Literary, Rhetorical, Narrative, and Visual Devices

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes detailing literary, rhetorical, structural, narrative, and visual analysis devices along with their possible effects.

Metaphor

A direct comparison that transfers qualities from one thing to another. Possible effect: condenses complex meaning.

Simile

A comparison using 'like' or 'as'. Possible effect: clarifies or makes an idea more vivid.

Symbolism

A concrete object, image, or element that carries abstract meaning. Possible effect: deepens theme and subtext.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses. Possible effect: builds atmosphere and helps the audience visualise or experience the scene.

Motif

A recurrent image or idea. Possible effect: creates cohesion and reinforces themes.

Personification

Giving human traits to non-human things. Possible effect: animates description and can invite empathy.

Allusion

An indirect reference to a shared text, event, person, or cultural idea. Possible effect: adds intertextual depth and relies on shared knowledge.

Hyperbole

Deliberate exaggeration. Possible effect: creates intensity, humour, or critique.

Understatement / Litotes

Deliberately presenting something as less important or intense than it is; litotes often does this through negation. Possible effect: creates restraint, irony, or emphasis.

Oxymoron

A condensed contradiction, such as 'deafening silence'. Possible effect: creates surprise or paradoxical insight.

Paradox

A seeming contradiction that reveals a deeper truth. Possible effect: invites reflection.

Irony

A gap between appearance or expectation and meaning or reality. Can be verbal, situational, or dramatic. Possible effect: adds complexity, humour, or critique.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds. Possible effect: creates rhythm and emphasis; the effect depends on the sounds used.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within words or lines. Possible effect: adds musicality and cohesion and may soften tone or slow pace.

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds, not limited to the beginnings of words. Possible effect: creates subtle echoes that unify phrases.

Sibilance

Repeated 's' or 'sh' sounds. Possible effect: can sound soothing, secretive, or sinister depending on context.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate sounds. Possible effect: heightens immediacy and sensory immersion.

Euphony

Pleasant or harmonious sound patterns created by phonetic choices. Possible effect: can create comfort, beauty, or smoothness.

Cacophony

Jarring or harsh sound patterns created by phonetic choices. Possible effect: can create roughness, tension, or discomfort.

Rhythm / Cadence

The patterned flow or beat of language. Possible effect: shapes pace, emphasis, and the emotional movement of a passage.

Ethos

An appeal based on credibility, authority, or character. Possible effect: makes an audience more likely to trust the speaker or writer.

Pathos

An appeal to emotion. Possible effect: shapes the audience's feelings and can strengthen persuasion.

Logos

An appeal to reason or logic. Possible effect: makes an argument appear rational, evidence-based, or coherent.

Rhetorical Question

A question used to prompt reflection, guide agreement, or dramatise frustration rather than simply obtain an answer.

Imperative

A direct command. Possible effect: prompts behaviour and can create urgency or authority.

Inclusive / Exclusive Pronouns

Pronoun choices such as 'we', 'they', and 'I'. 'We' can create solidarity; 'they' can create distance or blame; 'I' can establish ethos or accountability.

Synthetic Personalisation

Addressing a mass audience as if speaking one-to-one, often through 'you' or 'your'. Possible effect: creates intimacy and trust.

Concession + Rebuttal

Acknowledging an opposing view and then countering it. Possible effect: projects fairness, control, and argumentative strength.

Loaded Language / Emotive Diction

Words carrying strong positive or negative connotations. Possible effect: shapes emotional response and bias.

Triadic Structure / Rule of Three

A group of three words, phrases, or ideas. Possible effect: creates a sense of completeness, rhythm, and memorability.

Diction

Word choice, including register and connotation. Possible effect: shapes tone, precision, and bias.

Tone

The attitude, mood, or emotional colouring created by stylistic choices.

Voice / Persona

The constructed speaking presence or identity of a narrator, speaker, or writer. Possible effect: shapes how the audience perceives authority, personality, and stance.

Syntax / Sentence Variety

The arrangement of words and the use of different sentence forms. Possible effect: controls emphasis, clarity, pace, readability, and surprise.

Parallelism

Repeated grammatical structure. Possible effect: clarifies logic and adds balance, rhythm, or emphasis.

Repetition (including Anaphora / Epistrophe)

Reuse of words, phrases, or structures. Anaphora repeats at the beginning of successive clauses; epistrophe repeats at the ends. Possible effect: creates emphasis, rhythm, momentum, or closure.

Point of View (POV)

First-, second-, or third-person narration. Possible effect: determines intimacy and the scope of information available to the audience.

Focalisation

The perspective through which events are filtered. Possible effect: guides empathy and controls what the audience knows or notices.

Narrative Distance

How close the narrator appears to characters or events. Possible effect: shapes objectivity, irony, or immersion.

Pacing

The speed at which information or action is presented. Fast pace can create urgency; slow pace can create reflection or dread.

Chronology

The ordering of events, whether linear or non-linear. Possible effect: changes how causality, memory, and sequence are understood.

Flashback / Foreshadowing

A flashback shifts to an earlier event; foreshadowing hints at what may happen later. Possible effect: adds context, anticipation, or structural connection.

Framing / Circular Structure

A structure in which the opening and closing mirror or echo each other. Possible effect: creates unity or a sense of inevitability.

Contrast / Juxtaposition

Placing contrasting elements, ideas, images, or scenes close together. Possible effect: highlights difference, conflict, or irony.

Salience

The most visually dominant element; where the viewer's eye is drawn first.

Reading Path

The route the viewer's eye is encouraged to follow through a text or image, such as a Z-pattern or F-pattern.

Composition

The arrangement of visual elements, including balance, focal points, rule of thirds, vectors, and spatial relationships. Possible effect: guides attention and creates visual relationships.

Colour

Use of hue, saturation, temperature, and colour symbolism. Possible effect: creates mood, conveys symbolism, or reinforces visual identity.

Lighting

Use of natural, harsh, low-key, or other lighting choices. Possible effect: can suggest realism, menace, glamour, sincerity, or another mood.

Framing (Camera Shot)

The choice of close-up, medium, or long shot. Possible effect: shapes intimacy, focus, and the amount of contextual information shown.

Camera Angle

The angle from which a subject is shown. Low angles can suggest power, high angles vulnerability, and eye-level shots parity.

Typography

Choices involving typeface, weight, scale, spacing, kerning, and line length. Possible effect: communicates tone, hierarchy, density, and readability.

Anchorage & Relay

Anchorage is text that fixes or narrows the meaning of an image; relay is when text and image work together to create meaning.

Body Language & Facial Expression

Non-verbal visual cues that communicate emotion, attitude, confidence, warmth, desire, or intention.