Literary and Rhetorical Terms (to F)

A reference to a person, place or event intended to enhance the meaning of an idea

• abstraction

• ambiguity

• allusion

• apostrophe

When a speaker addresses a person or personified thing which is not present

• bombast

• caesura

• denotation

• apostrophe

I weep for Adonais—he is dead!

Oh, weep for Adonais! though our tears

Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!

And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years

To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers...

• elegy

• burlesque

• aphorism

• dramatic irony

The choice of words in speech or writing. Serves to create meaning, portray characters, convey tone, etc.

• antithesis

• diction

• annotation

• empathy

My aunt waited until Eliza sighed and then said:

“Ah, well, he’s gone to a better world.”

Eliza sighed again and bowed her head in assent. My aunt fingered the stem of her wine-glass before sipping a little.

“Did he…peacefully?” she asked.

“Oh, quite peacefully, ma’am,” said Eliza. “You couldn’t tell when the breath went out of him. He had a beautiful death, God be praised.”

“And everything…?”

• catharsis

• carpe diem

• elliptical sentences

• caesura

I’d rather die on my feet, than live on my knees.

• abstract

• couplet

• anachronism

• aphorism

"The fickle finger of fortune" This phrase shows all of the following EXCEPT...

• alliteration

• personification

• archetype

• assonance

April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

• end-stopping

• enjambment

• epithet

• couplet

An example of...

• bildungsroman

• canon

• burlesque

• caricature

We saw her duck.

• bombast

• ambiguity

• bathos

• allusion