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English IV Midterm (Literary Devices)
Some of the important things for my midterm exam.
25
English
12th Grade
01/14/2014

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Term
Ad Hominem
Definition
an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue; personal attack
Term
Anaphora
Definition
the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences; "We fight and we fight and we fight."
Term
Antecedent
Definition
the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers
Term
Aphorism
Definition
a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance; "Misery loves company, and madness calls it forth."
Term
Apostrophe
Definition
a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction
Term
Apotheosis
Definition
the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax; Pi makes and 'offering' to Richard Parker, elevating him to godlike status
Term
Appositive
Definition
A noun, noun phrase, or series of nouns placed next to another word or phrase to identify or rename it; "Mr. Kumar, my biology teacher."
Term
Asyndeton
Definition
a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions; "I turned around, stepped over the zebra, and threw myself overboard."
Term
Chiasmus
Definition
a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed; "High calls low and low calls high."
Term
Conceit
Definition
a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor
Term
Ellipses
Definition
the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context; "Come people prefer cats; others, dogs."
Term
Colloquialism
Definition
informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing; "Tell me."
Term
Exclamatory Sentence
Definition
a sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark; "Nothing could ever push me to return...nothing!"
Term
Hyperbole
Definition
intentional exaggeration to create an effect
Term
Imagery
Definition
the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses; "Sprigs of black hair."
Term
Imperative Sentence
Definition
The imperative is a grammatical mood that forms commands or requests, including the giving of prohibition or permission, or any other kind of exhortation; "We fight no matter the cost of the battle, the losses we take, the improbability of success."
Term
Irony
Definition
the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs; Calling Rama, a Hindu God, "no slouch."
Term
Litotes
Definition
a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "It was not a pretty picture.")
Term
Metonomy
Definition
substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it ("The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [war/fighting]")
Term
Paradox
Definition
an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth
Term
Polysynedton
Definition
the use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions that is necessary or natural
Term
Pun
Definition
a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings
Term
Synechdoce
Definition
using one part of an object to represent the entire object (referring to a car simply as 'wheels')
Term
Synthesia
Definition
(or synaesthesia)describing one kind of snesation in terms of another ("a loud color" "a sweet sound.")
Term
Rhetorical Question
Definition
a question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer; "Why would God wish that upon himself?"
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