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literary terms 32 words

October 6, 2009 By Wanda C. (Spring, TX)

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Definitions Notes & Examples Words Only
  1. image
    a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface
  2. metaphor
    a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity
  3. simile
    a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')
  4. symbol
    something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible
  5. personification
    the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.
  6. allusion
    passing reference or indirect mention
  7. cadence
    (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
  8. meter
    the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
  9. alliteration
    use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse
  10. assonance
    the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words
  11. stanza
    a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem
  12. couplet
    a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse; usually rhymed
  13. quatrain
    a stanza of four lines
  14. sestet
    a set of six similar things considered as a unit
  15. octave
    a musical interval of eight tones
  16. diction
    the manner in which something is expressed in words
  17. tone
    (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)
  18. voice
    the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract
  19. stance
    a rationalized mental attitude
  20. irony
    incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs
  21. understatement
    a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said
  22. syntax
    studies of the rules for forming admissible sentences
  23. parallelism
    similarity by virtue of corresponding
  24. subordination
    the state of being subordinate to something
  25. clause
    a separate section of a legal document (as a statute or contract or will)
  26. phrase
    an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
  27. participle
    a non-finite form of the verb; in English it is used adjectivally and to form compound tenses
  28. vignette
    a brief literary description
  29. foreshadowing
    the act of providing vague advance indications; representing beforehand
  30. point of view
    a mental position from which things are viewed
  31. hyperbole
    extravagant exaggeration
  32. theme
    the subject matter of a conversation or discussion