Terms : Hide Images
| 9843631083 | allegory | A story in which the narrative or characters carry an underlying symbolic, metaphorical, or possibly an ethical meaning | 0 | |
| 9843637673 | alliteration | The repetition of one or more initial consonants in a group of words or lines of poetry or prose. Writers uses this for ornament or for emphasis; usually enhances the aesthetic quality of a prose passage or poem | 1 | |
| 9843650759 | allusion | a reference to a person, place, or event meant to create an effect of enhance the meaning of an idea | 2 | |
| 9843656168 | ambiguity | a vagueness of meaning; a conscious lack of clarity meant to evoke multiple meanings and interpretation | 3 | |
| 9888763007 | anachronism | Assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence | 4 | |
| 9843661983 | analogy | a comparison that points out similarities between two dissimilar things | 5 | |
| 9888797068 | anaphora | Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row | 6 | |
| 9889068537 | anastrophe/inversion | normal order of words is reversed; e.g. What a beautiful picture it is! | 7 | |
| 9843665616 | antithesis | a rhetorical opposition or contrast of ideas by means of a grammatical arrangement of words, clauses, or sentences, (ex. "They promised freedom but provided slavery") | 8 | |
| 9843677784 | apostrophe | a rhetorical device in which a speaker addresses a person or personified thing not present (ex. "Oh, you cruel streets of Manhattan, how I detest you!") | 9 | |
| 9843686142 | archetype | an abstract or ideal conception of a type; a perfectly typical example; an original model or form | 10 | |
| 9888820293 | aside | A dramatic convention by which an actor directly addresses the audience but it is not supposed to be heard by the other actors on the stage | 11 | |
| 9843691244 | assonance | the repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or lines in poetry and prose (ex. "Meet Pete Green; he's as mad as a hatter.") | 12 | |
| 9888831134 | asyndeton | A series of words separated by commas (with no conjunction), e.g. "I came, I saw, I conquered." | 13 | |
| 9843707299 | ballad | a simple narrative verse that tells a story that is sung or recited | 14 | |
| 9843710925 | bathos | the use of insincere or overdone sentimentality | 15 | |
| 9843713596 | blank verse | poetry written in iambic pentameter, the primary meter used in English poetry and the words of Shakespeare and Milton. It is "blank" because the lines generally do not rhyme. | 16 | |
| 9843718762 | bombast | inflated, pretentious language used for trivial subjects | 17 | |
| 9843720747 | cacophony | grating, inharmonious sounds | 18 | |
| 9843723066 | caesura | a pause somewhere in the middle of a verse, often (but not always) marked by punctuation | 19 | |
| 9843727683 | catharsis | a cleansing of the spirit brought about by the pity and terror of a dramatic tragedy | 20 | |
| 9888884993 | chiasmus | Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of X Y Y X; e.g., "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." | 21 | |
| 9843735473 | climax | the high point, or turning point, of a story or play | 22 | |
| 9843737533 | conceit | a witty of ingenious thought; a diverting or highly fanciful idea, often stated in figurative language; unusual or surprising comparison between two very different things | 23 | |
| 9843742838 | connotation | the suggested or implied meaning of a word or phrase. | 24 | |
| 9843745108 | consonance | the repetition of two or more consonant sounds in a group of words or a line of poetry | 25 | |
| 9843748095 | couplet | a pair of rhyming lines in a poem | 26 | |
| 9843750710 | denotation | the dictionary definition of a word | 27 | |
| 9843751970 | denouement | the resolution that occurs at the end of a play of work of fiction | 28 | |
| 9843757243 | diction | the choice of word in speech and writing; serves to create meaning, portray characters, convey tone, develop themes, and much more | 29 | |
| 9888922884 | didactic | A term used to describe a work that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model or correct behavior or thinking. | 30 | |
| 9843760967 | dramatic irony | a circumstance in which the audience or reader knows more about a situation than a character | 31 | |
| 9859921490 | dramatic monologue | a poem consisting of the words of a single person speaking to a listener who does not respond in words by may nevertheless influence the speaker | 32 | |
| 9843763252 | elegy | a poem or prose selection that laments or mediates on the passing or death of something or someone of value | 33 | |
| 9888958465 | elliptical | used in narratives to omit some parts of a sentence or event | 34 | |
| 9843768702 | empathy | a feeling of association of identification with an object or person | 35 | |
| 9843770092 | enjambment | in poetry, the use of successive lines with no punctuation or pause between them | 36 | |
| 9843774097 | epic | an extended narrative poem that tells of the adventures and exploits of a hero that is generally larger than life and is often considered a legendary figure such as Odysseus | 37 | |
| 9843781701 | epigram | a concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement | 38 | |
| 9888975959 | epigraph | A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of a theme | 39 | |
| 9888990699 | epithet | a term used to characterize a person or thing, | 40 | |
| 9843786656 | eponymous | a term for the title character of a work of literature (ex. Hamlet, Beloved) | 41 | |
| 9843788599 | euphemism | a mild or less negative usage for a harsh or blunt term (ex. pass away) | 42 | |
| 9843791205 | exposition | the background and events that lead to the presentation of the main idea or purpose of a work of literature | 43 | |
| 9843800194 | fable | a short tale often featuring nonhuman characters that act as people whose actions enable the author to make observations or draw useful lessons about human behavior | 44 | |
| 9843804872 | fantasy | a story containing unreal, imaginary features | 45 | |
| 9843809356 | flashback | a return to an earlier time in a story or play in order to clarify present action or circumstances | 46 | |
| 9843813189 | foil | a minor character whose personality or attitude contrasts with that of the main character. Juxtaposing one character against another intensifies the qualities of both, to advantage or sometimes disadvantage | 47 | |
| 9843822102 | foreshadowing | providing hints of things to come in a story or play | 48 | |
| 9843823733 | free verse | a kind of poetry without rhymed lines, rhythm, or fixed metrical feet | 49 | |
| 9843828112 | hyperbole | overstatement, gross exaggeration for rhetorical effect | 50 | |
| 9889006577 | hubris | overwhelming pride or insolence that results in the misfortune of the protagonist of a tragedy; tragic flaw | 51 | |
| 9843829829 | image | a word or phrase representing that which can be seen, touched, tasted, smelled, or felt | 52 | |
| 9843831964 | in medias res | a latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point | 53 | |
| 9843834171 | indirect quotation | a rendering of a quotation in which actual words are not stated but only approximated or paraphrased | 54 | |
| 9843841190 | irony | a mode of expression in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated, often implying ridicule or light sarcasm; a state of affairs or events that is the reverse of might have been expected | 55 | |
| 9843846409 | litotes | a form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis or intensity (ex. He is not a bad dancer) | 56 | |
| 9843849957 | loose sentence | a sentence that follows the customary word order of english sentences. i.e., subject-verb-object. The main idea of the sentence is presented first and is then followed by one or more subordinate clauses | 57 | |
| 9843863757 | lyric poetry | personal, reflective poetry that reveals the speaker's thoughts and feelings about the subject | 58 | |
| 9843865974 | melodrama | a literary form in which events are exaggerated in order to create an extreme emotional response. | 59 | |
| 9843869240 | metaphor | a figure of speech that compares unlike objects | 60 | |
| 9843872574 | meter | the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables found in poetry | 61 | |
| 9887216609 | metonymy | a figure of speech that substitutes a word or phrase that relates to a thing for the thing itself (ex. crown instead of king) | 62 | |
| 9843878636 | moral | a brief and often simplistic lesson that a reader may infer from a work of literature | 63 | |
| 9843881156 | myth | an imaginary story that has become accepted part of cultural or religious tradition of a group or society | 64 | |
| 9843885113 | ode | a lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject | 65 | |
| 9843887584 | onomatopoeia | the use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning (ex. bubbling, mumuring) | 66 | |
| 9843891822 | oxymoron | a term consisting of contradictory elements juxtaposed to create a paradoxical effect | 67 | |
| 9843896551 | paradox | a statement that seems self-contradictory but is nevertheless true | 68 | |
| 9843899436 | pathetic fallacy | faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or nonhuman objects; gives human *emotions* to inanimate objects of nature; e.g. "The somber clouds darkened our mood" | 69 | |
| 9843902755 | pathos | that element in literature that stimulates pity or sorrow | 70 | |
| 9889142373 | polysyndeton/syndeton | use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some could otherwise be omitted, as in: "He ran and jumped and laughed for joy." | 71 | |
| 9859979926 | pulp fiction | novels written for mass consumption, often emphasizing exciting and titillating plots. | 72 | |
| 9859971073 | satire | a literary style used to poke fun at, attack, or ridicule an idea, vice, or foible, often for the purpose of inducing change | 73 | |
| 9843904800 | pun | a humorous play on words, using similar-sounding or identical words to suggest different meanings | 74 | |
| 9889157018 | soliloquy | When a character in a play speaks his thoughts aloud —usually by him or herself | 75 | |
| 9859957859 | sonnet | a popular form of verse consisting of fourteen lines and a prescribed rhyme scheme; Shakespeare wrote what had become known as the Elizabeth ___. Other poets follow a form call the Italian ___ | 76 | |
| 9843912331 | synecdoche | a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies a part | 77 | |
| 9859938136 | villanelle | a French verse form calculated to appear simple and spontaneous but consisting of nineteen lines and a prescribed pattern of rhymes | 78 |
