Terms : Hide Images
| 44404017 | Abstract Language | describes ideas and qualities, rather than observable or specific things | |
| 44404018 | Ad Hominem | attack on one's opponent, rather than the opponent's argument | |
| 44404019 | Allegory | symbolic story that has a second meaning beneath the surface one | |
| 44404020 | Alliteration | repetition of initial consonant sounds in words | |
| 44404021 | Allusion | indirect reference to famous events or characters from history, literature, or mythology | |
| 44404022 | Ambiguity | event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way; intentional vagueness | |
| 44404023 | Anachronism | placement of an event, person, thing out of its proper place in time | |
| 44404024 | Anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row | |
| 44404025 | Antithesis | juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas | |
| 44404026 | Ethos | appeals to the audience's sense of morals or principles | |
| 44404027 | Logos | appeals to the audience's sense of logic and reasoning | |
| 44404028 | Pathos | appeals to the audience's emotions | |
| 44404029 | Apostrophe | address to the dead as though they were living; to the inanimate as if animate; to the absent as if present | |
| 44404030 | Argumentation | exploring a problem by examining all sides of it; persuasion through reason | |
| 44404031 | Archetype | stereotype of literature | |
| 44404032 | Assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds | |
| 44404033 | Assumption | when details are not stated but must be inferred by the reader | |
| 44404034 | Asyndeton | series of words separated by commas without conjunctions | |
| 44404035 | Balance | construction in which both halves of the sentence have the same length and importance | |
| 44404036 | Catharsis | cleansing release of unhealthy emotions | |
| 44404037 | Causal Relationship | one thing results from another | |
| 44404038 | Chiasmus | arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern XY-YX | |
| 44404039 | Cliche | expression so often used its freshness and originality have worn off | |
| 44404040 | Comic Relief | humor in the serious action of a tragedy; enriches the quality of the work | |
| 44404041 | Concrete Language | describes specific, observable things rather than ideas or qualities | |
| 44404042 | Connotation | emotions associated with a word | |
| 44404043 | Consonance | repetition of consonant sounds; not limited to the first letter of words | |
| 44404044 | Conventional | following traditional techniques of writing | |
| 44404045 | Cumulative | sentence that begins with the main idea and expands on that idea with a series of details | |
| 44404046 | Denotation | dictionary definition of a word | |
| 44404047 | Formal Diction | used in serious books and lofty discourse | |
| 44404048 | Informal Diction | found in relaxed but polite and cultivated conversation | |
| 44404049 | Colloquial Diction | everyday usage that may contain terms accepted in a group but not universally acceptable | |
| 44404050 | Slang | newly coined words that are not yet a part of formal usage | |
| 44413287 | Didactic | literature designed to teach or instruct | |
| 44413288 | Digression | temporary departure from the main subject in speaking or writing | |
| 44413289 | Elegy | formal poem lamenting the death of a particular person | |
| 44413290 | Elliptical | deliberate omission of words implied by context | |
| 44413291 | Empathy | reader understands closely what the character is feeling | |
| 44413292 | Enthymeme | syllogism (logical argument) in which the major premise is unstated but meant to be understood | |
| 44413293 | Epithet | adjective used to point out a characteristic of a person or thing | |
| 44413294 | Euphemism | mild word used to substitute an unpleasant or offensive word | |
| 44413295 | Foreshadowing | method used to build suspense by providing hints of what is to come | |
| 44413296 | Figurative Language | words that are inaccurate literally, but describe by calling to mind sensations or responses that the thing described evokes | |
| 44413297 | Freight Train | sentence consisting of three or more short independent clauses joined by conjunctions | |
| 44413298 | Generalization | basing a claim upon an isolated example or asserting that a claim is true rather than probable | |
| 44413299 | Genre | major category into which a literary work fits | |
| 44413300 | Grotesque | bizarre, incongruous, ugly, unnatural, or abnormal | |
| 44413301 | Hyperbole | overstatement or exaggeration of facts | |
| 44413302 | Idiom | use of words or grammatical construction peculiar to a given language, or an expression that cannot be translated literally into a second language | |
| 44413303 | Imagery | use of language to represent sense experience | |
| 44413304 | Auditory Imagery | use of language to represent an experience pertaining to sound | |
| 44413305 | Gustatory Imagery | use of language to represent an experience pertaining to taste | |
| 44413306 | Kinesthetic Imagery | use of language to represent an experience pertaining to the movement of muscles, tendons, or joints | |
| 44413307 | Olfactory Imagery | use of language to represent an experience pertaining to smell | |
| 44413308 | Tactile Imagery | use of language to represent an experience pertaining to touch | |
| 44413309 | Visual Imagery | use of language to represent an experience pertaining to sight | |
| 44413310 | Inversion | word order that places a modifier or verb before the subject | |
| 44413311 | Situational Irony | contrast between what is normally expected and what actually occurs | |
| 44413312 | Dramatic Irony | reader or audience knows more about the events of a story than the character in the story | |
| 44413313 | Verbal Irony | what is said is the opposite of what is meant | |
| 44413314 | Juxtaposition | placement of two things side by side for the purposes of examination | |
| 44413315 | Litote | understatement that purposefully represents something as much less significant as it is, achieving an ironic effect | |
| 44413316 | Loose Sentence | main clause comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units | |
| 44413317 | Metaphor | comparison without using "like" or "as" | |
| 44413318 | Metonymy | designation of one thing with something closely associated with it | |
| 44413319 | Mood | atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work | |
| 44429657 | Motif | frequently recurring character, incident, or concept in a work of literature | |
| 44429658 | Negative-Positive | sentence that begins by stating what is not true and then ending by stating what is true | |
| 44429659 | Onomatopoeia | word whose sound suggests its meaning | |
| 44429660 | Oxymoron | paradox that combines terms normally seen as opposites | |
| 44429661 | Parallelism | similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses | |
| 44429662 | Paradox | statement that appears contradictory yet expresses a truth when viewed from another angle | |
| 44429663 | Parody | comic imitation of another work often for ridicule | |
| 44429664 | Pedantic | scholarly, academic writing that borders on lecturing | |
| 44429665 | Parenthesis | insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal flow of the sentence | |
| 44429666 | Periodic Sentence | main clause comes last, preceded by dependent grammatical units | |
| 44429667 | Polysyndeton | sentence that uses "and" or another conjunction (with no commas) to separate items in a series; X and Y and Z | |
| 44429668 | Personification | attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract concepts | |
| 44429669 | Pun | play on words that utilizes a word's multiple meanings | |
| 44429670 | Realism | faithful representation of reality to make a story more believable | |
| 44429671 | Red Herring | when an author raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue | |
| 44429672 | Rhetoric | art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse | |
| 44429673 | Rhetorical Criticism | analyses the techniques employed in a literary work to impose the author's view on the reader | |
| 44429674 | Sarcasm | verbal irony that uses insincere praise to express bitter and caustic disapproval | |
| 44429675 | Satire | used to arouse laughter at targets such as people or groups to expose human folly | |
| 44429676 | Simile | comparison using "like" or "as" | |
| 44429677 | Stream of Consciousness | writing technique that uses frequent illogical and incoherent digressions to reproduce the raw flow of consciousness | |
| 44429678 | Structure | organization or arrangement of various elements in a work | |
| 44429679 | Narrative Structure | chronological organization used to convey a story | |
| 44429680 | Dramatic Structure | organization used in plays that consists of a series of scenes, each of which is presented in vivid detail | |
| 44429681 | Discursive Structure | organization used in an argument or essay | |
| 44429682 | Style | arrangement of words in a manner that expresses the author's individuality and his or her intent | |
| 44429683 | Rhetorical Question | question used to emphasize a point; no answer is expected | |
| 44429684 | Syllepsis | grammatical construction in which one word relates to two words in very different ways | |
| 44429685 | Syllogism | format of a formal argument that consists of a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion | |
| 44429686 | Symbol | character, object, or event in literature that represents something larger than itself | |
| 44429687 | Synecdoche | figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole | |
| 44429688 | Synesthesia | one sensory experience is described in terms of another sensory experience | |
| 44429689 | Syntax | manner in which words are joined to make phrases, clauses, and sentences | |
| 44429690 | Theme | main idea that the author expresses in a literary work | |
| 44429691 | Thesis | claim or proposition that a writer must strive to prove effectively and thoroughly | |
| 44429692 | Tone | attitude of the speaker of a work of literature expresses to the reader through language | |
| 44429693 | Voice | total "sound" or "feel" of a writer's style that is present behind characters, narrators, and personae of literature | |
| 44429694 | Wit | intellectual humor that suggests the speaker's verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks | |
| 44429695 | Zeugma | writer uses one word to govern several successive words or clauses |
