LITERARY STRATEGIES GLOSSARY

1. diction: the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.
Formal vs informal
ex. It tastes good.
ex. The succulent aroma and blend of flavors made the chicken tingle
the patrons’ taste buds.

• Colloquial—conversational language, every day speech. informal

• Dialect-is there dialect?

• Slang—highly informal and not appropriate for most writing

• Jargon—the special language of a profession or group (lawyer or teacher

talk, medical terminology, technical words) that is usually formal

general vs. specific

• Monosyllabic -one syllable

• Polysyllabic -many syllables

• denotation: literal dictionary definition

• connotation: The emotional implications and associations that a word may
carry, in contrast to its denotative meanings.
• ex. She waited to do her homework
• ex. She procrastinated and didn’t do her homework until after Pretty Little
Liars.
• Euphonious (Pleasant Sounding) vs. Cacophonous (Harsh Sounding)

• Abstract (pleasant) vs. concrete (sour)

• figurative language
2. Syntax: the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed
sentences.
Arrangement of sentences:

loose: Main point is at beginning; We reached Edmonton that morning after a

turbulent flight and some exciting experiences.

periodic: Main point is at end. That morning, after a turbulent flight and some
exciting experiences, we reached Edmonton.

parallel: Two or more words, phrases, or clauses that are similar in length and
grammatical form; all verb forms must match

natural order: a sentence that follows order, subj/verb/object

Oranges grow in California.

inverted order: a sentence that follows order, verb/subj/object

In California grow oranges

Sentence Classifications

• Declarative (statement) The King is sick.

• Interrogative (question) What’s the matter with the king?

• Imperative (command) Bow to the King.

• Exclamatory (exclamation) The King is dead!

• 4 TYPES OF SENTENCES:
• Simple: one subject, one verb
• The Singer bowed her head to her audience.
• Compound: two or more independent clauses (fanboys)
• The singer bowed gracefully to the audience, but she sang no encores.
• Complex: one independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses.
• Although the singer bowed gratefully to the audience, she sang no encores.
• Compound-Complex: two or more independent clauses and at least one
dependent clause.
 • The singer bowed gratefully while the audience applauded, but she sang no
encores.

Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure.

Conjunctions that express antithesis include but, yet, and while.
ex.: ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your
country." --John F. Kennedy, "Inaugural Address"" That's one small step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind." --Neil Armstrong
Juxtaposition: -placing two ideas, words, or pictures side by side so that their
closeness creates a new, sometimes ironic, meaning.

ex: “The wretchedness of slavery and the blessedness of freedom were

perpetually before me.”
Ellipsis: purposeful omission of word to be supplied by the reader ex. "His
brow was furrowed…his mouth peevish.“ (P.G. Wodehouse, Leave It to Psmith,
1923)

em dash: An em dash is the width of an m. Use an em dash sparingly in formal

writing. In informal writing, em dashes may replace commas, semicolons, colons, and
parentheses to indicate added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of
thought.

Coordination VS Subordination

coordination: use of coordinating conjunctions (fanboys) to show equality

between phrases
polysyndeton: using several conjunctions in close succession, especially where
some might be omitted (as in `he ran and jumped and laughed for joy')
asyndeton instead of conjunctions, using commas in a long list
subordination: 1 idea, surrounded by commas, depends on another:
chronologically, cause & effect, or conditional
In the time-honored fashion of the ancient world, he opens the book at random,
intending to receive as a divine message the first sentence his eyes should fall
upon. -- How the Irish Saved Civilization (57)
3. White space: line breaks and stops in poems **poetic device

4. slant rhyme: it kind of rhymes **poetic device

5. apostrophe: the act of addressing something abstract or personification that
is not physically there. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” –Keats

6. enjambment: the running over of a sentence from one verse or couplet into
another so that closely related words fall in different lines (usually only
poetry)
7. assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal
rhyming within phrases or sentences
8. consonance: recurrence or repetition of consonants especially at the end of
stressed syllables without the similar correspondence of vowels (as in the final
sounds of “stroke”and “luck”)

9. imagery: use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to an author’s work
auditory imagery: appealing to reader’s sense of sound
olfactory imagery: appealing to reader’s sense of smell
gustatory imagery: appealing to reader’s sense of taste
tactile imagery: appealing to reader’s sense of touch
visual imagery: appealing to reader’s sense of sight
ex: “When Sula first visited the Wright house, Helen’s curdled scorn turned
to butter” (29). gustatory

10.anaphora: The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at

the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or
paragraphs; for example, "We shall fight on the beaches, we
shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields
and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills" (Winston S.
Churchill).

11. Conceit: elaborate, unecpected metaphor

POETRY NOTES:
Narrative

Lyric

Prosody

Ballad

Ode

Elegy

Sonnet

Blank Verse

Free Verse