Terms : Hide Images
| 14302728437 | ad hominem | An argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue | 0 | |
| 14302732464 | allegory | A literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions; a form of an extended metaphor | 1 | |
| 14302743028 | alliteration | The repetition of initial sounds in successive neighboring words; repetition of initial consonant or vowel sounds | 2 | |
| 14302750778 | allusion | A reference to something literary, mythological, or historical | 3 | |
| 14302754369 | anecdote | A brief personal narrative which focuses on a particular incident or event | 4 | |
| 14302757420 | analogy | A comparison between two different things which are similar in some way | 5 | |
| 14302763170 | anaphora | The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences | 6 | |
| 14302773493 | antithesis | A statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced; juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases | 7 | |
| 14302779271 | aphorism | A concise statement which expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance; usually implies specific authorship and compact, telling expression | 8 | |
| 14302784370 | apostrophe | The act of speaking directly to an absent or imaginary person, or to some abstraction; breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, or a nonexistent character | 9 | |
| 14302789215 | assonance | Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words | 10 | |
| 14302794402 | chiasmus | A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed | 11 | |
| 14302800649 | cliche | A trite expression--often a figure of speech whose effectiveness has been worn out through overuse and excessive familiarity | 12 | |
| 14302803533 | climax | Mounting by degrees through words or sentences of increasing weight and in parallel construction with an emphasis on the high point or culmination of a series of events or of an experience | 13 | |
| 14302808416 | colloquialism | Informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing; slang, contractions, and lively conversational rhythms | 14 | |
| 14302812750 | conceit | A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor; the term designates fanciful notions and may be a brief metaphor or the framework of an entire poem | 15 | |
| 14302816668 | connotation | The implied or associative meaning of a word; must be shared to be intelligible to others; depends on usage and a particular linguistic community and climate; the emotional implications and associations that words may carry, as distinguished from their denotative (or dictionary) meanings | 16 | |
| 14302826545 | denotation | The literal meaning of a word, independent of its emotional coloration or associations | 17 | |
| 14302835371 | dependent clause | Needs the rest of the sentence (the independent, or main, clause) for the full impact of its meaning to be felt | 18 | |
| 14302838665 | diction | Having to do with the words choices made by a writer: plain or fancy; archaic or current | 19 | |
| 14302846355 | didactic | Something which has as its primary purpose to teach or instruct | 20 | |
| 14302849147 | ellipsis | The omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the text; omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader | 21 | |
| 14302858844 | epiphany | A moment of sudden revelation or insight | 22 | |
| 14302862314 | epithet | Using an appropriate adjective (often habitually) to qualify a subject | 23 | |
| 14302865831 | euphemism | An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant | 24 | |
| 14302868952 | foil | In literature, the term is applied to any person who, through contrast, underscores the distinctive characteristics of another | 25 | |
| 14302873245 | genre | A major category or type of literature: western, mystery, romance | 26 | |
| 14302876021 | hyperbole | Intentional exaggeration to create an effect; an extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect | 27 | |
| 14302882086 | imagery | Concrete, sensory details which contribute to the themes or ideas of a work | 28 | |
| 14302885016 | independent clause | Makes sense by itself and could make it as a separate sentence | 29 | |
| 14302891455 | invective | An intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack | 30 | |
| 14302896649 | irony | A situation or statement where the truth is the opposite of appearances; use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; a statement or situation where the meaning is directly contradicted by the appearance of the idea | 31 | |
| 14302903325 | litotes | A type of understatement in which something affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite; a form of understatement in which a thing is affirmed by stating the negative of its opposite | 32 | |
| 14302907817 | metaphor | A direct comparison of two different things which suggests they are somehow the same; the traditional meaning of metaphor is an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common | 33 | |
| 14302914335 | metonymy | The substitution of the name of an object closely associated with a word for the word itself | 34 | |
| 14302919918 | motif | A standard theme or dramatic situation which recurs in various works | 35 | |
| 14302921924 | non sequitur | An inference that does not logically follow from the premise(s) | 36 | |
| 14302926519 | onomatopoeia | A word formed by the imitation of natural sounds | 37 | |
| 14302932525 | oxymoron | An expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined; the yoking of two terms that are ordinarily contradictory | 38 | |
| 14302937343 | paradox | An apparently contradictory statement which actually contains some truth | 39 | |
| 14302939916 | parody | A humorous imitation of a serious work | 40 | |
| 14302942717 | parallelism | Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses | 41 | |
| 14302952611 | pathos | The quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity or sorrow | 42 | |
| 14302954983 | pedantic | Describing an excessive display of learning or scholarship | 43 | |
| 14302961762 | periodic sentence | One that is not grammatically complete before its end; effective because it holds an idea in suspense before its final revelation | 44 | |
| 14302963905 | personfication | Endowing non-human objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics | 45 | |
| 14302967217 | proverb | Short, pithy statement of a general truth, one that condenses common experience into memorable form | 46 | |
| 14302969302 | pun | A play on words based on the similarity of sound between two words with different meanings | 47 | |
| 14302973738 | refutation | When a rhetor anticipates opposing arguments and answers them | 48 | |
| 14302975752 | rhetoric | (1) The study and practice of effective communication (2) The art of persuasion (3) An insincere eloquence intended to win points and manipulate others | 49 | |
| 14302989330 | rhetorical question | A question proposed for its persuasive effect and not requiring a reply or intended to induce a reply | 50 | |
| 14302991164 | sarcasm | Harsh, cutting language/tone designed to ridicule | 51 | |
| 14302993499 | satire | The use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions; a work or manner that blends a censorious attitude with humor and wit for improving human institutions or humanity | 52 | |
| 14303003358 | simile | A stated comparison (usually formed with like or as) between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common | 53 | |
| 14303010719 | syllepsis | The linking of one word with two other words in two strikingly different ways | 54 | |
| 14303013855 | syllogism | A logical argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and a minor premise; a formula for presenting an argument logically; the syllogism affords a method of demonstrating logic through analysis; in its simplest form, it consists of three divisions: a major premise; a minor premise, and a conclusion (if a =b, and b=c, then a=c) | 55 | |
| 14303020288 | symbol | An object which is something in itself yet is used to represent something else | 56 | |
| 14303024625 | synecdoche | Using one part of an object to represent the entire object | 57 | |
| 14303037092 | style | The overall manner in which an individual writer expresses idea | 58 | |
| 14303040036 | syntax | The manner in which words are arranged by a writer into sentences | 59 | |
| 14303043039 | tautology | Needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding | 60 | |
| 14303046845 | tone | The attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or audience | 61 | |
| 14303051585 | understatement | The deliberate representation of something as less in magnitude than it really is | 62 | |
| 14303056597 | zeugma | Use of a word to modify or govern two or more words although its use is grammatically or logically correct with only one | 63 |
