Figures of Speech
Order by
55 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 epic | a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds |
| line | unit of measurement in a poem, part of a stanza |
| stanza | group of lines in a poem that form a unit |
| figurative language | language that makes the unfamiliar familiar |
| simile | a comparison between two unlike things with the use of comparative words ie. likes, as |
| epic similes | lengthy comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as |
| metaphor | a comparison between two unlike things without the use of comparative words ie. like, as |
| extended metaphor | a metaphor which extends over several lines or an entire poem |
| en medias res | in the middle of things |
| epithet | reoccurring descriptive word or phrase |
| characterization | how characters are shaped and defined |
| parallelism | the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structure |
| foil | serves by contrasting to call attention to another thing's good qualities |
| theme | the main idea of the story |
| allusion | passing reference or indirect mention |
| foreshadow | to suggest beforehand |
| flashback | the insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative |
| irony | the opposite of what is expected |
| verbal irony | say something and mean another |
| dramatic irony | audience knows more about a situation than the characters do |
| situational irony | contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. |
| suspense | anxiety, apprehension |
| tone | attitude a writer takes towards the reader, a subject, or a character |
| alliteration | the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of a group of words |
| hyperbole | exaggeration |
| rhetorical question | a question to which the speaker expects no answer because of how obvious it is or for emphasis |
| paradox | a contradiction or dilemma |
| personification | giving human characteristics to an inanimate object |
| odes | complex, song like poems devoted to a serious subject |
| maxims | short saying with a message, slogans |
| couplets | two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme |
| imagery | language that appeals to the senses |
| invocation | a call (usually upon a higher power) for assistance |
| setting | the time and place of a story |
| lyrical poems | short song like poems that express private emotions and thoughts |
| colloquialism | informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing |
| epigram | a witty saying |
| oxymoron | a combination of contradictory terms |
| symbol | something that stands for something else |
| mood | the overall emotion created by a work of literature |
| allegory | a narrative that works as an extended metaphor with a double meaning in almost every aspect |
| soliloquy | speech to oneself |
| aside | a message that departs from the main subject |
| prosopopoeia | where an abstract thing is personified |
| apostrophe | when an absent or nonexistent person is addressed as if they were present |
| assonance | repetition of vowel sounds |
| cliche | an obvious remark |
| euphemism | an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive |
| idiom | a nonliteral expression |
| litotes | understatement for emphasis |
| metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words that imitate sounds |
| pleonasm | use of unnecessary words |
| pun | play on words |
| synechdoche | using one part of an object to represent the entire object (ex: calling a car "wheels") |
First Time Here?
Welcome to Quizlet, a fun, free place to study. Try these flashcards, find others to study, or make your own.