lang flashcards

allusion

brief reference to a person, an event, or a place (real or fictitious) or to a work of art

analogy

a comparison between 2 seemingly dissimilar things. often, an analogy uses something similar or familiar to explain something complex or unfamiliar.

anecdote

stories about other people that you’ve either observed, been told about, or researched

asyndeton

omission of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

complex sentence

a sentence containing an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses

compound sentence

2 independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (fanboys) or a semicolon

compound-complex sentence

a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence

simple sentence

a sentence composed of one main clause without any subordinate clauses

cumulative sentence

independent clause followed by details, qualifications, or modifications in subordinate clauses or phrases

figurative language

language that uses figures of speech; nonliteral language usually evoking strong images. explain, clarify, or enhance an idea by comparing it to something else; comparison can be explicit (simile) or implied (metaphor). other forms: personification, paradox, overstatement (hyperbole), understatement, and irony

inversion

inverted order of words in a sentence, usually variation of subject-verb-object order

irony

incongruity between expectation and reality

dramatic irony

tension created by contrast between what characters/write says or thinks and what audience knows to be true

situational irony

pointed discrepancy between what seems fitting or expected and what actually happens

verbal irony

speaker/character says one thing but means something else/when what is said is the opposite of expected, creating noticeable incongruity

oxymoron

paradox made of 2 seemingly contradictory words

paradox

statement/situation that seems contradictory but actually reveals surprising, hidden, or ironic truth

parallelism

similarity of structure in pair/series of related word, phrases, or clauses

periodic sentence

sentence beginning with details, qualifications, or modifications, building towards main clause

polysyndeton

deliberate use of multiple conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses, or words

satire

verbal irony/sarcasm to critique society or an individual

tone

writer/speaker’s attitude toward subject conveyed by stylistic and rhetorical choices

trope

artful diction; greek word for turning, figure of speech such as metaphor, similie, hyperbole, metonymy, or synecdoche

understatement (litosis)

presentation/framing of something as less important, urgent, awful, good, powerful, and so on, than it actually is, often for satiric/comedic effect; opposite of hyperbole, often used along with this technique for similar effect

zeguma

use of 2 different words in a grammatically similar way that produces different, often incongruous, meanings

chiasmus

a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order