A list of literary terms and definitions for APL&C. (Updated)
Terms : Hide Images
| 155876634 | Allegory | Using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. | 0 | |
| 155876635 | Alliteration | The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds, in two or more neighboring words. | 1 | |
| 155876636 | Allusion | A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, etc. | 2 | |
| 155876637 | Ambiguity | The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. | 3 | |
| 155876638 | Analogy | A similarity or comparison between two different things or the replationship between them. | 4 | |
| 155876639 | Anaphora | A sub-type of paralellism: the exact repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or sentences. | 5 | |
| 155876640 | Antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. | 6 | |
| 155876641 | Antithesis | The opposite or contrast of ideas, the direct opposite. | 7 | |
| 155876642 | Aphorism | A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. | 8 | |
| 155876643 | Apostrophe | A firgure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or personified abstraction (such as liberty or love). | 9 | |
| 160220171 | Assonance | The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, usually in successive or proximate words. | 10 | |
| 160220172 | Asyndeton | A syntactical structure in which conjunctions are omitted in a series, usually producing more rapid prose; i.e., "Veni, vidi, veci." | 11 | |
| 155876644 | 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. | 12 | |
| 160220173 | Attitude | The sense expressed by the tone of voice or the mood of a piece of writing: the author's feelings toward his or her subject, chracters, events, or theme. | 13 | |
| 160220174 | Canon | That which has been accepted as authentic. | 14 | |
| 155876645 | Caricature | A verbal description, the purpose of which is to exaggerate or distort, for comedic effect,a person's distinctive physical features or other characteristics. | 15 | |
| 160220175 | Chiasmus | A figure of speech and generally a syntactical structure wherein the order of the terms in the first half of a parallel clause is reversed int he second. | 16 | |
| 160220176 | Claim | In argumentation, an assertion of something as fact. | 17 | |
| 155876646 | Clause | A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb. | 18 | |
| 155876647 | Colloquialism | The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. | 19 | |
| 160220177 | Compare and Contrast | A mode of discourse in which two or more things are compared, contrasted, or both. | 20 | |
| 155876648 | Conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. | 21 | |
| 155876649 | Connotation | The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. | 22 | |
| 160220178 | Consonance | The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels; i.e, pitter-patter, splish-splash. | 23 | |
| 160220179 | Convention | A accepted manner, model, or tradition. | 24 | |
| 160220180 | Critique | An assessment or analysis of something, for the purpose of determining what it is, what its limitations are, and how it conforms to the standard o fhte genre. | 25 | |
| 160220181 | Deductive Reasoning | The method of argument in which specific statements and conclusions are drawn from general principals: movement from the general to the specific. | 26 | |
| 155876650 | Denotation | The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. | 27 | |
| 160220182 | Dialect | The language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group. | 28 | |
| 155876651 | Diction | The writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness. | 29 | |
| 155876652 | Didactic | Words having the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles. | 30 | |
| 160220183 | Elegy | A poem or prose work that laments, or meditates upon the death of, a person or persons. | 31 | |
| 160220184 | Epistrophe | The repetition of a phrase at the end of successive sentences. | 32 | |
| 160220185 | Ethos | The appeal of a text to the credibility or character of the speaker, writer, or narrator. | 33 | |
| 160220186 | Eulogy | A speech of written passage in praise of a person; an oration in honor of a deceased person. | 34 | |
| 155876653 | Euphemism | A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept. | 35 | |
| 160220187 | Exposition | Writing that explains its own meaning or purpose. | 36 | |
| 155876654 | Extended Metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occuring frequently in or throughout a work. | 37 | |
| 155876655 | Figurative Language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and its usually meant to be imaginative or vivid. | 38 | |
| 155876656 | Figure of Speech | A device used to produce figurative language; many compare dissimilar things. Includes hyperbole, irony, metaphor, etc. | 39 | |
| 160220188 | Flashback | An earlier event is inserted into the normal chronolgy of the narration. Also known as retrospection. | 40 | |
| 155876657 | Generic Conventions | Traditions for each genre, which help define genre. | 41 | |
| 155876658 | Genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. | 42 | |
| 155876659 | Homily | Any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving spiritual or moral advice. | 43 | |
| 155876660 | Hyperbole | A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. | 44 | |
| 155876661 | Imagery | The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. | 45 | |
| 160220189 | Inductive Reasoning | The method of reasoning or argument in which the general statements and conclusions are drawn from specific principles: movement from the specific to the general. | 46 | |
| 160220190 | Inference | A conclusion or proposition arrived at by considering facts, observations, or some other specific data. Think Sherlock Holmes. :) | 47 | |
| 155876663 | Invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. | 48 | |
| 155876664 | 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. | 49 | |
| 160220191 | Isocolon | Parallel structure in which the parallel element are similar not only in grammatical sructure but also in length. | 50 | |
| 160220192 | Jargon | Specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group. | 51 | |
| 160220193 | Juxtaposition | The location of one thing adjacent to another to create an effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose. | 52 | |
| 155876665 | Litotes | A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite. | 53 | |
| 160223438 | Logos | The appeal of a text to logic. | 54 | |
| 155876666 | Loose Sentence | A type of sentence in which the main idea comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. | 55 | |
| 155876667 | Metaphor | A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. | 56 | |
| 155876668 | Metonymy | A figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. | 57 | |
| 160220194 | Mode of Discourse | The way information is presented in written or spoken form. | 58 | |
| 155876669 | Mood | The prevailing atmosphere of emotional aura of a work. | 59 | |
| 155876670 | Narrative | The telling of a story or an accout of an event or series of events. | 60 | |
| 155876671 | Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. | 61 | |
| 155876672 | Oxymoron | A firgure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. | 62 | |
| 155876673 | Paradox | A statement that seems to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth of validity. | 63 | |
| 155876674 | Parallelism | The grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. | 64 | |
| 155876675 | Parody | A work that closely imitates the style or conduct of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule. | 65 | |
| 160220195 | Pathos | An appeal to emotion in a text or passage. | 66 | |
| 155876676 | Pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish. | 67 | |
| 155876677 | Periodic Sentence | A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. This independent clause is preceeded by a phrase that cannot stand alone. | 68 | |
| 155876678 | 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. | 69 | |
| 155876679 | Point of View | The perspective from which a story is told. | 70 | |
| 155876680 | Prose | One of the major divisions of genre; refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms. | 71 | |
| 160220196 | Realism | Attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and with attention to detail. | 72 | |
| 160220197 | Refutation | An argument technique wherein opposing arguments are anticipated and countered. | 73 | |
| 155876681 | Repetition | The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. | 74 | |
| 155876682 | Rhetoric | The principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively. | 75 | |
| 155876683 | Rhetorical Modes | This flexible terms describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing. | 76 | |
| 160220198 | Rhetorical Question | A question that is asked simply for the sake of stylistic effect and is not expected to be answered. | 77 | |
| 155876684 | Sarcasm | Bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. | 78 | |
| 155876685 | Satire | A work that targets human vices or follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. | 79 | |
| 155876686 | Semantics | The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another. | 80 | |
| 155876687 | Style | An evalutation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. OR, classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors. | 81 | |
| 155876688 | Subject Complement | The word (with any accompanying phrases) or a clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either renaming it or describing it. | 82 | |
| 155876689 | Subordinate Clause | This word group contains a subject and a verb, but it cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought. | 83 | |
| 155876690 | Syllogism | A deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion. Since this is completely nonsensical, here's an example: Rose likes roses. Roses are flowers. Therefore, Rose likes flowers. | 84 | |
| 155876691 | Symbolism | Anything that represents itself and stands for something else. It is usually something concrete - such as an object, action, character, or scene - that represents something more abstract. | 85 | |
| 155876692 | 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. | 86 | |
| 155876693 | Synesthesia | When one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjunctive experiences of another. In literature, it refers to the practice of associating two or more different senses in the same image. | 87 | |
| 155876694 | Syntax | The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. | 88 | |
| 155876695 | Theme | The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life. | 89 | |
| 155876696 | Thesis | The sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's purpose, opinion, meaning, or position. | 90 | |
| 155876697 | Tone | Describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both. | 91 | |
| 155876698 | Transition | A word or phrase that links different ideas. | 92 | |
| 155876699 | Understatement | The ironic minimalizing of fact, which presents something as less significant than it is. Can frequently be humerous or emphatic. | 93 | |
| 160220199 | Voice | The aknowledged or unackowledged source of the words of the story; the speaker's or narrator's particular "take" on an idea based on a particular passage and how all the elements of the style of the piece come together to express his or her feelings. | 94 | |
| 155876700 | Wit | Intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. Humorous, while suggesting the speaker's verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks. Usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement. | 95 | |
| 160220200 | Zeugma | A grammatically correct construction in which a word, usually a verb or adjective, is applied to two or more nouns without being repeated. I.e., The thief took my wallet and the Fifth Avenue bus. | 96 |
