Terms : Hide Images
| 4958746235 | active voice | "voice" where the subject comes before the direct object, generally more direct construction | 0 | |
| 4958754385 | passive voice | "voice" where the direct object comes before the subject, generally more wordy construction | 1 | |
| 4958762025 | symbol | a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself | 2 | |
| 4958764129 | imagery | words used to describe the way something looks, sounds, etc. | 3 | |
| 4958766175 | implied metaphor | a comparison that is not directly stated, ex: "She asked him to fetch her phone" | 4 | |
| 4958770462 | extended metaphor/conceit | a comparison (without using "like" or "as") that extends past a single phrase | 5 | |
| 4958774695 | dead metaphor | a comparison that has been used so often that it is no longer vivid (also called a cliché) | 6 | |
| 4958780048 | mixed metaphor | a sentence or phrase that uses more than one comparison, generally making the sentence seem clunky or unfocused, ex: "I conclude that the city's proposal to skim the frosting, pocket the cake, and avoid paying the fair, reasonable, and affordable value of the meal is a hound that will not hunt." | 7 | |
| 4958795156 | theme | the main topic of a piece of writing, its greater purpose | 8 | |
| 4958797930 | simile | a comparison that uses "like" or "as" | 9 | |
| 4958800296 | metaphor | a comparison that does not use "like" or "as" | 10 | |
| 4958802507 | figurative language | language that uses more than a literal meaning (ex: similes, metaphors, sometimes imagery) | 11 | |
| 4958808800 | kinesthetic imagery | describes movement | 12 | |
| 4958808802 | gustatory imagery | describes taste | 13 | |
| 4958810451 | auditory imagery | describes sound | 14 | |
| 4958810452 | tactile imagery | describes touch | 15 | |
| 4958812034 | visual imagery | describes appearance | 16 | |
| 4958812035 | thermal imagery | describes temperature | 17 | |
| 4958813868 | olfactory imagery | describes smell | 18 | |
| 4958821596 | tone | the attitude of a writer towards a certain subject or audience | 19 | |
| 4958826149 | diction | the writer's word choices that can help contribute to a work's tone | 20 | |
| 5033025606 | juxtaposition | putting unassociated or opposite ideas next to each other to create contrast | 21 | |
| 5033029077 | didactic | teaches a specific lesson or moral | 22 | |
| 5033036472 | litotes | understatement formed by a double negative, ex: "not uncommon" | 23 | |
| 5033039119 | motif | recurring image, word, phrase, action, or idea throughout a literary work | 24 | |
| 5594255312 | irony | a discrepancy between appearances and reality | 25 | |
| 5594258453 | verbal irony | occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else | 26 | |
| 5594258454 | situational irony | takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen | 27 | |
| 5594265330 | dramatic irony | often used on stage, a character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better | 28 | |
| 5594268681 | characterization | the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character | 29 | |
| 5594274881 | indirect characterization | the author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character's private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the character's effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action | 30 | |
| 5594274882 | direct characterization | the author tells us directly what the character is like | 31 | |
| 5594278292 | static character | character who does not change much in the course of a story | 32 | |
| 5594323362 | dynamic character | character who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action | 33 | |
| 5594325705 | flat character | character who has only one or two personality traits; they are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard; they can be summed up in one phrase | 34 | |
| 5594329310 | round character | has more dimensions to their personalities---they are complex, just a real people are | 35 | |
| 5594331743 | motivation | the reasons for a character's behavior | 36 | |
| 5594331744 | flashback | a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time | 37 | |
| 5594335099 | foreshadowing | the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot | 38 | |
| 5594335100 | antagonist | opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story | 39 | |
| 5594338785 | protagonist | the central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action | 40 | |
| 5594341550 | anti-hero | Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes; may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples | 41 | |
| 5594344279 | conflict | the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story | 42 | |
| 5594347680 | internal conflict | a conflict that is internal, involving opposing forces within a person's mind | 43 | |
| 5594350372 | external conflict | a conflict that is between two people, between a person and nature or a machine or between a person a whole society | 44 | |
| 5594354756 | tragedy | in general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some other unhappy end | 45 | |
| 5594357645 | comedy | in general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters | 46 | |
| 5594357646 | romance | in general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful | 47 | |
| 5594357647 | foil | a character who acts as contrast to another character; often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero | 48 | |
| 5594361849 | suspense | a feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story | 49 | |
| 5594370603 | personification | giving human characteristics to animals or objects for a literary effect | 50 | |
| 5594374739 | anthropomorphism | making an animal or object act to appear like a human | 51 | |
| 5594377266 | rhyme scheme | the pattern of rhymes at the end of lines of poetry | 52 | |
| 5594377267 | elegy | a serious poem of reflection, often a lament (expression of sorrow) for the dead | 53 | |
| 5594380617 | slant rhyme | (a.k.a. Half rhyme) imperfect rhyme Ex: "moon" and "run," "bridge" and "grudge" | 54 | |
| 5594384812 | exact rhyme | perfect rhyme Ex: "moon" and "soon," "fun" and "run," "bridge" and "fridge" | 55 | |
| 5594384813 | feminine rhyme | when more than one syllable of words rhyme Ex: "keeping" and "weeping," "collection" and "correction" | 56 | |
| 5594384958 | masculine rhyme | when only one syllable of words rhyme Ex: "two" and "shoe," "clockwork" and "schoolwork" | 57 | |
| 5594387364 | internal rhyme | when words in the middle of a sentence rhyme Ex: "Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary" | 58 | |
| 5820044192 | soliloquy | long speech by one character alone on stage, not speaking to anyone else, meant to reveal character's thoughts/feelings to the audience | 59 | |
| 5820044193 | monologue | long speech by one character speaking to at least one other character | 60 | |
| 5820044194 | aside | short speech by one character, on stage with other characters but not speaking to them, meant to reveal character's thoughts/feelings to the audience | 61 | |
| 5820075143 | dependent clause | clause with a subject or a verb, does not have its own complete thought → cannot stand alone | 62 | |
| 5820076240 | run-on sentence | sentence with more than one independent clause (no punctuation or conjunction to join them together) | 63 | |
| 5820078299 | loose sentence/cumulative sentence | sentence where the main clause comes first, followed by dependent clauses | 64 | |
| 5820079787 | periodic sentence | sentence where the main idea comes at the end of the sentence | 65 | |
| 5820081251 | compound sentence | two independent clauses joined by a conjunction (for, and, or, but, nor, so, yet) | 66 | |
| 5820085114 | complex sentence | independent clause with one or more dependent clauses | 67 | |
| 5820087289 | compound-complex sentence | two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause | 68 | |
| 5820088950 | hypotactic sentence | sentence that uses connecting words between clauses or sentences to show relationship between ideas (ex: "I am tired because I went to sleep late.") | 69 | |
| 5820090923 | paratactic sentence | puts clauses/sentences side by side without connecting them (ex: "I am tired; I went to sleep late.") | 70 | |
| 5820093716 | telegraphic sentence | a sentence that is shorter than 5 words, used to dramatize | 71 | |
| 5820101063 | narration | commentary used to tell a story | 72 | |
| 5820102088 | omniscient narrator | an 'all-knowing' narrator, able to tell reader everything about multiple characters | 73 | |
| 5820103462 | first-person narrator | narrator that uses "I" or "we" | 74 | |
| 5820104662 | third-person narrator | narrator that uses "he" or "she" or "they" | 75 | |
| 5820106223 | limited narrator | describes the thoughts/feelings of one or a few characters, unable to foreshadow or display all characters' thoughts/feelings | 76 | |
| 5820108206 | objective narrator | completely impersonal, no direct comments, more common in non-fiction writing | 77 | |
| 5820112896 | allusion | indirect reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, or other branch of culture; allows writers to convey big ideas through a few associated words | 78 | |
| 5820121927 | epigraph | a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggesting the theme; immediately draws a connection between the main work and another work, gives a hint about main idea/theme | 79 | |
| 5820122972 | oxymoron | a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase; creates a dramatic or comedic effect | 80 | |
| 5820125483 | epanalepsis | device of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated both at the beginning and at the end of the line, clause, or sentence; creates symmetry, helps emphasis a point | 81 | |
| 5820126626 | anaphora | repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row; helps make the writer's point more coherent | 82 | |
| 5820128683 | polysyndeton | use of several coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or) even when they aren't grammatically necessary; incorporates rhythm, emphasizes the length of a list | 83 | |
| 5820128684 | asyndeton | eliminating coordinating conjunctions between phrases, usually in a way that sounds possibly incorrect; speeds up the rhythm of a sentence or phrase | 84 | |
| 5820131109 | alliteration | repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together; creates a musical effect/flow (literature), used to make a name sound catchy (marketing) | 85 | |
| 5820132775 | onomatopoeia | use of words whose sounds match what they mean; adds to auditory imagery | 86 | |
| 5820133845 | metonymy | figure of speech in which a person, place, or thing is referred to by something closely associated with it (Ex: "The White House announced a new executive order.") | 87 | |
| 5820135470 | synechdoche | a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole (Ex: "There are a lot of mouths to feed.") | 88 | |
| 5820136991 | hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration or overstatement for effect | 89 | |
| 6044958482 | lyric poem | regular rhyme scheme and meter, reveals poet's thoughts and feelings | 90 | |
| 6044960987 | ode | regular rhyme scheme and meter, serious poem with dignified theme | 91 | |
| 6044962696 | ballad | type of poem with simple, narrative verse; tells a story to be sung or recited | 92 | |
| 6044964714 | Shakespearean/English sonnet | poem with 14 lines, iambic pentameter, rhyme scheme= ABAB CDCD EFEF GG | 93 | |
| 6044969999 | Petrarchan/Italian sonnet | poem with 14 lines, rhyme scheme= ABBA ABBA CDE CDE | 94 | |
| 6044978330 | idyll/pastoral poem | type of lyric poetry, specifically about the life of a shepherd and country life | 95 | |
| 6044980232 | carpe diem poem | poem that tells speaker or audience to "seize the day," typically discusses how brief life is | 96 | |
| 6044983044 | confessional poetry | part of Postmodernism, personal themes, discusses topics that were taboo at time (ex: mental illness, sexuality, suicide) | 97 | |
| 6044985909 | epic poem | long poem that tells a story about a hero | 98 | |
| 6653652476 | apostrophe | calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or idea | 99 | |
| 6653654604 | anecdote | brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something | 100 | |
| 6653667865 | colloquialism | word or phrase in everyday use & informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations | 101 | |
| 6653669919 | allegory | story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events | 102 | |
| 6653673007 | dialect | a way of speaking that is characteristic of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area | 103 | |
| 6653674035 | aphorism | brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life or of a principle | 104 | |
| 6653675613 | epistrophe | repetition where phrase is repeated at the end of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences | 105 | |
| 6721436373 | persuasion | essay that relies more on emotional appeals than on facts | 106 | |
| 6721438135 | farce | comedy in which ridiculous and stereotyped characters are involved in silly situations | 107 | |
| 6721445824 | exposition | one of the four major forms of discourse, in which something is explained or "set forth" | 108 | |
| 6721455062 | parable | a relatively short story that teaches a moral or lesson about how to lead a good life | 109 | |
| 6721485260 | synesthesia | the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body | 110 | |
| 9634861395 | terza rima | an arrangement of triplets, especially in iambs, that rhyme aba bcb cdc, etc. | 111 | |
| 9634877972 | axiom | a statement or proposition that is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true | 112 | |
| 9634886359 | polemic | a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something | 113 | |
| 9634898260 | caesura | a break between words within a metrical foot (usually shown as punctuation in the middle of a line of poetry) | 114 | |
| 9634898261 | enjambment | the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza | 115 | |
| 9634915147 | chiastic structure | A literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', being presented as A,B,B',A'. | 116 |
