Sounds of words

Alliteration

Assonance: Repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other. Should be in sounds that
are accented, stressed, rather than in vowel sounds that are unaccented.\
Example: He’s a Bruisin’ loser

Consonance: Repeated consonant sounds at the ending of words placed near each other.
accented, stressed.
Boats into the past
Cool soul

Cacophony: a discordant series of harsh, unpleasant sounds. Conveys disorder.

Difficulty of pronunciation

Euphony: a series of musically pleasant sounds.

Onomatopoeia

Repitition

Rhyme

Rhythm: verbal stress in a regular pattern of accented syllables.

Distinguishes poetry from prose.
EX: I THOUGHT I SAW a PUSsyCAT.
Referred to as meter
Patterns:

Meanings of words
Allegory: representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning.
Possibly name of character or place.
Understood only after reading the entire story or poem

Allusion: reference to person or historical event, work of art, biblical or mythological.

Ambiguity: A word or phrase that can mean more than one thing
Ambiguous

Analogy

Apostrophe: speaking directly to a real or imagined listener or inanimate object.

Cliché: an figure of speech that was once clever and original but through overuse has become
outdated.
Ex: as busy as a bee

Connotation: The emotional, psychological, or social overtones of a word; its implications and
associations apart from its literal meaning.

Contrast

Denotation: literal meaning apart from any associations or connotations.

Eupherism: An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement.

Ex: she is at rest (meaning she’s dead)

Hyperbole

Irony

Metaphor: a direct comparison between two unlike things, stating that one is the other or does
the action.
Ex: He’s a zero.
Her fingers danced

Metonymy: a figure of speech in which a person, place or thing Is referred to by something

closely associated with it.
Ex: The White House stated today that…
Ex: The Crown reported today that…

Oxymoron: A combination of two words that appear to contradict eachother.

Ex: pointless point of view; bittersweet

Paradox: A statement in which a seeming contradiction may reveal an unexpected truth.

The hurrier I go the behinder I get.

Personification

Pun
Simile
Symbol

Synecdoche: indicating a person object by letting only certain part represent the whole.
All hands on deck

Word Bank:

Verbal Irony: when language is used to express something other than the truth. This can create
a sarcastic tone.
Innuendo: a comment that subtly suggests something sexual or unpleasant.
Plosive Sounds: the sound made when a breath is stopped quickly and suddenly let go again,
creating a powerful/ sudden sound.
Pun: when language is used to exploit the way in which words have the same sounds yet
different meanings.
Internal rhyme: when rhyming words are placed close together in a line.

DICTION: Author’s choice of words

Example from the Kray sisters:
The Kray sisters in the poem speak in connotative informal language. Cockney phrases such as
Thr’penny bits and Frog and toad indicate the authors’ socioeconomic background and provide
insight into their personas while obscuring information.