Tropes & Figures

What are literary structures or grammar formed by?

conventions, patterns and rules

What is literary language?

polysemic, redical ambiguity, strong/poetic metaphor, connotation, open, less probable, more potential messages

What is instrumental language?

monosemic, unambiguous, conventional metaphor, denotation, more probable, fewer potentional messages, clear

What the word trope most often reffer to?

irony, metaphor, juxtaposition and hyperbole, or themes such as “the noble savage” or “the reluctant hero”

How can it become a trope?

It must be used multiple times

What is SIMILE?

it’s explicit comparison of things that are similar at some points (Her smile was like the sun, / As warm as morning light upon the rose)

What is ANALOGY?

it’s a comparison of things that are not identical (He stood as if he were an oak / Braced against the wind.

What is CONTRAST?

it¨s a comparison by pointing out the difference (The lake was no more mirror than the sky is a pancake.)

What is ALLUSION?

it’s a reference to something outside the text (He came, like Rome, to see, and stayed to conquer.)

What is OXYMORON?

it combines objects that look the opposite; i.e., "sweet bitterness," "terrible beauty," "burning chill," and so on

what is DENOTATION?

it’s the primary meaning, or dictionary definition of a word; e.g., “heart = a bodily organ, the purpose of which is to circulate the blood.” 

what is CONNONATION?

it’s the second meaning of a word; e.g., heart in “an affair of the heart” means love. 

What is CONTEXT?

it’s the environment surrounding a word situated in a phrase, clause, or larger grammatical unit.

what is a SYMBOL?

it’s a concrete object that is at the same time understood on a n abstract level. Bird- a symbol of freedom

what is a PARADOX?

it’s a metaphor or statement that combines terms which seem mutually exclusive, but which in fact are not— “Freedom is the prison of rebellion.” 

what is an ALLEGORY?

it’s a whole story based on a metaphor, usually commenting on human lives

what is an APOSTROPHE?

it’s speaking to somebody who is not present or to a personified object.

what is DRAMATIC IRONY?

it’s what appears true to a character is not what the audience or reader knows to be true. The audience knows more about a character’s situation than the character does, foreseeing an outcome contrary to the character’s expectation.

what is dramatic irony called it tragedies?

tragic irony

what is IRONY?

it’s witty mockery, usually affected by saying the opposite of what is actually meant.

what is SARCASM?

it’s heavy verbal irony, saying the opposite of what is actually meant is similar to the technique of irony, but the emphasis is on the bitterness.

what is SITUATIONAL IRONY?

it’s what appears likely to happen is not what actually happens

what is STRUCTURAL IRONY?

it involves the use of a naïve hero or unreliable narrator, whose view of the world differs widely from the true circumstances understood by the author and readers. 

what is VERBAL IRONY?

it’s words that appear to mean one thing really mean the opposite