A study guide for Thomas so he doesn't have a panic attack by your girlfriend who loves you :)
Allegory
Sustained metaphor where the people and places represent something else; often use animals to communicate meaning
Analogy
Like a metaphor or simile (in that it is a comparison), but the comparable elements are explained
Metaphor/Simile
Both comparisons
Metaphor - a direct comparison
Simile - an indirect comparison using like, as, or than
The author uses something familiar to help explain something unfamiliar
Understatement/Euphemism
Using a word or phrase to reduce the severity of an idea or statement
Often used to communicate denial, insecurity or pity
Diction
Deliberate word choice - the word has a certain meaning or association.
Positive connotation - positive association
Negative connotation - negative association
Allusion
Authors make reference to known events or people to help the reader understand new information (biblical, classical and topical)
Repetition
Repeating a word or phrase IN CLOSE SUCCESSION
Anaphora
Using the same phrase or word to being successive sentences
Irony - the opposite of what the reader would expect
Three types of irony:
Verbal - Sarcasm
Dramatic - when the audience knows more than the characters in a work of literature
Situational - when the outcome is different than what was intended
Personification
Giving human characteristics to an inanimate object or idea (to make the setting reflect what is happening in the text)
Imagery
Using descriptive language (adjectives and adverbs) to create a VIVID mental picture in the reader’s head
Symbolism
Attaching an abstract idea (intangible) to a concrete (tangible) object, shape, colour etc.
Symbol is specific to THAT text
Oxymoron
Two contradicting words are used together in a sentence or phrase
Alliteration
The repetition of initial letters to draw emphasis to a specific phrase or line
Juxtaposition (Contrasting)
A side by side contrast or comparison to emphasize differences (sometimes this is diction, sometimes theme, sometimes through imagery
Onomatopeia
Words that sound like a noise or that are associated with the sound that it makes
Plays on the reader’s sense of hearing
Hyperbole/Litote
A purposeful over exaggeration for effect
Climatic Word Order
Similar words are listed in order of emphasis to highlight the writer’s idea
Amplification
The repetition of similar terms that relate to a central idea for the purpose of creating emphasis
Pun
A joke that uses words with different meanings or sound alike but have different meanings
Pathetic Fallacy
When the weather reflects the themes, mood, tone of the text
Natural world mirrors what is happening in the human world
Idiom
A commonly used phrase that is often not meant to be taken literally
Anecdote
A short story, often personal, that helps to explain the author’s message through the use of an example
Rhetorical Question
A question that has an implied and obvious meaning. Used to reiterate a key fact or idea