Literary Vocab Part 2

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of 2+ sentences/clauses in a row. “Go big or go home.”

Chiasmus

The same words are used twice in succession, but the second time, the order of words is reversed. “Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure.”

Antithesis

Two opposite or contrasting words/phrases/clauses/ideas with parallel structure. “Speech is silver and silence is gold.”

Zuegma (Syllepsis)

When a single word modifies 2+ other words, and the meaning of the first word must change for each of the other words it modifies. “John and his license expired last week.”

Assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds. “The kind knight rides by.”

Consonance

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the end of words or within words. “Hickory dickory dock.”

Internal rhyme

When a line of poetry contains a rhyme within a single line. “The cat in the hat.”

Slant Rhyme

When a poet creates a rhyme, but the two words do not rhyme exactly. “Down” and “profound”.

Meter

A regular pattern to the syllables in lines of poetry

Iambic Pentameter

Poetry that is written in lines of 10 syllables, alternating stressed and unstressed syllables. “When I do count the clock that tells the time.”

Sonnet

A 14 line poem written in iambic pentameter, usually divided into 3 quatrains and a couplet

Polysyndeton

When a writer creates a list of items which are all separated by conjunctions. Normally only used before the last item of a list, often used to slow down the pace of writing or add an authoritative tone. “...with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears.”

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle

The relationships, in any piece of writing, between the writer, the audience, and the subject. All analysis of writing is essentially analysis of the relationships between the points.

Romanticism

Art or literature characterized by an idealistic, perhaps unrealistic view of people and the world, and an emphasis on nature. Does not rely on traditional themes and structures.

Balanced sentence

A sentence in which two parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights on a scale. Both parts are parallel grammatically. “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”

Cumulative (loose) sentence

When the writer begins with an independent clause, then adds subordinate elements.