, plain

colloquial

conversation

connotation

implied meaning rather than literal meaning

denotation

literal, explicit meaning of a word

jargon

diction used by a group which practices similar profession/ activity

“medical ____”

vernacular

lang dialect of particular country, region, / every day speech

AAVE

didactic

term used to describe fiction, nonfiction/ poetry that teaches specific lesson/ moral

adage

folk saying w a lesson

“a rolling stone gathers no moss”

allegory

story, fictional, or non fictional where characters, things, and events represent qualities/ concepts

meant to reveal an abstraction/ truth

aphorism

terse statement which expresses general truth/ moral principle

memorable summation of authors point

ellipsis

deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author

euphemism

more agreeable/ less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words/ concepts

political correctness/ exaggerate correctness

figurative language

writing that is not meant to be taken literally

analogy

comparison of one pair of variables to a parallel set of variables

argues relationship between variables is the same

hyperbole

exaggeration

idiom

common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally

metaphor

making an implied comparison, no using like or as

metonymy

replacing an actual word/ idea w related word or concept

“i could not understand his toung”

synecdoche

when a whole is represented by naming one of its parts/ vice versa

“check out my new wheels”

simile

using like or as to make a direct comparison between to very different things

synesthesia

description involving a “crossing of the senses”

ex “a purplish scent”

personification

giving human-like qualities to something that is not human

foreshadowing

when an author gives hints about what will occur later in the story

genre

the major category into which a literary work fits

gothic

writing characterized by gloom, mystery, fear/ death

imagery

word/ words that create a picture in the readers mind

involves the five senses

invective

long, emotionally violent, attack using strong abusive language

irony

opposite of what you expect to happen does

verbal irony

when you say something and mean the opposite/ something different

running a mile in less 8 mins is a “walk in the park”

dramatic irony

audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something that the character doesn’t and would be surprised to find out

character (ironically) trusts the killer completely

situational irony

found in the plot/ storyline. sometimes makes you laugh bc of how things turned out

ex- kid spent 2 hrs trying to sneak into a movie just to miss the movie

juxtaposition

placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison

mood

atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished through word choice + syntax

motif

recurring idea in a piece of literature

“you never really understand another person until you consider things from his/ her pov”

oxymoron

when contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox

“wise fool”

pacing

speed/ tempo of an authors writing

paradox

seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true

“you cant get a job without experience, and you cant get experience without a job”

paralellism

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

add emphasis, organization, or pacing

anaphora

repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences/ clauses in a row

“i saw, i came, i conquered”

chiasmus

when the same words are used twice in succession, but the second time the order is reversed

“fair is foul and foul is fair”

antithesis

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

“it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

zuegma (syllepsis)

single word governs/ modifies two or more other words, and the meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words its governs/ modifies

“the butler killed the lights, then the mistress”

parenthetical idea

used to set off an idea from the rest if a sentence—considered an aside/ whisper

“in a short time (and the time is getting shorter by the gallon) America will run out of oil”

parody

exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes. Borrows from the original and pokes fun at it.

ex SNL, the simpsons

persona

fictional mask or narrator that tells a story

poetic device

used in poetry to manipulate sounds of words, sentences, or lines

alliteration

repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words

assonance

repetition

consonance

repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words

onomatopoeia

use of a word which imitates or suggests the sound that the thing makes

internal rhyme

contains a rhyme within a single line

“to the rhyming and chiming of the bells!”

slant rhyme

when two words don't exactly rhyme but are similar

“I sat upon a stone, / and found my life has gone.”

end rhyme

when the last word of two different lines of poetry rhyme

“roses are red, violets are blue, / sugar is sweet, and so are you.”

rhyme scheme

the pattern of a poem’s end rhymes

stressed an unstressed syllables

in every word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed, or said with more force than the others

meter

a regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry

free verse

poetry that doesn’t have much meter/ rhyme

iambic pentameter

poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables

“shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?"

sonnet

14 line poem written in iambic pentameter. divided into three quatrains and a couplet

polysyndeton

when a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions

pun

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

rhetoric

effective communication

rhetorical triangle

relationship between the writer, the audience, and the subject

rhetorical question

not asked for information but for effect

“are you finished interrupting me?”

draw attention to the rudeness of interruption

romanticism

idealistic/ unrealistic view of people and the world, emphasis on nature

sarcasm

generally bitter comment that is ironically or satirically worded

bitter, mocking tone

satire

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

targets human vices, follies, and social institutions and conventions

layers: serious on the surface, humorous when realizing its satire, serious when discerning the underlying point

sentence

group of words (including subject/ verb) that expresses a complete thought

appositive

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

clause

grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb

independent clause

expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence

dependent clause

cannot stand alone as a sentence and must be accompained

balanced sentence

where two parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights on a scale

grammatically parallel

compound sentence

at least two independent clauses but no dependent clauses

complex sentence

at least two independent clauses but no dependent clause

cumulative sentence

begins with an independent clause, them adds subordinate elements

periodic sentence

the main idea is not completed until the sentence, begins w subordinate elements and postponed the main claude

simple sentence

one independent clause

declarative sentence

states an idea does not give a command/ request

imperative sentence

issues a command

interrogative sentence

sentence incorporating interrogative pronouns

what which whom whose

style

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

symbol

represents or stands for something else

something concrete that represents something abstract

syntax/ sentence variety

grammatical arrangement of words

how does sentence length and structure relate to tone and meaning

theme

central idea or message of a work

thesis

directly expresses the authors opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition

tone

attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and organization

understatement

ironic minimizing of fact

presents smt as less significant than it is

can be humorous

litotes

form of understatement, generated by denying the opposite of the statement

retains effect of understatement or becomes an intensifying expression

argument

piece of reasoning with one it more premises and a conclusion

claim, position, or stance

premises

reasons to support a conclusion are premises

aristotle’s appeals

persuade an audience that ones ideas are valid

ethos

convinced by credibility