Literary Terms

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Alliteration
Repetition of initial letter or sound in adjacent words
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Allusion
Reference, either direct or indirect, to another text
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Anapaestic
A metrical foot comprising two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable
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Antithesis
Contrast of two ideas expressed by setting them against one another
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Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds in words in close proximity
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Bathos
Descent from the elevated to the commonplace
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Black Humour
Humour making fun of something serious or sad
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Caesura
Deliberate break or pause in a line of poetry, signified by punctuation
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Cliché
Predictable or overused expression or situation
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Colloquialism
Informal language or conversational speech
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Connotations
Implications of words and phrases that are over and above their obvious meaning.
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Contextually
Historical, cultural, social, economic, and political background of a text
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Couplet
Pair of consecutive rhyming lines.
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Cretic
A metrical foot comprising of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable and then another stressed syllable.
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Diction
The choice of words in a poem
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Double Entendre
Expression with two meanings, one of them coarse (vulgar)
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Elision
Where two syllables are merged in pronunciation to make a single sound
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Ellipsis
Omission of word(s) for economy or avoidance or repetition.
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Enjambment
Run-on lines of poetry, usually to reflect its meaning
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End-stopped
Line that is 'stopped' at the end by a punctuation mark
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Epiphany
A moment of enlightenment or realisation
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Feminine Ending
A light or unstressed syllable at the end of a line of verse
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Hyperbole
Deliberate exaggeration for literary effect
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Iambic
A metrical foot comprising an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
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Imagery
Descriptive language appealing to the senses (Often creates visual effects)
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Internal punctuation
The use of punctuation within a line of verse
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Internal Rhyme
rhyme occurring within a line of poetry
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Irony
Language intended to mean the opposite of the words expressed
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Juxtaposition
Placing ideas, characters, events etc. side by side for (often ironic) contrast or to create other types of literary connection
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Litotes
Ironical understatement
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Metaphor
Suppressed comparison which is implied and not stated or literally true. A comparison which does not use 'like' or 'as'
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Metre
the pattern of stresses in a line, stanza or poem
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Metrical Foot
A unit of metre.
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Octave
A stanza or part of a stanza consisting of eight lines
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Onomatopoeia
Where the sound of a word reflects the meaning
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Oxymoron
Two contradictory terms united in a single phrase
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Paradox
Seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement which on reflection contains an element of truth
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Pathetic Fallacy
When the weather reflects feelings, thoughts or moods
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Pathos
Evocation of pity by a situation of suffering and helplessness
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Pentameter
A line of verse consisting of five metrical feet
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Persona
Created voice within a text who plays the role of narrator / speaker
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Personification
The attribution of human qualities to objects
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Plurality
Possible multiple meanings of a text
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Pun
Use of words with double meaning for humorous or ironic effect
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Quadrameter
A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet.
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Quatrain
A verse that is four lines long
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Quintain
A stanza or part of a stanza consisting of five lines
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Register
level of formality in expression
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Rhyme
Repetition of rhyme within a stanza or a whole poem
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Rhythm
Pace and sound patterns of writing, created by stress, vowel length, syntax and punctuation
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Sestet
A stanza or part of a stanza consisting of six lines
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Sibilance
Successive words beginning with an 's'
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Simile
Comparison introduced by 'like' or 'as'
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Sonnet
Lyrical poem of 14 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter
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Stanza
Lines of verse organised into a unit, like a paragraph in prose
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Stereotypical
A category of person with typical characteristics, often for mockery
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Stress/ stressed
Where a syllable is pronounced with relative emphasis
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Synecdoche
Form of metaphor in which a part of a body is used to represent the whole
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Tercet
A stanza or part of a stanza consisting of three lines
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Tetrameter
Same as a Quadrameter (A line of verse consisting of four metrical feet.)
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Theme
Abstract idea or issue explored in a text
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Tone
Emotional aspect of the voice of a text
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Trochee / Trochaic
A metrical foot comprising a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Reference, either direct or indirect, to another text

Back

Allusion

Card 3

Front

A metrical foot comprising two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Contrast of two ideas expressed by setting them against one another

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Repetition of vowel sounds in words in close proximity

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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