Honors English Exam Review

Reviews literary and rhetorical devices

Allusions

Reference to literary or historical person, place, event or piece

Archetypes

Characters that are recognizable

Catharsis

Intense emotions such as fear or pity for the characters in the story.

Deus Ex Machina

Unsolvable issue resolved by an eternal force such as god or or an event.

Epic Hero 

Has strength, confidence, or craft. They are assisted or harmed by god or destiny, any they hold qualities. They always beat a challenge.

Epic Journey

A grand quest undertaken by the hero that is the central narrative of the story and makes the hero face many trials

Epic Plot

Depicts a long, weird journey with compilations and has divine intervention and bad weather, or hard events.

Epic Poem

Have an alliteration meter and rhyme that enhance the story, contain figurative language and use punctuation.

Epic Setting

Includes fantastic or exotic lands with more than one nation or culture

Epic Simile

A comparison between two unlike things over several lines

Epic Theme

Reflecting upon the world and its lessons

Epiphany

The divine manifestation of a god or goddess that appears in front of the hero to influence their destiny.

Epithet

Renames a person or thing with a descriptive phrase

Hubris

Overly prideful or egoistic characters having a downfall.

In Medias Res

Starting a story in the middle of the story or action.

Allusion

briefly and indirectly references a person, place, thing, or idea containing cultural, historical, literary, or political significance to the reader or author.

Ambiguity

The quality of being open to more than one interpretation. Inexactness 

Analogy 

is a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor, which usually concentrates on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities of points of resemblance.

Anaphora 

a word or sequence of words repeats at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.

Anecdote

A brief story that illustrates a point.

Antithesis

contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences.

Aphorism

A pithy observation that contains a general truth. (adage, maxim, proverb, saying)

Asyndeton

Figure of omission in which normally occurring conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) are intentionally omitted in successive phrases, or clauses; a string of words not separated by normally occurring conjunctions.

Connotation

All associated meanings and feelings associated with a word.

Denotation

Dictionary definition of a word.

Diction

The choice and use of words and phrases.  For instance, using strong, emotionally charged words might be employed to evoke a certain reaction in the audience, while choosing more neutral language might be used to maintain credibility.

Didactic

Intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive. Sometimes condescending. This is NOT simply teaching or informing.

Ethos

Appealing to the sense of morals, credibility, professionalism. Ethics. Trustworthiness.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

Hypophora

a figure of speech in which a writer raises a question, and then immediately provides an answer to that question.

Irony 

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic (emphasized) effect.

Logos

The appeal to logic, sense, reason

Metonymy

A substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Paradox

A seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

Parallelism

coordinate ideas are arranged in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that balance one element with another of equal importance and similar wording.

Pathos

Appealing to the sense of emotion.

Polysyndeton

a list or series of words, phrases, or clauses that is connected with the repeated use of the same conjunction.

Prolepsis

anticipating and addressing a potential objection or counterargument before it is explicitly raised by the opposing side, essentially "pre-empting" their argument and weakening its impact by providing a response in advance; it's also known as "procatalepsis" or "prebuttal."

Rhetorical Question

a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.

The Rule of Three 

people better understand concepts, situations, and ideas in groups of three.