Honors Lit Devices ELA 10 - Gilsoul

absolute

absolute phrases modify sentences. Commonly, they are set apart by a comma. They're not essential to a sentence, but they provide additional detail.

adage

a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth.

allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Alliteration

the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words

Juxtaposition

placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast

Allusion

a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize

Analogy

a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

Anaphora

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences

Anecdote

a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event

Antecedant

the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers

Assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowels—especially in stressed syllables—in a sequence of nearby words

Euphony

A term applied to language that strikes the ear as smooth, pleasant, and musical

Rhythm

A recognizable though varying pattern in the beat of stresses or accents, in the stream of speech sounds

cacaphony

Language which is perceived as harsh, rough, and unmusical. Note: the discordancy/harshness is the effect of not only the sound of the words, but also of their significance

Repetition

Recurring/repeated language which deliberately used in order to achieve a specific emphasis or certain effect

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

Aphorism

a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance

Apostrophe

a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction

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 a response

Argument

a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work

Asyndeton

a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions

Connotation

an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Didactic

having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing

Cliche

a worn-out idea or overused expression

Elegy

a formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme

Eulogy

speech in praise of someone

Ellipsis

the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context ("Some people prefer cats; others, dogs")

Epic

a long narrative poem written in elevated style which presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation

Epigram

a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying

Epigraph

a saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of a work

Colloquialism

informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing

Conceit

a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor

Epitaph

an inscription on a tombstone or burial place

Epithet

a term used to point out a characteristic of a person

Prose

is the most typical form of language. Both non-fiction writing as well as fictional writing is considered prose.

Verse

refers to writing that is not prose. Verse\=poetry.

flat character

A character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story

frame device

a story within a story. An example is Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which the primary tales are told within the "frame story" of the pilgrimage to Canterbury

Genre

A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content.

Hubris

excessive pride or self-confidence

Inference

A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning

implication

a suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly.

Hyperbole

intentional exaggeration to create an effect

Idiom

an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect

anachronism

something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time

Rhetoric

the art of using language effectively and persuasively

Logos

Appeal to logic

Ethos

Ethical appeal

Pathos

Appeal to emotion

Invective

An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

Jargon

special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

legend

a narrative handed down from the past, containing historical elements and usually supernatural elements

Limited Narrator (3rd person)

a narrator who presents the story as it is seen and understood by a single character and restricts information to what is seen, heard, thought, or felt by that one character

Literary License

deviating from normal rules or methods in order to achieve a certain effect

Maxim

a general truth or rule of conduct; a short saying

Mood

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

malapropism

the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar

Motif

A recurring theme, subject or idea

Narrative

The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.

Non Sequitur

something that does not logically follow

Oxymoron

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

Parable

A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson

Paradox

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

Ad Hominem (argument against the person)

When an argument relies on an attack against the person taking a position (rather than going against the position itself)

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.

pedantic

tending to show off one's learning

philippic

a strong verbal denunciation

Polysyndeton

the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

Dramatic Irony

Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play.

verbal irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant

situational irony

irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.

Deus ex machina (god from the machine)

The resolution of a plot by use of a highly improbable chance or coincidence (so named from the practice of some Greek dramatists of having a god descend from heaven at the last possible minute—in the theater by means of a stage machine—to rescue the protagonist from an impossible situation).

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.