Alliteration
The recurrence of initial consonant sounds
Allusion
A short reference to a famous person or event; the best sources are literature, myth, the Bible, history
Ambiguity
Ambiguity is the possibility of interpreting an expression in two or more distinct ways
Analogy
Compares two different things that have some similar characteristics
Anaphora
A rhetorical device that repeats the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases and sentences
Antithesis
Makes a connection between two things; __________ deliberately contrasts two opposing ideas in phrases or sentences
Apostrophe
An __________ as a literary device is when a speaker breaks off from addressing one party and instead addresses a third party. This third party may be an individual, either present or absent in the scene. It can be an inanimate object, like a dagger, or an abstract concept, such as death or the sun.
Appositive
Places a noun or phrase next to another noun for descriptive purposes
Archetype
__________s are literary devices that employ the use of a famous concept, person, or object to convey a wealth of meaning
Assonance
The successive use of different syllables with the same or similar vowel sounds
Asyndeton
A lack of conjunctions between successive phrases or words
Abstract
Existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence; intellectual, mental, nonconcrete
Ballad
A __________ is a type of poem that is sometimes set to music. __________s have a long history and are found in many culture. The __________ actually began as a folk song and continues today in popular music. Many love songs today can be considered __________s.
Blank Verse
__________ is a literary device defined as un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter. In poetry and prose, it has a consistent meter with ten syllables in each line (pentameter); where, unstressed syllables are followed by stressed ones and five of which are stressed but do not rhyme.
Cacophony
__________ points to a situation where there is a mixture of harsh and inharmonious sounds. In literature, however, the term refers to the use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing and un-melodious sounds primarily those of consonants to achieve desired results.
Caesura
The literary device involves creating fracture of sorts within a sentence within a sentence where the two separate parts are distinguishable from on another yet intrinsically linked to one another.
Carpe Diem
Literally, the phrase is Latin for "seize the day," from carpere (to pluck, harvest, or grab) and the accusative form or die (day). The term refers to a common moral or theme in classical literature that the reader should make the most out of life and should enjoy it before it ends.
Conceit
__________ develops a comparison which is exceedingly unlikely but is, nonetheless, intellectually imaginative. A comparison turns into conceit when the writer tries to make us admit a similarity between two things of whose unlikeness we are strongly conscious and for this reason, __________s are often surprising
Concrete
__________ words are objects that can be seen, felt, or tasted, heard, and/or smelt; they are words that can be proven by appealing to the five senses.
Chiasmus
A figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the analogous words
Clause
A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. An independent __________ expresses a complete thought; a dependent __________ must have an independent __________ attached to it.
Connotation
The nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. __________s may involve ideas emotions, or attitudes.
Consonance
__________ refers to the repetition of sounds in quick succession produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. The repetitive sound is often found at the end of a word. __________ is the opposite of assonance, which implies repetitive usage of vowel sounds.
Couplet
A __________ is a literary device which can be defined as having two successive rhyming lines in a verse and has the same meter to form a complete thought. It is marked by a usual rhythm, rhyme scheme, and incorporation of specific utterances.