Literary Devices - Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering literary terms and their definitions from the lecture notes.

Archetype

A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke strong responses.

Colloquial

Typical of or appropriate to the spoken language, informal, conversational; also vernacular.

Elegy

A poem expressing sorrow or lamentation, especially for one who is dead.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech that is an intentional exaggeration for emphasis or comic effect.

Imperative

The mood of a verb that gives an order.

Rhetorical strategy

The management of language for a specific effect.

Stream of consciousness

Narrative technique in non-dramatic fiction intended to render the flow of myriad impressions that impinge on the consciousness of an individual.

Theme

The dominant idea of a work of literature.

Tone

The attitude of the author towards his or her work and or audience.

Understatement

To represent as less than is the case.