Terms : Hide Images
| 283603995 | Anaphora | Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer's point more coherent. | 0 | |
| 283603996 | Anecdote | A brief recounting of a relevant episode. These are often inserted into fictional or non-fictional texts as a way of developing a point or injecting humor. | 1 | |
| 283603997 | Annotation | Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data. | 2 | |
| 283603998 | Antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. ("Steve was the first person there, and he was getting impatient waiting for the others." In this case, "Steve" is the antecedent of "he".) | 3 | |
| 283603999 | Aphorism | A terse statement which expresses a general truth or moral principle. It's often equated as a synonym with "adage" or "saying" or "proverb". | 4 | |
| 283604000 | Concrete Language | Language that describes specific, observable things, people or places. | 5 | |
| 283604001 | Connotation | Rather than the dictionary definition, this refers to the associations suggested by a word: implied meaning rather than literal meaning. | 6 | |
| 283604002 | Consonance | Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity. Keep in mind that consonance refers to repetition AFTER the beginning of the word (that type of repetition is referred to as "alliteration"). | 7 | |
| 283604003 | Denotation | This is the explicit meaning of a word; it refers to the dictionary definition. | 8 | |
| 283604004 | Diction | Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning. | 9 | |
| 283604005 | Didactic | A term used to describe writing that teaches a specific lesson or moral. | 10 | |
| 283604006 | Ellipsis | The deliberate omission of a word from prose done for effect by the author. | 11 | |
| 283604007 | Emotional Appeal | When a writer appeals to an audience's emotions to excite and involve them in the argument. | 12 | |
| 283604008 | Epigraph | A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of theme. | 13 | |
| 283604009 | Euphemism | A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts (such as "physically challenged" instead of "crippled"). | 14 | |
| 283604010 | False Analogy | When two cases are not sufficiently parallel to lead readers to accept a claim of connection between them. | 15 | |
| 283604011 | Figurative Language | A word or words that are inaccurate literally but call to mind sensations or evoke reactions: "All the world's a stage..." Metaphors and similes are examples of this. | 16 | |
| 283604012 | Genre | The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama. However, these can be subdivided as well (poetry can be classified into lyric, dramatic, narrative, etc.) | 17 | |
| 283604013 | Homily | This term literally means "sermon", but more informally it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice. | 18 | |
| 283604014 | Hyperbole | Figurative language that exaggerates. It is often used in comedy or to create irony. (Example: "We saw a gas station every five feet when the tank was full, but when we finally needed gas, there wasn't a station for a thousand miles.") | 19 | |
| 283604015 | Induction | The process of reasoning from premises. It involves bringing together pieces of evidence and arriving at a conclusion. (Example: "I want to buy new shoes. I've had five pairs of Nikes and never had any foot problems. Reeboks gave me blisters, and Adidas made my ankles hurt. Therefore, I probably should buy Nikes.") | 20 | |
| 283604016 | Imperative sentence | Issues a command (Example: Kick the ball now!) | 21 | |
| 283604017 | Interrogative sentence | Sentences incorporating questioning pronouns (what , which, who, etc). It's a question. | 22 | |
| 283604018 | Invective | An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language. | 23 | |
| 283604019 | Irony | When the opposite of what you expect to happen does. | 24 | |
| 283604020 | Verbal irony | When you say something and mean the opposite/something different. For example, if your gym teacher wants you to run a mile in eight minutes or faster, but calls it a "walk in the park", it would be verbal irony. | 25 | |
| 283604021 | Dramatic irony | When the audience of a drama, play, movie, etc. knows something the character doesn't and would be surprised to find out. | 26 | |
| 283604022 | Situational irony | Events turn out the opposite of what would reasonably be expected. | 27 | |
| 283604023 | Juxtaposition | Placing things side by side for the purposes of comparison to emphasize a point. (For example, an author may compare the average day of a typical American with that of someone in the third world to make a point of social commentary). | 28 | |
| 283604024 | Metaphor | A figure of speech using an implied comparison of seemingly unlike things, or the substitution of one for another, suggesting some similarity. It is usually identified by comparing objects directly, using words like "was" or "is"(example: She was a cold-hearted snake.) | 29 | |
| 283604025 | Mood | The atmosphere created by the literature and accomplished largely through word choice (diction). Syntax is often a contributor to this since word order and sentence length also affect pacing (thereby affecting this). | 30 | |
| 283604026 | Non-sequitur | Statement that does not logically follow another. | 31 | |
| 283604027 | Objectivity | An author's stance that distances himself from personal involvement. | 32 | |
| 283604028 | Onomatopoeia | A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of the words: "murmur", "gurgle", "roar", "buzz". If you identify this in a passage, make sure to explain WHY the author chose to use it ... explain how it impacts the passage. | 33 | |
| 283604029 | Oversimplification | When the writer denies the complexity of an idea. | 34 | |
| 283604030 | Oxymoron | A rhetorical antithesis -- "wise fool";"eloquent silence";"jumbo shrimp". Apparently contradictory terms are grouped together and suggest a paradox. | 35 | |
| 283604031 | Paradox | A seemingly contradictory statement which is actually true; an idea which embeds a contradiction. (Example: "You can't get a job without experience, and you can't get experience without getting a job"). | 36 | |
| 283604032 | Parallelism | Also known as parallel construction. This is sentence construction which places equal grammatical constructions near each other or repeats patterns two or more times. | 37 | |
| 283604033 | Parenthetical Idea | Parentheses are used to set off an idea from the rest of the sentence. It is almost considered an aside, and should be used sparingly for effect. | 38 | |
| 283604034 | Parody | An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes. It borrows words or phrases from an original and pokes fun at it. This is also a form of allusion since it is referencing a previous text, event, or person. | 39 | |
| 283604035 | Passive Voice | The subject of the sentence receives the action. This is often overused, making writing seem lifeless and awkward. | 40 | |
| 283604036 | Pedantic | Observing strict adherence to formal rules or literal meaning. This can also refer to the author's tone as overly scholarly and academic. | 41 | |
| 283604037 | Periodic Sentence | A sentence in which the main clause (or the main idea) comes last. | 42 | |
| 283604038 | Persona | The fictional mask or narrator that tells a story. | 43 | |
| 283604039 | Personification | A type of figurative language which attributes human qualities to non-human subjects. | 44 | |
| 601027638 | Allusion | A direct or indirect reference to something that is presumably already known by the reader, such as an event, a myth, a location, a character, or a work of art. | 45 | |
| 601030631 | Loose sentence | A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by a dependent clause. EXAMPLE: He entered the empty room, hearing only the lonely drum of the clock's second hand. | 46 |
