Literary Terms and Devices

Vocabulary flashcards defining essential literary devices, poetic forms, and rhetorical terms.

Decorum

Proper behavior.

Refrain

Repetition of a word or phrase at definite intervals, often in or at the end of a stanza.

Satire

A literary work that ridicules or condemns human folly through humor.

Zeugma

A word used with two adjacent words, but it grammatically or logically only makes sense with one.

Enjambment

The continuation of a line of poetry to the next without a pause or break.

Requiem

A song or prayer for the dead.

Parallelism

A sentence or phrase structured with similar grammatical elements.

Stanza

A poetic unit composed of a fixed number of lines.

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds within or across words.

Aphorism

A brief, concise statement expressing a general truth or observation about life.

Foil

A character whose personality contrasts with that of another character to highlight particular qualities.

Elegy

A formal poem presenting a meditation on death or mourning a loss.

Abstract

Concepts dealing with intangible qualities rather than concrete physical realities.

Ballad

A narrative poem that presents an epic subject in lyric form.

Catharsis

An emotional cleansing or purging that brings relief.

Subjunctive

A grammatical mood expressing hypothetical or unreal situations (e.g., using "were").

Allegory

A narrative in which characters and events represent abstract ideas or principles.

Plaint

A poem expressing sorrow or grief.

Parable

A short, simple story designed to illustrate a moral lesson.

Lampoon

A sharp, often virulent piece of writing that ridicules someone or something using satire.

Black humor

The use of disturbing, morbid, or taboo themes within comedy.

Cacophony

Harsh, jarring, or discordant sounds.

Hubris

Excessive pride or self-confidence resulting in downfall.

Rhapsody

An intensely passionate, emotional verse or expression.

Canto

A major division or section of a long poem.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds across nearby words.

Chorus

A group of performers in Greek drama who comment collectively on the dramatic action.

Antecedent

The word or phrase to which a subsequent pronoun refers.

Colloquialism

Informal, casual, or conversational words or expressions.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech pairing two contradictory terms.

Parody

A creative work that imitates the style of another work or author satirically or comically.