Thursday, October 11, 2007

Literary and Rhetorical Terms

Over at The UVic Writer's Guide, you can find a page of literary and rhetorical terms that may prove useful to you in both your reading and your writing.

As far as reading goes, it's interesting to identify some of the characteristics of a book or essay or poem that you are reading. Is it ironic? Is it satire? This helps you get more out of your reading and understand better what you are reading.

When it comes to writing, knowing these terms and characteristics can help you conciously choose what elements to put into your writing to give it more depth and interest. Knowing these terms can also help you avoid putting unwanted things in your writing, such as bombast, cliches, or hyperbole. The list of terms can also help sort out metaphors, similes, conceits, and so forth.

Besides, it's just a fun page to explore!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am always trying to make up for those classes that I thought that I cleverly avoided in high school. These links are much appreciated.

Mary A said...

Hi, Barb! Even if you'd taken all those classes, it's impossible to remember all this stuff! I find this site useful, too, to refresh my poor aging memory!