Literary Device Glossary

Alexandro Fimbres

Literary Device Glossary

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

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

**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.

**Apostrophe -** The sign ('), as 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.

**Aside -** To one side; out of the way.

**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.

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

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

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

**Cacophony -** A harsh discordant mixture of sounds.

**Caesura -** ​​Any interruption or break.

**Consonance -** Agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions.

**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.

**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.

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

**Flashback -** Is a scene that takes place before a story begins.

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

**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.

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

**Foreshadowing -** Be a warning or indication of a future event.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

**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.

**Point of View -** The position from which something or someone is observed.

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

**Couplet -**  Is two lines of poetry that usually rhyme.

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

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

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

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

**Spondee -** A foot consisting of two long or stressed syllables.

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

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