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Aphorism

A short statement of general truth, insight, or good advice Ex. If the shoe fits, wear it.

Ambiguity

An idea or situation that can be understood in more than one way Ex. I went out in the woods and found a bat (the animal or the sports equipment?)

Anachronism

When an idea, object, fashion, technology is in the wrong time
Ex. People in a Medieval movie call 911.

Analogy

When two unrelated objects are compared for their shared qualities
Ex. Photosynthesis does for plants what digestion does for animals.

Anastrophe

When a writer rearranges normal word order to create a new effect.
Ex. He looked down at his worn and blistered feet. VS. He looked down at his feet, worn and blistered.

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed but metered lines
Ex. "It is not nor it cannot come to good, / But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue."

Chiasmus

When words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order.
Ex. 'Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.

Cliche

A scenario or expression that is overused
Ex. He did not like the gift, but it is the thought that counts.

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
Ex: The Lorax is an example of an environmental allegory.

Allusion

An implied or indirect reference especially in literature, typically historical, mythological, literary, or religious references
Ex: Chocolate cake is my Achilles heel.

Anaphora

Repetition at the beginning of a sentence or phrase.
Ex. I'm sick and tired of gov. I'm sick and tired of calc. I'm sick and tired of lit.

Anecdote

A very short story that is significant to the topic at hand.
Ex. Discussing a topic and a person continues the conversation with "I remember this one time..."

Antimetabole

When the words in the first half of a sentence are inverted in the second half of the sentence.
Ex. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

Antithesis

Opposing statements or ideas written with similar grammatical structures to show contrast. Ex. That's one small step for man

Anti-hero

A protagonist or main character who does not embody traditional heroic qualities. Ex. Jay Gatsby in the Great Gatsby

Antagonist

The opposite of the protagonist (usually, but not always, a villain)

Ex. Tom Buchanan in the Great Gatsby

Apostrophe

A speech or address to a person who is not present

Ex. "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Assonance

The repetition of the same or similar vowel sound within words, phrases, or sentences

Ex. She seems to beam rays of sunshine with her eyes of green.

Cacophany

A combination of loud and harsh sounding words.

Ex. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! The frumious Bandersnatch!"

Caesura

A break or pause in the middle of a line or verse

Ex. "to be, || or not to be — that is the question"

Catharsis

A device used to simulate a release of emotions

Ex. The completely avoidable deaths of Romeo and Juliet

Climax

The highest point or peak of a story

Ex: Harry Potter's confrontation with Professor Quirrel

Comic Relief

Literary device used to introduce light entertainment in between tragic scenes. A sense of relief that makes a tragedy less tragic.

Ex: Olaf in Frozen

Conceit

A comparison that is improbable. Similar to a simile or metaphor but is different because the degree of the comparison between the two things is so unlikely

Ex. A broken heart is like a damaged clock

Conflict (External)

External
A struggle between the main character and an outside force
Ex. Harry Potter vs Voldemort

Conflict (Internal)

A struggle between the main character and their mind

Ex. Depression

Connotation

A meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly

Ex. "She is a dove at heart." Dove conotates sweetness and peacefulness.

Consonance

Repetition of a consonant sound

Ex. Cats can crack Conner's car

Couplet

Two consecutive lines in poetry that have a rhyme and the same meter

Ex. For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;Lilies that fester, smell far worse than weeds.

Denotation

A literal dictionary definition. An objective word with no emotion

Ex. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

Deus Ex Machina

An implausible concept or divine character is introduced to the story to resolve conflict and produce an interesting outcome

Ex: A character fell off a cliff and a flying robot suddenly appeared out of nowhere to catch them

Dramatic Irony

A literary and theatrical device in which the reader or audience knows more than the characters they are following.

Ex: In Romeo and Juliet, the reader knows that Juliet's "poison" is actually an elixir that will make her appear dead, but Romeo doesn't know that.

Dynamic Character

A dynamic character is one who changes significantly throughout the story

Ex: Dynamic-ebemnezer scrooge

Static Character

A static character is a type of character who remains largely the same throughout the course of the storyline

Static-atticus finch

Direct Characterization

Direct characterization is when an author describes a character in a straightforward manner as if telling the reader directly

Ex: Old man Humphrey never liked children

Elegy

An elegy is a sad poem, usually written to praise and express sorrow for someone who is dead

Ex: Fugue of Death by Paul Celan

Enjambment

Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break

Ex: "I went out and / Lost my way,"

Epiphany

The moment when a character is suddenly struck with a life-changing realization which changes the rest of the story”

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Epithet

A descriptive literary device that describes a place, a thing, or a person in such a way that it helps in making its characteristics more prominent than they actually are. Also, it is known as a "by-name," or "descriptive title."

\n Ex: "The earth is crying-sweet"

Epistrophe

Stylistic device that can be defined as the repetition of phrases or words at the ends of the clauses or sentences

Ex: "Where Now? Who Now? When Now?"

Euphenism

Figure of speech commonly used to replace a word or phrase that is related to a concept that might make others uncomfortable

Ex: Put to sleep (euthanize)

Euphony

Use of words and phrases that are distinguished as having a wide range of noteworthy melody or loveliness in the sounds they create (repeated vowels/consonants)

Ex: "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness"

Falling Action

Occurs right after the climax, when the main problem of the story resolves its loose ends, and leads toward the closure

Ex: "The falling action of Romeo and Juliet begins following rising action and climax, which is reached when the lovers are killed. Then the parents and Prince discover the bodies of two lovers, and they agree to put aside their animosity in the best interest of peace."

Figurative Language

Go beyond the literal meanings of the words to give readers new insights and appeal to the senses of the readers

Ex: "He has learned gymnastics, and is as agile as a monkey." (simile metaphor alliteration etc)

Flat Character

Type of character in fiction that does not change too much from the start of the narrative to its end

Ex: Jafar from Aladdin

Flashback

Device used in stories, films, television episodes, etc., that interrupts the flow of the plot to "show" readers/viewers an event that happened previously

Ex: In all the light we cannot see it starts with Werner stuck in a collapsed building or whatever and then we get a flashback to his childhood

Foil

Literary device designed to illustrate or reveal information, traits, values, or motivations of one character through the comparison and contrast of another character

Ex: "in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley utilizes the creature as a foil for his creator, Victor Frankenstein. Frankenstein isolates himself from others to pursue his obsession with creating a living being and then he abandons his creation and all responsibility. The creature Frankenstein creates searches for companionship and connection with others as a result of his creator's rejection and abandonment, leading to violence and destruction."

Foreshadowing

Indicate or hint to readers something that is to follow or appear later in a story

Ex: "What could possibly go wrong?"

Hyperbole

Creates heightened effect through deliberate exaggeration Ex: I'm so hungry that I could eat a horse

Imagery

Evoke a sensory experience or create a picture with words for a reader by utilizing effective descriptive language

Ex: The autumn leaves are a blanket on the ground.

Internal Rhyme

Metrical lines in which its middle words and its end words rhyme with one another

Ex: "Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary"

Inversion

Also known as "anastrophe," is a literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed, in order to achieve a particular effect of emphasis or meter.

Ex: "What a beautiful picture it is!"

Irony (Verbal)

Speaker speaks something contradictory to what he intends to say.

Ex: "Today was a very cold and bitter day, as cold and bitter as a cup of hot chocolate if the cup of hot chocolate had vinegar added to it and were placed in a refrigerated for several houts

Irony (Situational)

Form of irony in which something takes place that is different or the opposite of what is expected to happen

Ex: A dentist with severe tooth decay

Juxtaposition

Two entities side by side to create dramatic or ironic contrast

Ex: good and evil

Litotes

Utilizes negative wording or terms to express a positive assertion or statement

Ex: "The novel is not bad"

Lyric Poem

The poet either expresses his feelings and emotions through a character in first person. It is a private and personal expression of a person. It is based on music with a good rhyme scheme and metrical pattern. It is categorized into three major types, vision, thought, and emotions

Metaphor (Implied)

Device used in prose and poetry to compare two unlikely things, with common characteristics without mentioning one of the objects of comparison

Metaphor (Extended)

Comparison between two, unlike things that continue throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph, or lines in a poem. It is often comprised of more than one sentence and sometimes consists of a full paragraph.

Metaphor (Dead)

A figure of speech that readers or listeners are so familiar with that it ceases to surprise or conjure an image in their minds, thereby becoming ineffective as an actual metaphor

Ex: "head over heels"

Metaphor (Mixed)

The linking of two or more disparate elements, which can result in an unintentionally comic effect produced by the writer's insensitivity to the literal meaning of words or by the falseness of the comparison

Ex: Its not rocket surgery,its not brain surgery

Metonymy

One object or idea takes the place of another with which it has a close association

Ex: "I need to decide if I will go Greek in college next year."

Mood

Emotional response that the writer wishes to evoke in the reader through a story

Motif

An object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work

Motivation (of a character)

Defined as a reason behind a character's specific action or behavior. (intrinsic and extrinsic)

Objective POV

The narrator is not involved in the action of the story

Omniscient POV

While the narration outside of any one character, the narrator may occasionally access the consciousness of a few or many different characters

Onomatopoeia

Word that sounds like what it refers to or describes

Ex: "Boom"

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

Ex: Pretty ugly

Paradox

A statement that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth

Parallelism

Repetition of grammatical elements in writing and speaking. Parallelism influences the grammatical structure of sentences but can also impact the meaning of thoughts and ideas being presented.

Ex: "No pain, no gain"

Paraphrase

Express an idea or somebody's message in our own words, by maintaining the meaning of the original material

Ex: "Every Sunday morning, Tammy's grandmother bakes fresh apple pie" → "Tammy's grandma makes apple pie ever Sunday."

Personification

Idea or thing is given human attributes and/or feelings or is spoken of as if it were human

Ex: "The sun smiled down on us."

Plot

(Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Resolution/ Denouement)

Exposition

the beginning

Rising action

events leading up to the climax

Climax

the turning point of the plot

Resolution/denouement

the conclusion to tie up any loose ends

1st person

A character in the story is the narrator

3rd person

An outside viewer is narrating the story

Pun

A literary device that plays on words

Ex. DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT

Quatrain

A four lined poem that must have a rhyme scheme

Refrain

A verse, line, set, or group of lines at the end of a stanza

Repetition

Intentionally using a word in a phrase two or more times

Ex. time after time

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for the effect

Ex. Are you stupid?

Round Character

Character that changes throughout the story

Ex: Harry Potter

Satire

Using humor or exaggeration to criticize something

Ex. Alice in wonderland criticizes uperclass intellectualism with humor

Setting

Time, place, situation

Ex. Plot takes place in a family house in southern California in 1959

Simile

Compares two things using "like" or "as"

Ex. The man was running like a cheetah

Soliloquy

A speech given by a character in a play who is either alone on stage or everyone else is silent

Stanza

Group of lines formed together in a paragraph

Stream of consciousness

An attempt to capture the natural flow of a character's thoughts and feelings

Ex. vivid descriptions, looking into the character's psychological state

Symbol

Something that represents or stands for something else

Ex. heart is symbol for love

Synecdoche

Uses a part of something to represent a whole

Ex. "Hired hands" instead of "workers"

Syntax

Arrangement of words in a sentence

Ex. Jack went to the store

Theme

Universal lesson explored in a text

Ex. Power corrupts humanity

Tone

Writers attitude towards a text

Ex. Ironic, modest, condescending

Tragedy

Genre of literature that explores human suffering and downfall

Ex. Romeo and Juliet

Understatement

To make something smaller or lesser than it really is

Ex. When describing an intense flooding event: it rained a bit more than usual.

Indirect Characterization

Indirect characterization shares details through a character's actions, dialogue, or internal monologue.

Ex: Old man Humphrey stiffened the moment the child came close. "Get out of here!" he snapped abruptly.