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ELA Literary Terms

Terms in this set (31)

Alliteration
repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, normally at the beginning of words
Allusions
a direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art
Antithesis
direct contrast of structurally parallel word groupings
Apostrophe
speaker talks to a dead person, an absent person, or an inhumane object
Assonance
repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds
Diction
word choice
Free Verse
Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims
Metaphor
A comparison without using like or as
Metonymy
A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it
Onomatopoeia
A word that imitates the sound it represents.
Oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.
Syntax
arrangement of words within sentences or of sentences within paragraph
Synecdoche
a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa
Personification
author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions
Simile
A comparison using "like" or "as"
Quatrain
A four line stanza
couplet
Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme
Tone
the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation
Paradox
A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.
sonnet
14 line poem
Italian sonnet
a sonnet consisting of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcd
English Sonnet (Shakespearean)
a sonnet consisting three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg
polysyndeton
Deliberate use of many conjunctions
analogy
A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way
Litotes
A form of understatement that defines an idea by what its not
Metafiction
fiction that concerns the nature of fiction itself, either by reinterpreting a previous fictional work or by drawing attention to its own fictional status.
Enjambment
the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
dichotomy
a division into two parts
Dialect
A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.
cliche
a worn-out idea or overused expression
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