literary terms.
Terms
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- Alliteration
- the repetition at close intervals of initial identical consonant sounds. Or, vowel sounds in successive words or syllables that repeat
- Allusion
- an indirect reference to something (usually a literary text) with which the reader is expected to be familiar. Allusions are usually literary, historical, Biblical or mythological.
- Anecdote
- a brief recounting of a relevant episode. Anecdotes are often inserted into fictional or nonfictional texts as a way of developing a point or injecting humor.
- Connotation
- The feelings, thoughts, memories, images, etc. that a word creates in a person. Different from the dictionary definition (denotation)
- Hyperbole
- conscious exaggeration used to heighten effect. Not intended literally, hyperbole is often humorous. (ex: "And fired the shot heard round the world")
- Imagery
- the use of images, especially in a pattern or related images, often figurative, to create a strong unified sensory impression
- Irony
- when a reader is aware of a reality that differs from a character's perception or reality (dramatic irony)/ The literal meaning of a writer's words may be verbal irony. Generally speaking, a discrepancy between expectation and reality
- Motif
- a frequently recurrent character, incident, or concept in literature
- Sarcasm
- a type of verbal irony in which, under the guise of praise, a caustic and bitter expression of strong and personal disapproval is given. It is personal, jeering, and intended to hurt.
- Theme
- a central idea of a work of fiction or nonfiction, revealed and developed in the course of a story or explored through argument
- Tone
- a writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization of the sentence and global levels
- Voice
- in the non-grammarian sense, it is the total "sound" or "feel" of a writer's style
- Gneral/Informal Diction
- Speech used by educated people as they engage in everyday conversation :ie- Journalism and other writing meant for the mass population