Chapter 5: Tone and Style Vocab

sarcasm

a conspicuously bitter form of irony in which the ironic statement is designed to hurt or mock its target

irony

a literary device in which a discrepancy of meaning is masked beneath the surface of the language. it is present when a writer says one thing but means quite the opposite

verbal irony

a statement in which the speaker or writer says the opposite of what is really meant. example: someone says 'how graceful' after you trip clumsily on a stair

cosmic irony or irony of fate

a type of situational irony that emphasizes the discrepancy between what characters deserve and what they get, between a character's aspirations and the treatment he or she receives at the hands of fate

style

all the distinctive ways in which an author uses language to create a literary work. one of the clearest indications of the tone of a story. refers to the individual traits or characteristics of a piece of writing: to a writer's particular ways of managing words that we come to recognize as habitual or customary. includes ways in which an author uses words, imagery, tone, syntax, and figurative language.

diction

choice of words or vocabulary. refers to the class of words that an author decides is appropriate to use in a particular work

tone

the attitude toward a subject conveyed in a literary work. no single, stylistic device creates tone; it is the net result of various element an author brings to creating the work's feeling and manner. whatever leads us to infer the author's attitude. may communicate amusement, anger, affection, sorrow, contempt.

dramatic irony

where the reader understands the implication and meaning of a situation and may foresee the oncoming disaster or triumph while the character does not

minimalists

write with a flat, laid-back, unemotional tone, in an appropriate bare, unadorned style. give nothing but facts drawn from ordinary life, sometimes in picayune detail