You need to write a quick definition for each of the following literary terms. These are the terms that you might be expected to identify and comment on in a CLOSEREADING passage, ora CRITICAL ESSAY… you will also NEED to know them if you are to have a better chance of passing your Higher... in other words, they are important and you NEED to learn them!
onomatopoeia - The formation of a word from a sound that is associated with what is named; eg: cuckoo, sizzle, rustle...
metaphor - saying something IS something else, eg: 'he was a greedy pig'
simile - comparison using 'like' or 'as' eg: 'he ate like a greedy pig'
alliteration - a group of words near each other (in a piece of writing) which begin with the same letter, eg: Wiki wiki winton's welcoming wine!
personification - Talking about something which is not alive as if it is alive. eg: the chair groaned under Mr Winton's weight
irony - saying one thing when the meaning lies elsewhere, eg: Calling someone 'Tiny Tim' when they are 6feet tall...
hyperbole - over-exaggeration... used for effect. eg: There were millions of people at the concert...
pun - a deliberate play on words, often for comic effect. eg: there were rumours flying around the airport... (Thanks for that, Eliot's mum!)
symbolism - a word which carries its own associations with it. eg: the rose is a symbol of love and beauty... the crucifix is a symbol for religion/christianity, etc...
paradox - a statement which is (apparently) self-contradictory. eg: He wept for joy... She cried with laughter...
euphemism - saying something bad/unpleasant in a pleasnt way. eg: '...passed away...'
oxymoron - contradictory terms which are brought together. eg: 'bitter sweet' 'deafening silence'
synonym - different words which mean the same, or nearly the same. eg: haughty & vain, naughty & bad...
antonym - words with opposite meanings. eg: good & bad, day & night...
litotes - deliberate understatement (antonym for hyperbole!). eg: Saying something amazing is 'Not bad!' (ie: Scottish national characteristic!)
connotation - associations we have with words, not the direct (literal) meaning of the word. eg: Red has connotations of love, heat, hate, passion, blood... It can connote fire, and the Devil... etc...
Table of Contents
DEFINITIONS
You need to write a quick definition for each of the following literary terms. These are the terms that you might be expected to identify and comment on in a CLOSE READING passage, or a CRITICAL ESSAY… you will also NEED to know them if you are to have a better chance of passing your Higher... in other words, they are important and you NEED to learn them!
onomatopoeia - The formation of a word from a sound that is associated with what is named; eg: cuckoo, sizzle, rustle...
metaphor - saying something IS something else, eg: 'he was a greedy pig'
simile - comparison using 'like' or 'as' eg: 'he ate like a greedy pig'
alliteration - a group of words near each other (in a piece of writing) which begin with the same letter, eg: Wiki wiki winton's welcoming wine!
personification - Talking about something which is not alive as if it is alive. eg: the chair groaned under Mr Winton's weight
irony - saying one thing when the meaning lies elsewhere, eg: Calling someone 'Tiny Tim' when they are 6feet tall...
hyperbole - over-exaggeration... used for effect. eg: There were millions of people at the concert...
pun - a deliberate play on words, often for comic effect. eg: there were rumours flying around the airport... (Thanks for that, Eliot's mum!)
symbolism - a word which carries its own associations with it. eg: the rose is a symbol of love and beauty... the crucifix is a symbol for religion/christianity, etc...
paradox - a statement which is (apparently) self-contradictory. eg: He wept for joy... She cried with laughter...
euphemism - saying something bad/unpleasant in a pleasnt way. eg: '...passed away...'
oxymoron - contradictory terms which are brought together. eg: 'bitter sweet' 'deafening silence'
synonym - different words which mean the same, or nearly the same. eg: haughty & vain, naughty & bad...
antonym - words with opposite meanings. eg: good & bad, day & night...
litotes - deliberate understatement (antonym for hyperbole!). eg: Saying something amazing is 'Not bad!' (ie: Scottish national characteristic!)
connotation - associations we have with words, not the direct (literal) meaning of the word. eg: Red has connotations of love, heat, hate, passion, blood... It can connote fire, and the Devil... etc...