Literary Terms Made Simple

LITERARY TERMS TOO CONFUSING?

HERE’S A QUICK GUIDE TO SOME OF THEM

It never fails to amaze me how many words seem so difficult and alien at first yet mean something very simple.

Well, here’s the easy way to remember what they mean:

• Palindrome – Word, phrase, number or  sequence that reads the same back to front. E.g.  Radar, deed,  Robert Trebor

• Onomatopoeia – Words that sound like the noise they represent. E.g. Tap, pat, smack, drip – (Think 60’s Batman TV show)

• Colloquialism– Slang, regional phrases, informal expressions. E.g `Innit’, British slang for isn’t it?

• Conjunction – Connects two words, phrases, sentences and clauses together. E.g. And, but, either,  yet, so.

• Portmanteau – A blend of two words or two parts of a word to make a new word. E.g.  Weekend, camcorder, smog etc
• Genre – A category, group or type of something. This can be used both inside and outside of literature. E.g. Comedy, Rock’n’roll..

• Emotive – About emotion, something that creates emotion. E.g. `The poem used emotive language.

• Neologism – Made up word, new word. Neos and logos are Greek for new and words. E.g Boptingly, stupishly…

Image belongs to: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/ba1969.

Here’s a nice palindrome poem I found: War’s Raw

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