Literary Terms 6

Synecdoche Example

"Lend me your ears" and "There were some new faces at the meeting"

simile

A direct, explicit comparison of one thing to another, using the words ​like​ or ​as.

synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part signifies a whole.

sarcasm

A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually critical. Can be light, and gently poke fun at something, or it can be harsh and mean.

Zuegma

A grammatically correct construction in which a word, usually a verb or adjective, is applied to two or more nouns without being repeated.

Zeugma Example

He closed the door and his heart on his lost love

satire

A literary work that holds up human failings to ridicule and censure.

rhetorical question

A question that is asked simply for the sake of stylistic effect and is not expected to be answered.

Sarcasm Example

If you trip and drop your lunch and someone says, "That was smooth."

Rhetorical Question Example

In Patrick Henry's "Speech to the Virginia Convention," he tries to persuade his audience to agree to go to war with Britain: "I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?"

rebuttal

An argument technique wherein opposing arguments are anticipated and countered.

Simile Example

My love is as a fever, longing still (Shakespeare, Sonnet CXLVII)

Syntax Example

Polysyndeton, asyndeton, anaphora, and epistrophe are techniques of an author's _________

Tone Example

Queen Elizabeth's __________ in her speech to her troops is very aspirational and motivational in order to achieve her purpose

Style Example

Rhetorical devices are the same thing as __________ techniques. The terms are interchangeable

Point of View Example

The Catcher in the Rye was told from Holden Caulfield's ___________

voice

The acknowledged or unacknowledged source of the words of the story; the speaker's or narrator's particular "take" on an idea based on a particular passage and how all the elements of the style of the piece come together to express his/her feelings.

rhetoric

The art of using words to persuade in writing or speaking.

tone

The attitude the narrator/author has toward the subject and theme. Based on particular stylistic devices employed by the author.

theme

The central or dominant idea or focus of a work. The statement a passage makes about its subject.

style

The manner in which a writer combines and arranges words, shapes ideas, and utilizes syntax and structure.

prose

The ordinary form of written language without metrical structure in contrast to verse and poetry.

point of view

The relation in which a narrator/author stands to a subject of discourse. Requires the reader to establish the historical perspective of what is being said.

syntax

The way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Basically, sentence structure.

Symbolism; Theme Example

The white dresses Daisy and Jordan wear in ​The Great Gatsby​ are an example of ______________________ that represent the ______________________ of the influence of money on a person's life.

symbolism

Use of a person, place, thing, event, or pattern that figuratively represents or "stands for" something else.

realism

attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and attention to detail