Part I: Figurative Language & Devices of Sound
NOTE: btwn=between
diff.=different
sth=something
diff.=different
sth=something
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- symbol
- any object, person, place, or action that has a meaning in itself & that also stands for sth larger than itself, such as a quality, an attitude, a belief, or a value
- figure of speech
- word or expression that is not meant to be interpreted in a literal sense
- figurative language
- language that is not intended to be interpreted in a literal sense
- motif
- recurring feature (such as a name, an image, or a phrase) in a work of literature
- oxymoron
- figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory ideas or terms
- personification
- figure of speech in which sth non-human is given human qualities
- understatement
- restrained statement in which less is said than is meant
- archtype
- original model after which other similar things are patterned
- allusion
- reference to a person, place, event or literary work that a writer expects a reader to recognize
- paradox
- statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be self-contradictory & untrue
- litotes
- figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite (ex: The SAT is not an easy test. *understatement underscores the extreme difficulty level*)
- euphemism
- agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts ("casualties"=deaths in war; "passed away"=died)
- synecdoche
- figure of speech in which part of sth is used to stand for or suggest the whole
- alliteration
- repetition of similar sounds (usually consonants) in a group of words
- extended metaphor
- metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently throughout a work (ex: birds in "The Awakening")
- hyperbole
- figure of speech using exaggeration or overstatement for special effect
- imagery
- words or phrases that create pictures or images in the reader's mind
- apostrophe
- figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or sth inanimate is addressed directly (ex: "mere inanimate ships" in Douglass' Narrative)
- metonymy
- figure of speech in which sth very closely associated w/a thing is used to stand for the thing itself (ex: Kleenex; Band Aid)
- onomotopoeia
- use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning (ex: caw caw; achoo!)
- simile
- figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison such as like or as
- conceit
- kind of metaphor that makes a comparison btwn two startlingly diff. things
- metaphor
- figure of speech that makes a comparison btwn two things which are basically dissimilar *does not use like or as*
- pathetic fallacy
- attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects
- analogy
- comparison made btwn two things to show the similarities btwn them *two types-->illustration & argument*