English Literary and Poetry Devices
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Created by:
frugeshelby on September 13, 2011
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34 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 alliteration | the repetition of initial consonant sounds |
| simile | a comparison of two unlike things using like or as |
| parallelism | the repetition of the same gramatical structure |
| personification | giving human like qualities to non-living things |
| hyperbole | an exxagerated statement not to be taken literally |
| metaphor | a comparison of two unlike things without using like or as |
| consonance | the repetition of consonant sounds at the ends of words with different vowel sounds |
| onomatopeia | the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests something. |
| allusion | a brief reference to a well-known historical, literal figure, work of art, song, bible, event in history or story. |
| synecdoche | a part stands for the whole |
| metonymy | when you substitute something that closely resembles what you really mean |
| repetition | repeating of a word or group of words for emphasis |
| apostrophe | a speaker directly addresses someone who is absent or dead or something human as if it were present or alive and able to reply |
| oxymoron | combination of contradictory terms |
| inversion | rearrange the words of a sentence |
| understatement | to understate the obvious, giving something less importance than is needed |
| symbol | an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning |
| rhyme scheme | a pattern of rhymed words at the ends of lines |
| tone | the attitude of the writer towards his character, reader, subject. |
| assonance | the repetition of similar vowel sounds with different consonant sounds |
| analogy | a comparison of two unlike things to show their similarities. aka an extended metaphor |
| irony | using words to convey the opposite of its literal meaning. |
| imagery | writing that appeals to the senses using descriptive or figurative language. |
| speaker | the voice of the work |
| paradox | a statement that at first seems contradictory, but it is actually true |
| ballad | simple song having two stanzas using the same melody, a narrative. |
| couplet | a pair of lines of verse, especially ones that rhyme and are the same length. |
| epic | a poem that is usually centered around a hero |
| epic | a long narrative poem telling of the heroes deeds. |
| lyric poem | a short poem that expresses personal and emotional feelings. |
| sonnet | a 14 line poem that it ususally written in iambic pentameter, ends with a couplet, and follows a strict rhyme scheme. |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| free verse | unrhymes verse without a metrical pattern |
| ode | lyric poem addresses to a particular subject to celebrate or commemorate it. |
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