Rhetorical Devices

The literary practice of attempting to describe life and nature without idealization

a sentence that withholds its main idea until the end

A direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency

Narrative form in which characters and actions have meanings outside themselves

Use of historically inaccurate details in a text

A word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes, such as buzz or hiss

A satirical imitation of a work of art for purpose of ridiculing its style or subject

A sudden or intuitive insight or perception

A comparison without using "like" or "as"

A milder phrase in place of a harsher one

Repeated Phrases at the beginning of sentences

To hint at or present things to come in a story or play

the way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences

Use of language in which multiple meanings are possible.

A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief.

Placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect

pertaining to the value of art for its own sake or for form

Referencing another book or text.

the order of the terms in the first of parallel clauses is reversed in the second

The moral element that determines a character's actions, rather than thought or emotion.

Grammatically correct linkage of one subject with two or more verbs

Focus statement of an essay

A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually harshly critical.

The voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story

Omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses to give the feel of an incomplete list

Recurrent syntactical similarity

An imaginary place of ideal perfection

The ordinary of form of written language without metrical structure

the works of an author that have been accepted as authentic

Comparison of two things that are alike in some respects

Over exaggeration

A comparison using "like" or "as"

A person or thing that makes another seem better in contrast.

sensory details in a work

Quote set at the beginning of a literary work to set the tone or suggest a theme

A short phrase of exclamation, usually vulgar

A poem/prose lamenting the death of a particular person.

Juxtaposing contrasting ideas to emphasize difference

term to describe literary form

A piece of writing in praise of a deceased person

Addressing an inanimate audience

a piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters

A form of deduction usually subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument.

a recurrent device

Purification or cleansing of the spirit through the emotions of pity and terror

Language associated with a given region.

Creating emphasis by using the negative

Intended for teaching or to teach a moral lesson.

A theme of a novel that is the growth (morally or psychologically) of the main character.

The person(s) reached by a piece of writing. (the reader)

desire to return in thought or fact to a former time

When the last word of a phrase is repeated in the beginning of the next

A question where the answer is not expected to be given

Using a part of an item to refer to its entirety

Describing something as less than expected

The use of angry and insulting language in satire.

Opening a story in the middle of the action

A seemingly contradictory statement that is actually true.

Protagonist of a literary work who does not embody the traditional qualities of a hero

A short, relevant personal story