Figurative Language & Sentence Structure – Flashcards
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Synecdoche
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A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword).
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Metonymy
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A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty").
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Metaphor
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A figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity.
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Simile
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A comparison using "like" or "as"
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Satire
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A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. It doesn't simply abuse (as in invective) or get personal (as in sarcasm). It targets groups or large concepts rather than individuals.
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Sarcasm
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A type of verbal irony in which, under the guise of praise, a caustic and bitter expression of strong and personal disapproval is given. Sarcasm is personal, jeering, and intended to hurt.
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Irony
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A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen.
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Personification
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A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes
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Litotes
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A form of "meiosis" in which an idea is expressed by the denial of its opposite; understatement for emphasis (describing something by what it is not)
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meiosis
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A kind of humorous understatement that dismisses or belittles, especially by using terms that make something seem less significant than it really is or ought to be.
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Hyperbole
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purposeful exaggeration for effect
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Apostrophe
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A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.
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Alliteration
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Repetition of initial consonant sounds
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Anaphora
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A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences.
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Antimetabole
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Figure of emphasis in which the words in one phrase or clause are replicated, exactly or closely, in reverse grammatical order in the next phrase or clause; a chiasmus on the level of words (A-B, B-A). For example, "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" (JFK).
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Antithesis
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Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure
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Zeugma
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Artfully using a single verb to refer to two different objects in an ungrammatical but striking way, or artfully using an adjective to refer to two separate nouns, even though the adjective would logically only be appropriate for one of the two.
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Anastrophe
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Inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence.Purpose is rhythm or emphasis or euphony. It is a fancy word for inversion (yoda-speak)
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antecedent
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A pronoun that refers back to a previous noun or pronoun
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Appositive
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A noun or noun phrase that follows another noun immediately or defines or amplifies its meaning
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Phrase
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A group of words with a meaning; an expression
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clause
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a unit of grammatical organization next below the sentence in rank and in traditional grammar said to consist of a subject and predicate.
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Simple Sentence
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A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause
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Compound Sentence
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A sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions.
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Complex Sentence
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A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause
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Fragment
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A word, phrase, or clause that does not form a full sentence
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Subordination
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The act of making an encumbrance secondary or junior to another (although your son is always late, he is a good student vs. although your son is a good student, he is always late).
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Passive Voice
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Sentence construction in which the subject does not do the action expressed by the verb; rather the subject is acted upon. Passive voice tends to be less effective for business communication
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Active Voice
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Expresses an action done by its subject.
