English final Sophomore

Alliteration

The words in a sentence start with the same letter or sound

Allusion

A reference to a person or event that calls something to mind, “callback”

Analogy

A literary and cognitive tool used to explain an unfamiliar concept by comparing it to something similar by highlighting structural similarities.

Anaphora

A word or phrase that is repeated at the start of successive sentences, causes, or lines

Ancedote

A brief engaging story about a real life incident often used to support a larger argument or make it more relatable

Assonance

A repeating vowel sound at the start of nearby words (on stressed syllables) to make writing sound more musical.

Authorial Purpose

The reason that an author made a choice to support the theme.

Cacophony

Harsh, unpleasant mixture of sounds when reading a piece of writing aloud.

Caesura

A purposeful pause or break that interferes with rhythm

Connotation

The feeling that a word conveys.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually on stressed syllables.

Consonant sound

Any sound that is not a vowel

Contrast

A literary devices used by authors to highlight the difference between two or more elements.

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Dissonance

Jarring pauses to the rhythm ruining internal reading

End Rhyme

When the final words or syllables of 2 or more words rhyme

End-Stopped Lines

A poetic device where the line of poetry ends with a natural pause, usually a comma, semicolon, period, or colon.

Enjambment

Breaks in the middle of a phrase; the phrase continues across multiple lines.

Eulogy

A speech of writing that praises or honors someone. A character driven device to reveal a backstory + illustrate character relations. (Ex. funeral speech)

Euphony

“Harmonious” sounds lovely (when read aloud).

Figurative language

Literary Devices that are used to enhance writing

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration.

Imagery

Use of figurative language to describe a scene

Internal Rhyme

A rhyme that occurs in the middle of lines in poetry.

Irony

The reader/audience knows something that the characters do not

Juxtaposition

Comparing 2 things that are contradictory.

Line break

Break in line of poetry

Metaphor

A comparison between 2 things not using “like” or “as” (Ex. You are the apple of my eye)

Meter

Rhythmic pattern of stressed vs. unstressed syllables.

Mood

The feeling that a piece of writing conveys

Motif

Any element that appears continuously in a place of text to convey a larger theme (repeated multiple times).

Narrarator

A person who tells the story

Ode

A dedication to someone or something expressing deep admiration (victory ode).

Onomatopoeia

A word that acts as a sound effect

Personification

Giving human-like traits to non-human objects.

Paradox

A statement that appears self-contradictory.

Repetition

The repeating of a word or phrase multiple times.

Rhyme

Repeating of similar syllables or sounds at the end of words.

Rhythm

Pattern of stressed vs. unstressed syllables, “beat” or “flow” of language

Sensory Detail

Literary language that allows the reader to feel one of the author’s 5 senses.

Sibilance

Repeating “S” noise at the start of each word.

Sonnet

A 14 line poem, typically featuring a Volta + written in iambic pentameter (10 syllable lines w/ a da-DUM rhythm)

Simile

A comparison of 2 things using like or as

Stanza

A paragraph of poetry

Structure

Shapes the organization and flow of text.

Synechdoche

A specific part of something refers to the whole thing or vice-versa. (“All hands on deck”, hands is a smaller part referring to a whole person)

Symbol

An object that is seen continuously in a piece of writing to convey a larger theme, does not need to be repeated.

Syntax

The arrangement of words in a sentence.

Tone

The author/narrator’s attitude towards the subject matter, characters, or audience

Volta

A change in tone

Vowel sound

Sound of vowels AEIOU.