Advanced Literary Terms

Front

Antimetabole

Back

Repetition of words in reverse grammatical order. Example: “Eat to live, not live to eat.”

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Anastrophe

Back

Inversion of the normal word order in a sentence.

Front

Apposition

Back

Placing elements side by side, one defining the other.

Front

Asyndeton

Back

The omission of conjunctions in a list for emphasis. Example: X, Y, Z

Front

Epanalepsis

Back

Repetition at the beginning and end of a sentence. Example: “Common sense is not so common.”

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Hypotactic

Back

Use of connecting words to show logical relationships between clauses. Example: “I am tired because it is hot.”

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Litotes

Back

An understatement using double negatives. Example: “Not bad” to mean “good”

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Loose Sentence

Back

A sentence where the main clause comes first followed by additional detail.

Front

Periodic Sentence

Back

A sentence where the main clause is at the end, after introductory material.

Front

Polysyndeton

Back

Use of multiple conjunctions without commas. Example: “He ran and jumped and laughed for joy.”