SOL Literary Terms Review List 4

Atmosphere

the overall feeling of a work, related to tone and mood

attitude

the author's feeling or perspective about a topic, conveyed in his/her tone

cliche

a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse

connotation

the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning

contrast

to explain how two things differ (to compare and contrast is to explain how things are similar and different)

denotation

the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it

diction

a writer's choice of words; includes both vocabulary (individual words) and syntax (the order or arrangement of words); usually refers to word choices with special or significant effects

imagery

the use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, or tastes

irony

language that conveys a certain idea by saying just the opposite

literal language

language that means exactly what it says

mood

the emotional atmosphere of a given piece of writing

motif

a theme or pattern that recurs in a work (often symbols that re-occur throughout the work)

oxymoron

a phrase made up of two seemingly opposite words

paradox

a seeming contradiction

pun

the use of a word in a way that plays on its different meanings

rhetorical question

a question not meant to be answered

sarcasm

language that conveys a certain idea by saying just the opposite

sensory imagery

imagery that has to do with something you can see, hear, taste, smell, or feel

symbolism

the use of one thing to represent another

theme

the central idea of a work

tone

the author's attitude toward his or her subject

understatement

representing in a weak or restrained way the factual truth

voice

the narrative point of view, whether it's in the first, second, or third person and the use of language to capture the way that person would speak

overstatement

stated too strongly; exaggerated or overemphasized (similar to hyperbole)

apostrophe

writer addresses an absent audience, abstract idea, or thing

parallel structure

repetition of the same pattern of words or phrases within a sentence or passage to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance