IB English HL Literary Terminology
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39 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Figurative language | Language characterized by figures of speech such as metaphors and similes as well as elaborate expression through imagery |
| Foreshadowing | The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot |
| Simile | A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') |
| Oxymoron | Conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence') |
| Metaphor | Comparison not using "like" or "as" |
| Paradox | A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. |
| Syntax | The grammatical arrangement of words in sentences |
| Repetition | Repeated use of sounds, words, or ideas for effect and emphasis |
| Onomatopoeia | The use of words that imitate sounds |
| Parallel Structure | A similar grammatical structure within a sentence or within a paragraph |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes |
| Rhythm | The pattern or beat of a poem. |
| Allusion | A reference to another work of literature, person, or event |
| Tone | The attitude of the author toward the audience and characters (e.g., serious or humorous). |
| Symbol | An object that is used to represent something else (usually a larger, philosophical and more important idea) |
| Stanza | A fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem |
| Imagery | The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, thing, place, or experience |
| Rhyme Scheme | The order in which rhyming words occur, indicated by letters (ie, abba, aba, abcabc) |
| Effect | What happens as a result of the cause |
| Sonnet | A short poem with fourteen lines, usually ten-syllable rhyming lines, divided into two, three, or four sections |
| Alliteration | The repetition of initial consonant sounds |
| Pun | A play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings |
| Assonance | The repetition of vowel sounds |
| Enjambment | The continuation of meaning, without pause or break, from one line of poetry to the next |
| Allegory | A for of extended metaphor in which objects, characters and actions in a piece of writing have meanings with moral, social, religious, or political significance outside the narrative itself |
| Anecdote | Short, entertaining side story that related to the plot |
| Antithesis | A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure |
| Verbal Irony | When a speaker says one thing but means another, or when a literal meaning is contrary to its intended effect. An acute example of this would be sarcasm |
| Dramatic Irony | When words and actions possess a significance that the listener or audience understands, but the speaker or character does not |
| Situational Irony | When the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect. For example a man who takes a step aside in order to avoid getting sprinkled by a wet dog, and falls into a swimming pool |
| Juxtaposition | When the author places two themes, characters, phrases, words, or situations together for the purpose of comparison, contrast, or rhetoric |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance when "the crown" is used to refer to the monarchy |
| Mood | When a scene is emotionally charged, although the emotion may be one such as melancholy or apathy. Used to supplement setting and sometimes to create its own effect |
| Motif | A symbol that is repeated throughout the narrative that relates to a specific theme of the narrative |
| Pathos | Used by the author to inspire pity or sorrow in the reader towards a character |
| Polyphony | A feature of narrative, which includes a diversity of points of view and voices |
| Stream of Conciousness | Usually devoid of grammer, reflects the innermost thoughts and workings of a characters mind |
| Cacophony | The use of harsh or unharmonious sounds in literary composition |
| Euphony | An agreeable, pleasing sound, especially in the phonetic quality of words. |
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