Literary Device Glossary

Meiosis

________- Can be defined as a witty understatement that belittles or dismisses something or somebody; particularly by making use of terms that give an impression that something is less important than it is or it should.

Flashback

________- Is a scene that takes place before a story begins.

Symbol

________- A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Couplet

________- Is two lines of poetry that usually rhyme.

Paradox

________- A seemingly absurd or self- contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

Metaphysical Conceit

________- Is an extended metaphor that makes an outstretched comparison between a person's spiritual faculties and a physical object in the world.

Apostrophe

________This sign is used to indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced to indicate the possessive case or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols.

Onomatopoeia

________- The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.

Synesthesia

________- Refers to an author's blending of human senses to describe an object.

Malapropism

________- The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar- sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect.

Zeugma

________- The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words usually in such a manner that it applies to each in a different sense or makes sense with only one.

Assonance

________- In poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible.

Antithesis

________- A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.

Syntax

________- The arrangement of words and phrases to create well- formed sentences in a language.

Oxymoron

________- A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

Hyperbole

________- Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Denotation

________- The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Enjambment

________- The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.

Allusion

________- A passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication.

Tragic

________ Flaw- A flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy.

Asyndeton

________- The omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.

Ambiguity

________- Doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention.

Point of View

________- The position from which something or someone is observed.

Consonance

________- Agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions.

Diction

________- The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.

Polysyndeton

________- Is a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect.

Iamb

________- A metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable.

Pyrrhic

________- Won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor.

Trochee

________- A foot consisting of one long or stressed syllable followed by one short or unstressed syllable.

Euphony

________- The quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words.

Tone

________- The general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.

Irony

________- The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

Imagery

________- Visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work.

Connotation

________- An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Alliteration

________- The commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter.

Anaphora

________- The use of a word as a regular grammatical substitute for a preceding word or group of words.

Chiasmus

________- A rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form.

Cacophony

________- A harsh discordant mixture of sounds.

Rhyme

________- Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.

Caesura

________- ​​Any interruption or break.

Spondee

________- A foot consisting of two long or stressed syllables.

Foreshadowing

- Be a warning or indication of a future event

Foot

________- Is a basic repeated sequence of meter composed of two or more accented or unaccented syllables.

Motif

________- A distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition.

Meter

________- Is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse.

Ambiguity

Doubtfulness or uncertainty of meaning or intention

Anaphora

 The use of a word as a regular grammatical substitute for a preceding word or group of words