Key Terms
Cards (94)
- AllegoryA story, character, place, or event is used to convey a hidden meaning, typically moral or political, about real-world events or issues
- AllusionAn indirect reference to another event, person or work which the writer assumes the reader is familiar with
- ArchetypeThe first real example or prototype of something; an ideal model or the perfect image of something
- BathosAn anti-climax which is abrupt; usually humour that comes from an odd and sudden change in tone
- BiblicalLanguage that relates to the bible and thus has religious connotations
- BlazonA poem in which the speaker describes a woman's physique by focusing on and listing various individual parts of a woman's body
- CaricatureAn imitation where particular notable characteristics are exaggerated to a comic or grotesque effect
- ColloquialismAn informal word or phrase used in normal or familiar conversation
- Comic reliefRelief from tension caused by the introduction of a comedic element
- ConnotationAn impression, idea, or feeling associated with a word or phase beyond its literal meaning
- DichotomyA division or contrast between two opposed things
- Double entendreWords or phrases that have a double meaning and is deliberately ambiguous, especially when one of the meanings is risqué
- DysphemismThe substitution of a more offensive term for one considered less so
- EpithetA word or phrase applied to a person to describe an actual or credited quality
- EpitomeA perfect example of a specific quality
- EpizeuxisThe repetition of words in succession within the same sentence
- EuphemismThe substitution of a harmless term for one that is considered as offensively risqué or explicit
- Extended metaphorA metaphor that continues over many sentences and could even extend throughout the entire play
- ForeshadowingA device in which an author suggests certain plot developments that might come later in the play
- GrotesqueUgly and distorted, physically or figuratively, in a way that is comic or repulsive
- HyperboleAn extravagant exaggeration of fact, used either for serious or comic effect
- IdeologyA system of beliefs and ideals, typically forming a framework for a political policy or a religion
- ImageryUse of language which is visually descriptive or symbolic
- IronyThe use of words where the meaning is contrary to what is expected to actually occur
- JuxtapositionA literary technique that places two opposing words, phrases or events side by side, often for the main purpose of comparing or contrasting them
- ManifestationA physical expression or realisation of an abstract idea through a character, object, place, or event
- MotifAn element that reoccurs, such as a word, phrase, idea, image, action, character or symbol that appears throughout the play for emphasis
- OxymoronA form of paradox that combines a pair of contrasting terms into a single, sometimes unique expression
- ParableA story used to teach a moral or spiritual lesson, typically told in the Bible by Jesus
- Pathetic FallacyWhen human emotions or characteristics are given to objects, nature or the weather
- PersonificationGiving something non-human a human trait, capability, or personality
- PunA play on words which suggests multiple meanings
- SatireThe use of humour, irony or exaggeration to ridicule and criticize an individual's stupidity
- Semantic FieldWhen a writer employs multiple words which are similar and thus group together under one sub-heading
- SibilanceThe repetition of 's' sounds close together
- SimileComparing something to something else in a nonliteral way, in order to convey a particular idea or quality of the original thing
- SymbolismUsing one object or character to expose a broader idea running throughout the play
- TropeA particular type of character, event, or setting that is used frequently in stories
- ZoomorphismImagery representing animal forms
- AnaphoraRepeating a sequence of words at the beginning of adjacent clauses