Question | Answer |
Repetition | The repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device. |
Parallelism | Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. |
Contrast | Point out and emphasize the differences. |
Humor | The quality that makes something laughable or amusing. |
Emphasis | Making a section or idea stand out. |
Allusion | A reference to another literary work. |
Parody | A literary work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or work for comic effect or ridicule. |
Persuasion | The act of persuading. |
Argument | A reason or reasons offered in proof, to induce believe, or convince the mind. |
Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis. |
Euphemism | A lighter way of presenting a dark topic. |
Irony | The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. |
Comic Relief | A humorous or farcical interlude in a serious literary work. |
Simile | The comparison of two things using "like" or "as". |
Metaphor | The comparison of two things NOT using "like" or "as". |
Verbal Irony | The use of language to express the opposite of its meaning. |
Satire | A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony or wit. |
Allegory | A form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. |
Fable | A short story (often with animal characters). |
Epic | An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language. |
Metonymy | Substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself. "We have always remained loyal to the crown." |
Apostrophe | Rhetorical term for breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing. |
Paradox | A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true. |
Couplet | A verse consisting of two successive lines, usually rhyming and having the same meter and often forming a complete thought. |
Climax | A moment of great intensity |
Point of View | 1st person, 3rd person, 3rd person omniscient, third person limited, objective. |
Stanza | A section of poetry. |
Foreshadowing | The act of providing vague advance indications. |
Symbol | An object or idea that stands for something else. |
Onomatopoeia | Using words that imitate the sound they denote. "The cow mooed". |
Soliloquy | A speech you make to yourself. |
Aside | A speech that no one else can hear. |
Anachronism | The representation of someone as existing or something happening in other than chronological, proper order. |
Blank Verse | Unrhymed verse (usually in iambic pentameter). |
Free Verse | Unrhymed verse withought a consistent metrical pattern. |
Sonnet | A 14-line verse form usually having one of several conventional rhyme schemes. |
Quatrain | A stanza or poem of four lines. |