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Grade 9 English
Exam Definitions
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Adnomination | Repetition of words with the same root. The difference lies in one sound or letter. A nice euphony can be achieved by using this poetic device. Examples: Someone, somewhere, wants something. |
Allegory | Representation of ideas thru a certain form (character, event). can convey hidden meanings thru symbolic figures, actions, & imagery. E. Animal Farm is about Russian Revolution, characters stand f/working & upper classes, military, & political leaders. |
Alliteration | The repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of words, or the repetition of the same sounds of the same kind at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of a phrase. Ex: A lazy lying lion. Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers. |
Allusion | Reference to a myth, character, literary work, work of art, or an event. Ex: I feel like I’m going down the rabbit hole (an allusion to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll). |
Anaphora | Word repetition at the beginnings of sentences in order to give emphasis to them. Ex: “Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring......." |
Epiphora | Word repetition at the end of sentences. Ex: “And that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Abraham Lincoln) |
Antithesis | Emphasizing contrast between two things or fictional characters. Ex: “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) |
Apostrophe | Directed speech to someone who is not present or to an object. Ex: “Work on, my medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught.” (William Shakespeare) |
Assonance | Repetition of vowels in order to create internal rhyming. Ex: “Hear the mellow wedding bells.” (Edgar Allan Poe) |
Consonance | Repetition of consonants ex.Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter-repetition of the "t," and "r" sounds. |
Cataphora | Mentioning of the person or object further in the discourse. Ex: I met him yesterday, your boyfriend who was wearing the cool hat. -If you want some, here’s some cheese. -After he had received his orders, the soldier left the barracks. |
Climax | Arranging text in such a manner that tension gradually ascends. Ex. He was a not bad listener, a good speaker and an amazing performer. |
Anticlimax | Tension descends. ex.Tension builds in a horror movie as a young girl approaches a closed door. There is a scratching sound coming from behind the door. When she opens it, a cat comes out |
Charactonym (or Speaking Name) | Giving fictional characters names that describe them. Ex: Scrooge, Snow White. |
Ellipsis | Word or phrase omission. Ex: I speak lots of languages, but you only speak two (languages). |
Euphemism | Replacing offensive or combinations of words with lighter equivalents. Ex: Visually challenged (blind); meet one’s maker (die) |
Dysphemism | Replacing a neutral word with a harsher word ex:Using "Looney Bin" in place of mental hospital. |
Epigram | Memorable and brief saying, usually satirical. Ex: “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” (Virginia Woolf) |
Hyperbole | Exaggeration of the statement. Ex: If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times. |
Litotes | Understatement ex:“not too bad” for “very good” is an understatement |
Hypophora | Asking a question and answering it right away. Ex: Are you going to leave now? I don’t think so. |
Verbal Irony | (Antiphrasis) – using words to express something different from their literal meaning for ironic effect (”I’m so excited to burn the midnight oil and write my academic paper all week long”). |
Situational Irony | result differs from the expectation (Bruce Robertson, a character of Filth, is a policeman. Nonetheless, he does drugs, resorts to violence and abuse, and so on). |
Dramatic Irony | situation is understandable for the audience but not the fictional character/actor (audience sees that the fictional characters/actors will be killed now, though the characters don’t expect it). |
Merism | Describing people/objects by enumerating their traits. Ex: Lock, stock, and barrel (gun); heart and soul (entirety) |
Metalepsis | Referencing one thing through the means of another thing, which is related to the first one. Ex: “Stop judging people so strictly—you live in a glass house too.” (A hint at the proverb: people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.) |
Metaphor | Comparing two different things that have some characteristics in common. Ex:The typical teenage boy’s room is a disaster area |
Metonymy | Giving a thing another name that is associated with it. Ex: The heir to the crown was Richard. (the crown stands for authority) |
Onomatopoeia | Imitating sounds in writing. Ex: oink, ticktock, tweet tweet |
Oxymoron | Combining contradictory traits. Ex: Living dead; terribly good; real magic |
Parallelism | Arranging a sentence in such a manner that it has parallel structure. Ex: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I will learn.” (Benjamin Franklin) |
Chiasmus | An inverted parallelism Ex: We shape our buildings, and afterward our buildings shape us |
Parenthesis | nterrupting a sentence by inserting extra information enclosed in brackets, commas, or dashes. Ex: Our family (my mother, sister, and grandfather) had a barbeque this past weekend. |
Personification | Attributing human characteristics to nonhumans. Ex: Practically all animals in fairy tales act like human beings. They speak and have traits that are typical of people. |
Antanaclasis Pun | repetition of the same word or phrase, but with a different meaning (“Cats like Felix like Felix.”—“Felix” catfood slogan). |
Malapropism Pun | usage of the incorrect word instead of the word with a similar sound (“optical delusion” instead of “optical illusion”). |
Paradox Pun | self-contradictory fact; however, it can be partially true (“I can resist anything but temptation.”—Oscar Wilde). |
Paraprosdokian Pun | arranging a sentence in such a manner so the last part is unexpected (You’re never too old to learn something stupid). |
Polyptoton Pun | repetition of the words with the same root (“The things you own end up owning you.”—Chuck Palahniuk). |
Rhetorical question | Questioning without expecting the answer. Examples: Why not? Are you kidding me? |
Simile | Direct comparison. Ex: “Your heart is like an ocean, mysterious and dark.” (Bob Dylan) |
Synecdoche | Generalization or specification based on a definite part/trait of the object. Ex: He just got new wheels. (car) |
Tautology | Saying the same thing twice in different ways. Examples: first priority I personally repeat again |
Zeugma (or Syllepsis) | Applying a word to a few other words in the sentence in order to give different meaning. Ex: She broke his car and his heart. |
Implicit | In advertising- hidden messages. Not so obvious but inferred. Media uses visuals, settings, body language, colours etc. to communicate. Ex: Cologne ad- guy is with a beautiful girl (because he is wearing cologne) |
Explicit | In advertising- obvious, clear, specific, and detailed. Leave little room for interpretation. Ex: ad for juice stating that it contains 100% or your recommended daily vitamin C |