literary devices

• What is an abstract noun?

  A name to describe things without physical qualities
• What does accent refer to?

  A set of distinctive pronunciations
• What is the active voice in grammar?

  The subject is the actor of the sentence
• What is an adjective?

  A word that modifies a noun or pronoun
• What is an adverb?

  A word that modifies verbs, adjectives, or adverbs
• What is alliteration?

  The repetition of the same sound at the start of words
• What does allusion mean?

  To refer to something indirectly or metaphorically
• What is alternate rhyme?

  Lines of poetry with rhymes on every other line
• What is an anapest?

  A unit of poetic meter with two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable
• What are archaisms?

  A word or phrase no longer in current use
• What are aspirants?

  Sounds that denote audible breath
• What is assonance?

  A repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds
• What is asyndetic listing?

  The omission of co-ordinating conjunctions in a list
• What are attitudes in a text?

  The opinions expressed in the text
• What are auxiliary verbs?

  Verbs that precede another verb
• What are bilabials?

  Sounds made with both lips
• What is a caesura?

  A mid-line pause in poetry
• What is a clause?

  A group of words with a finite verb
• What is a collective noun?

  A name that refers to a group of people or things
• What is a comment clause?

  A commonly occurring phrase in speech
• What is a common noun?

  A name for everyday objects
• What is a complex sentence?

  A sentence with one main and subordinate clauses
• What is a compound adjective?

  An adjective made of two words joined by a hyphen
• What is a compound sentence?

  A sentence with at least two main clauses
• What is a conceit?

  A deliberately elaborate metaphor
• What are connotations?

  The associations attached to a word
• What is content in a text?

  What the text is about
• What is context?

  Things outside the text that shape its meaning
• What is a co-ordinating conjunction?

  A word that joins elements of equal rank
• What is a couplet?

  A two-line verse, often rhyming
• What is a dactyl?

  A unit of poetic meter with one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
• What is a definite article?

  The word 'the'
• What is the declarative mood?

  A mood used to express a statement
• What does deictic refer to?

  Words that rely on context to be understood
• What is a dependent or subordinate clause?

  A group of words that adds extra information
• What is dialogue?

  Language interaction with two or more participants
• What is discourse?

  The study of spoken language
• What is a double negative?

  A structure using more than one negative
• What are dynamic verbs?

  Verbs that express an action
• What is elision?

  The omission of sounds in connected speech