Terms : Hide Images
| 13535463897 | Allegory | The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. i.e. Animal Farm characters; The Crucible | 0 | |
| 13535463898 | Alliteration | The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words | 1 | |
| 13535463899 | Allusion | A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work or art purpose: writer does not have to elaborate | 2 | |
| 13535463901 | Analogy | A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them; using something well known to help explain something not as well known. (similar to simile) | 3 | |
| 13535463903 | Aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle; a memorable summation of the author's point | 4 | |
| 13535463905 | Atmosphere | The emotional mood 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. | 5 | |
| 13535463906 | Clause | A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. | 6 | |
| 13535463914 | Extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | 7 | |
| 13535463915 | Figurative language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid | 8 | |
| 13535463916 | Figure of speech | A device used to produce figurative language, Many compare dissimilar things | 9 | |
| 13535463917 | Generic conventions | This term describes traditions for each genre and helps define each genre. For example, they differentiate between an essay and journalistic writing and an autobiography and political writing | 10 | |
| 13535463918 | Genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry , and drama | 11 | |
| 13535463920 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement for emphasis | 12 | |
| 13535463921 | Imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, uses terms related to the five senses | 13 | |
| 13535463925 | Verbal irony | The words literally state the opposite of the writers or speakers true meaning | 14 | |
| 13535463926 | Situational irony | Events turn out the opposite of what was expected | 15 | |
| 13535463927 | Dramatic irony | Facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work | 16 | |
| 13535463929 | Metaphor | A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other | 17 | |
| 13535463936 | Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words | 18 | |
| 13535463937 | Oxymoron | From the Greek for "pointedly foolish" a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. Example: Jumbo Shrimp | 19 | |
| 13535463940 | Parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. It distorts or exaggerates distinctive features of the original | 20 | |
| 13535463943 | Point of view | The perspective from which a story is told | 21 | |
| 13535463944 | First-person narrator | Tells the story with the first-person pronoun "I" and is a character in the story. | 22 | |
| 13535463945 | Third person narrator | Relates the events with the third person pronouns, "he, she it" | 23 | |
| 13535463946 | Third person omniscient | the narrator, with god-like knowledge, presents the thoughts and actions of any or all characters | 24 | |
| 13535463947 | Third person limited omniscient | Presents the feelings and thoughts of only the actions of all remaining characters | 25 | |
| 13535463948 | Predicate adjectives | One type of subject complement- an adjective, group of adjectives, or adjective clauses that follows a linking verb Example: My boyfriend is tall, dark, and handsome. Tall, dark and handsome is describing boyfriend | 26 | |
| 13535463950 | Prose | One of the major divisions of genre, refers to fiction and nonfiction, because they are written in ordinary language and most closely resemble everyday speech | 27 | |
| 13535463951 | Repetition | The duplication, either exact or approximate of any element of language | 28 | |
| 13535463952 | Rhetoric | From the Greek "orator" describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively | 29 | |
| 13535463959 | Subject complement | The word or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by renaming it or describing it | 30 | |
| 13535463960 | Subordinate clause | Contains a subject and a verb but can not stand alone | 31 | |
| 13535463962 | Symbol | Anything that represents or stands for something else | 32 | |
| 13535463963 | Natural symbols | Use objects and occurrences from nature to represent ideas commonly associated with them I.e. Dawn and new beginnings | 33 | |
| 13535463964 | Conventional symbols | Those that have been invested with meaning by a group i.e. Star of David | 34 | |
| 13535463965 | Literary symbols | They are found in a variety of literature and are generally recognized i.e. whale in Moby Dick | 35 | |
| 13535463967 | Theme | The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers to life | 36 | |
| 13535463969 | Tone | Describes the author's attitude toward his or her material or the audience | 37 | |
| 13535463970 | Transition | A word or phrase that links different ideas | 38 | |
| 13535463971 | Understatement | The ironic minimalizing of fact, presenting something less significant than it actually is. Makes a work humorous and emphatic;A statement that lacks emphasis and is given less force than normal. | 39 | |
| 13535463972 | Wit | intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights | 40 | |
| 13535463973 | Attitude | A writer's intellectual position or emotion regarding the subject of the writing (related to tone) | 41 | |
| 13535463974 | Concrete detail | A non abstract detail asked on essay portion | 42 | |
| 13535463975 | Descriptive detail | Detail appealing to the visual sense of the reader | 43 | |
| 13535463976 | Devices | The figures of speech, syntax, diction, and other stylistic elements that collectively produce a particular artistic effect | 44 | |
| 13535463977 | Language | how the elements of this combine to form a whole (diction, syntax, figurative language, etc) | 45 | |
| 13535463978 | Narrative devices | The tools of the storyteller such as ordering events so that they build to a climactic moment or withholding information until a crucial time | 46 | |
| 13535463979 | Narrative technique | The style of telling the story, especially the order of events and their detail | 47 | |
| 13535463980 | Persuasive devices | The words in the passage that have strong connotations hint at this. Words that intensify the emotional effect | 48 | |
| 13535463981 | Persuasive essay | An essay that leads to appeal to the audience's emotion or ethical standards to make them feel or support the author's position | 49 | |
| 13535463982 | Resources of language | All the devices of composition available to a writer such as diction, syntax, sentence structure, etc | 50 | |
| 13535463983 | Rhetorical features | Refers to how a passage is constructed. Look at the passage's organization and how the writer combines images, details, or arguments | 51 | |
| 13535463984 | Sentence structure | The type of sentences the author uses; the simple, compound, complex types of this | 52 | |
| 13535463986 | Hyperbole | A non-literal exaggeration to emphasize something. | 53 | |
| 13535463991 | Procatalepsis | (Form of hypophora) Eliminates an objection without asking any questions. | 54 | |
| 13535463992 | Distinctio | Giving the definition of a word so that the word isn't taken the wrong way. | 55 | |
| 13535463993 | Simile | A figure of speech using "like" or "as" to compare two thing somewhat alike. | 56 | |
| 13535463994 | Metaphor | (Similar to simile) Speaking of something as though it were another. | 57 | |
| 13535463995 | Eponym | (Similar to allusion) Linking the attributes of a well known person to another person. | 58 | |
| 13535463997 | Exemplum | Providing the reader with an example to illustrate what the author means. Fictional examples need to be hypothetical. | 59 | |
| 13535463998 | Climax | Organizing ideas in writing from least to most important. | 60 | |
| 13535464000 | Chiasmus | (Form of parallelism) The structure of two lines are crisscrossed. The beginning of the first is at the end of the second and vice versa. | 61 | |
| 13535464001 | Anadiplosis | (Form of repetition) Repeating the last word of a phrase or sentence near the beginning of the next. | 62 | |
| 13535464002 | Conduplicatio | (Form of repetition) Take an important word in the previous sentence or phrase and repeats it at the beginning of the next. | 63 | |
| 13535464003 | Metabasis | A summary of a previous body of work that allows the reader to move on to a new point. | 64 | |
| 13535464004 | Parenthesis | A device that is used to insert additional information into the main body of the writing.Equivalent to the spoken aside. | 65 | |
| 13535464005 | Enumeratio | A list of details about something that is supplied. | 66 | |
| 13535464006 | Antanagoge | Making negative things seem not as bad so the reader doesn't feel as strongly about them. | 67 | |
| 13535464007 | Epithet | Adding a descriptive adjective to a noun to evoke an idea or emotion. | 68 | |
| 13535464012 | Hyperbaton | Purposely arranging words in an unexpected order. | 69 | |
| 13535464013 | Aporia | Used to express doubt about an idea. | 70 | |
| 13535464015 | Epistrophe | (Similar to anaphora) The use of the same word or phrase at the end of each phrase or sentence. | 71 | |
| 13535464016 | Symploce | (Form of parallelism) A combination of using a word or phrase repeatedly at the beginning or end of a phrase or sentence. | 72 | |
| 13535464017 | Amplification | Repeating something just said but adding more detail to it. | 73 | |
| 13535464018 | Personification | Giving human-like traits to something not human. | 74 | |
| 13535464024 | Phronesis | Effects Ethos in making it seem the speaker has the wisdom to judge right from wrong. | 75 | |
| 13535464026 | Straw Man | A fallacy that attacks the weaker side of the argument and not the issue at hand. | 76 | |
| 13535464029 | Absolute | A word free from limitations or qualifications | 77 | |
| 13535464031 | Archetype | A detail, image, or character type that appears frequently in literature and is thought to appeal in a universal way | 78 | |
| 13535464032 | Balanced sentence | A sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast | 79 | |
| 13535464033 | Cliche' | An expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off | 80 | |
| 13535464034 | Colloquialism | A word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (y'all, ain't) | 81 | |
| 13535464035 | Complex sentence | A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause | 82 | |
| 13535464038 | Declarative sentence | A sentence that makes a statement or declaration | 83 | |
| 13535464039 | Dialect | A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. | 84 | |
| 13535464040 | Dilemma | a difficult or perplexing situation or problem requiring a person to decide between two equally attractive or unattractive alternatives | 85 | |
| 13535464041 | Dissonance | harsh, inharmonious sounds | 86 | |
| 13535464042 | Elegy | a sorrowful formal poem or speech about death or another solemn theme | 87 | |
| 13535464043 | Ellipsis | Indicated by a series of three periods, the __ indicates that some material has been omitted from a given text. | 88 | |
| 13535464045 | Epigram | A brief witty poem, often satirical. | 89 | |
| 13535464046 | Epigraph | a saying or statement on a title page of a work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of a work | 90 | |
| 13535464047 | Epiphany | A moment of sudden revelation or insight | 91 | |
| 13535464048 | Epitaph | a brief statement written on a tomb or gravestone | 92 | |
| 13535464049 | Eulogy | a speech honoring the dead | 93 | |
| 13535464050 | Exclamatory sentence | A sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark | 94 | |
| 13535464051 | Expletive | an interjection to lend emphasis; often a profanity | 95 | |
| 13535464052 | Fable | A brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters | 96 | |
| 13535464053 | Fantasy | A story including elements that are impossible or make-believe. | 97 | |
| 13535464054 | Flashback | A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events | 98 | |
| 13535464055 | Flat character | A character who is not well-developed, but rather one-dimensional ; he/she has only one or two personality traits | 99 | |
| 13535464056 | Foreshadowing | A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader. | 100 | |
| 13535464059 | Hypothetical question | a question that asks how a respondent might react in a given situation | 101 | |
| 13535464060 | Idiom | A common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally. | 102 | |
| 13535464061 | Implication | A suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly. NOTE: the author/sender implies; the reader/audience infers. | 103 | |
| 13535464064 | Legend | A narrative story about mythical or supernatural beings or events handed down from the past | 104 | |
| 13535464065 | Limerick | A five line poem in which lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. | 105 | |
| 13535464066 | Literary license | deviating from normal rules or methods in order to achieve a certain effect | 106 | |
| 13535464069 | Motif | A recurring element, such as an image, theme, or type of incident. | 107 | |
| 13535464070 | Motivation | A character's incentive or reason for behaving in a certain manner; that which impels a character to act | 108 | |
| 13535464071 | Myth | a traditional story where supernatural characters and events are used to explain a natural event | 109 | |
| 13535464073 | Parenthetical | a comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to qualify or explain | 110 | |
| 13535464074 | Pathos | Appeal to emotion | 111 | |
| 13535464075 | Logos | Appeal to logic; facts | 112 | |
| 13535464076 | Ethos | Appeal to ethics; credibility | 113 | |
| 13535464079 | Resolution | Also called the denouement, this is the final stage in the plot of a drama or work of fiction. Here the action comes to an end and remaining loose ends are tied up. | 114 | |
| 13535464080 | Round character | A character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work | 115 | |
| 13535464081 | Romantic | 19th century artistic movement that appealed to emotion rather than reason | 116 | |
| 13535464082 | Scapegoat | a person or thing carrying the blame for others | 117 | |
| 13535464083 | Simple sentence | A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause | 118 | |
| 13535464084 | Solecism | Nonstandard grammatical usage; a violation of grammatical rules | 119 | |
| 13535464085 | Structure | Arrangement of parts | 120 | |
| 13535464086 | Surrealism | An artistic movement that displayed vivid dream worlds and fantastic unreal images | 121 | |
| 13535464087 | Syllepsis | A construction in which one word is used in two different senses ("After he threw the ball, he threw a fit.") | 122 | |
| 13535464088 | Synesthesia | describing one kind of sensation in terms of another ("a loud color", "a sweet sound") | 123 | |
| 13535464090 | Trilogy | A group of three literary or musical works that have a related theme | 124 | |
| 13535464091 | Trite | commonplace; overused, stale | 125 | |
| 13535464092 | Vernacular | Everyday language used in a country or region. | 126 | |
| 13535464093 | Archaism | A word, expression, spelling, or phrase that is out of date in the common speech of an era, but still deliberately used by a writer, poet, or playwright for artistic purposes | 127 | |
| 13535464094 | Authorial intrusion | literary device wherein the author penning the story, poem or prose steps away from the text and speaks out to the reader. | 128 | |
| 13535464095 | Idyll | A scene or event of a simple and tranquil nature | 129 | |
| 13535464096 | Socratic irony | someone pretends to be ignorant to expose the ignorance or inconsistency of someone else. | 130 | |
| 13535464097 | Ironic overstatement | when a person exaggerates the character of something. | 131 | |
| 13535464098 | Ironic understatement | when a person undermines the character of something. | 132 | |
| 13535464099 | Melodrama | a play interspersed with songs and orchestral music accompanying the action | 133 | |
| 13535464100 | Absolute metaphor | a metaphor (or figurative comparison) in which one of the terms (the tenor) can't be readily distinguished from the other (the vehicle).Example: "We are the eyelids of defeated caves." | 134 | |
| 13535464101 | Active metaphor | one which is relatively new and has not become part of everyday linguistic usage. The audience knows that a metaphor has been used. | 135 | |
| 13535464102 | Dead metaphor | metaphors that normally go unnoticed or that are cliché | 136 | |
| 13535464103 | Mixed metaphor | a metaphor that combines different images or ideas in a way that is foolish or illogical | 137 | |
| 13535464104 | Submerged metaphor | one in which the vehicle is implied, or indicated by one aspect. Example: "my winged thought". Here, the audience must supply the image of the bird. | 138 | |
| 13535464105 | Neoclassical drama | Neoclassicism covers the period from the end of the English Renaissance in 1642 to the culmination of the French Revolution and the beheading of Louis the XVI in 1793 - in this type of drama, there were either comedies or tragedies - no combination of the two. | 139 | |
| 13535464106 | Implied metaphor | one in which the tenor is not specified but implied. Example: "Shut your trap!" Here, the mouth of the listener is the unspecified tenor. | 140 | |
| 13535464107 | undertone | an attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece. Under the surface, for example, a work may have threatening undertones | 141 | |
| 13535464108 | anecdote | a short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. | 142 |
