AICE Language AS Literary and Rhetorical Terms

Vocabulary flashcards defining key literary and rhetorical terms based on the AICE Language AS study guide.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same sound, usually of a consonant, at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other or at short intervals.

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect.

Asyndeton

Omission of the conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words or clauses.

Chiasmus

Words or phrases are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form (ABBA).

Euphemism

The substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.

Lexicon

The vocabulary of a particular subject.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech in which opposite or contradictory ideas or terms are combined.

Polysyndeton

Repetition of conjunctions in close succession.

Satire

A kind of writing which ridicules human weaknesses, vice, or folly.

Stream of Consciousness

Narrative techniques that present multileveled flows of rational and irrational thoughts and impressions uninhibited by grammar, syntax, and logical transitions.