Terms : Hide Images
| 118088304 | ambiguity | the multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage | 0 | |
| 118088305 | clause | a grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb | 1 | |
| 118088306 | oxymoron | from the Greek for "pointedly foolish", a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox | 2 | |
| 118088307 | litotes | a form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite | 3 | |
| 118088308 | syllogism | from the Greek for "reckoning together", a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion | 4 | |
| 118088309 | repetition | the duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern | 5 | |
| 118088310 | personification | a figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions | 6 | |
| 118088311 | homily | this term literally means "sermon" but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice | 7 | |
| 118088312 | diction | refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness | 8 | |
| 118088313 | genre | the major category into which a literary work fits | 9 | |
| 118088314 | transition | a word or phrase that links different ideas | 10 | |
| 118088315 | synesthesia | when one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another | 11 | |
| 118088316 | style | an evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices; classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors | 12 | |
| 118088317 | prose | one of the major divisions of genre; refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms | 13 | |
| 118088318 | pedantic | an adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish | 14 | |
| 118088319 | metaphor | a figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. | 15 | |
| 118088320 | mood | the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work | 16 | |
| 118088321 | hyperbole | a figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement | 17 | |
| 118088322 | didactic | from the Greek for "teaching", these words have the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles | 18 | |
| 118088323 | inference | to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented | 19 | |
| 118088324 | theme | the central idea or message of a work; the insite it offers into life | 20 | |
| 118088325 | tone | similar to mood, tone describes the author's attitude towards his material, the audience, or both | 21 | |
| 118088326 | wit | in modern usage, intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights | 22 | |
| 118088327 | satire | a work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule | 23 | |
| 118088328 | subordinate clause | a word group that contains both a subject and a verb, but cannot stand alone because it does not express a complete thought | 24 | |
| 118088329 | semantics | the branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another | 25 | |
| 118088330 | point of view | in literature, the perspective from which a story is told | 26 | |
| 118088331 | rhetoric | from the Greek for "orator", this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively | 27 | |
| 118088332 | figurative language | writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid | 28 | |
| 118088333 | imagery | the sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions | 29 | |
| 118088334 | generic conventions | this term describes traditions for each genre | 30 | |
| 118088335 | denotation | the strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color | 31 | |
| 118088336 | antithesis | the opposition or contrast of ideas; the direct opposite | 32 | |
| 118088337 | caricature | a verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comic effect, a person's distinctive physical features or other characteristics | 33 | |
| 118088338 | antecedent | the word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun | 34 | |
| 118088339 | allusion | a direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art | 35 | |
| 118088340 | euphemism | from the Greek for "good speech"; a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept | 36 | |
| 118088341 | conceit | a fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects | 37 | |
| 118088342 | aphorism | a terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle | 38 | |
| 118088343 | connotation | the non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning | 39 | |
| 118088344 | figure of speech | a device used to produce figurative language | 40 | |
| 118088345 | apostrophe | a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love | 41 | |
| 118088346 | alliteration | a repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words | 42 | |
| 118088347 | loose sentence | a type of sentence in which the main idea comes first followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses | 43 | |
| 118088348 | onomatopoeia | a figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words | 44 | |
| 118088349 | irony | the contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true | 45 | |
| 118088350 | paradox | a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity | 46 | |
| 118088351 | subject complement | the word or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes the subject of a sentence by either renaming it or describing it | 47 | |
| 118088352 | sarcasm | from the Greek meaning "to tear flesh"; involves bitter caustic langauge that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something | 48 | |
| 118088353 | allegory | the device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning | 49 | |
| 118088354 | analogy | a similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them | 50 | |
| 118088355 | atmosphere | the emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described | 51 | |
| 118088356 | colloquialism | the use of slang or informalities in speech or writing | 52 | |
| 118088357 | extended metaphor | a metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | 53 | |
| 118088358 | invective | an emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language | 54 | |
| 118088359 | metonymy | a term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or" substitute name"; a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it | 55 | |
| 118088360 | narrative | the telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events | 56 | |
| 118088361 | parallelism | refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity | 57 | |
| 118088362 | anaphora | a sub-type of parallelism, when the exact repetition of words or phrases occurs at the beginning of successive lines or sentences | 58 | |
| 118088363 | parody | a work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule | 59 | |
| 118088364 | periodic sentence | a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end | 60 | |
| 118088365 | rhetorical modes | the flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing | 61 | |
| 118088366 | symbolism | generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else | 62 | |
| 118088367 | syntax | the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences | 63 | |
| 118088368 | thesis | the sentence that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or position | 64 | |
| 118088369 | understatement | the ironic minimalizing of fact; it presents something as less significant than it is | 65 | |
| 118088370 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or, occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part | 66 |
