Literary Devices and Terms

Flashcards for review of literary terms and concepts.

Onomatopoeia

When the word is pronounced the way it sounds (POW! BANG! HISS!)

Alliteration

Multiple words in a sentence contain the same sound at the start (The trees tumbled tumultuously in the torrid bush)

Metaphor

A comparison between 2 things (without using “like” or “as”) (“She is a tree” could mean she is strong and sturdy person)

Simile

A comparison using “like” or “as” (“She is like a tree.” or “She is as tall as a tree.”)

Hyperbole

Gross (Big) exaggeration (“I totally died”)

Personification

Giving animate words to inanimate objects (the truck roared; the grass danced)

Juxtaposition

Placing 2 elements side by side to emphasize the differences (settings / characters / language)

Cliché

Timeworn, overused statement (I’m so hungry I could eat a horse)

Allusion

Reference to a known event, person, work (He was like Hitler)

Satire

A form of a joke or ridicule often poking fun at something. If voting changed anything, they would make it illegal.

Paradox

An impossibility. Literal vs Figurative. Literal: I went back in time and killed my mom, but then you would have never been born to kill your mom. Figurative: the child is father to the man.

Oxymoron

Two contradictory terms to create one idea. (Jumbo shrimp, Honest thief)

Symbolism

When one term/idea is used to represent something else. Canada (accent, maple leaf, maple syrup)

Foreshadowing

Subtle hint at future events (Katie sat down pinching her temples – Katie dies of a brain tumour)

Imagery

Descriptive writing, showing something to the reader, not tell. The metal tines glinted in the sunlight.

Verbal irony

Someone says the opposite of what is expected

Situational irony

The opposite of what is expected happens

Dramatic irony

When the reader is privy to information the charact doesn’t have

Conflict

The problem that is the driving force in the story

Parody

Humorous exaggeration of something. A “roast” of a person

Sarcasm

Words used, often ironically, often to cause hurt or harm. Oh, what a beautiful dress. So rustic and homely. TONE DEPENDENT

Analogy

Using a different situation to better explain the current situation

Pun

Play on words (In the midst of, a cannonball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms.

Repetition

An element is repeated for effect (language, content, Groundhog Day)

Motif

Recurring idea

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds when vowel sounds are different (pitter, patter or look, luck, lurk, lick)

Idiom

Specific and figurative saying (I bit off more than I can chew, beating around the bush)

Allegory

Extended metaphor, comparison that carries throughout the story. (house represents protagonist)

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the start of sentences, lines or stanzas. (It was the best of times; it was the worst of things. It was the….

Apostrophe

Speaking to someone who isn’t the there. (Angry child yells at a parent in his room, but they are not there and do not hear.)

Colloquialism

Informal language, like slang

Flashback

Revealing an event from the past as though it is happening now – written in present tense

Flashforward

Shows into the future

Pathetic fallacy

When the weather mirrors a character’s emotions

Syntax

Sentence structure

Diction

Word choice