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| 7375933593 | drama of the absurd | A type of drama, allied to comedy, radically nonrealistic in both content and presentation, that emphasizes the absurdity, emptiness, or meaninglessness of life. | 0 | |
| 7375940664 | apostrophe | A figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and could reply. | 1 | |
| 7375940665 | artistic unity | That condition of a successful literary work whereby all its elements work together for the achievement of its central purpose. In an artistically unified work nothing is included that is irrelevant to the central purpose, nothing is omitted that is essential to it, and the parts are arranged in the most effective order for the achievement of that purpose. | 2 | |
| 7375942435 | aside | A brief speech in which a character turns from the person being addressed to speak directly to the audience; a dramatic device for letting the audience know what a character is really thinking or feeling as opposed to what the character pretends to think or feel. | 3 | |
| 7375945104 | caesura | A speech pause occurring within a line. | 4 | |
| 7376060565 | amiable | Friendly and agreeable in disposition; good-natured and likable. | 5 | |
| 7376064795 | exuberant | Full of unrestrained enthusiasm or joy. | 6 | |
| 7376064796 | ecstatic | Marked by or expressing ecstasy. | 7 | |
| 7376064797 | elevated | Formal; lofty; Elated in feeling or mood. | 8 | |
| 7376067578 | sprightly | Full of spirit and vitality; In a lively, animated manner. | 9 | |
| 7460403440 | Flat character | A character whose distinguishing moral qualities or personal traits are summed up in one or two traits. | 10 | |
| 7460413052 | Foil character | A minor character whose situation or actions parallel those of a major character, and thus by contrast sets off or illuminates the major character; most often the contrast is complimentary to the major character. | 11 | |
| 7460427691 | Round character | A character whose distinguishing moral qualities or personal traits are complex and many-sided. . | 12 | |
| 7460436745 | Static character | A character who is the same sort of person at the end of a work as at the beginning. | 13 | |
| 7460441819 | Stock character | A stereotyped character: one whose nature is familiar to us from prototypes in previous literature. | 14 | |
| 7509000417 | despairing | lack of hope | 15 | |
| 7509000418 | bleak | bare, desolate, without hope or encouragement | 16 | |
| 7509003675 | melancholy | a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression; sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness | 17 | |
| 7509003676 | regretful | sorrowful because of what is lost, gone, or done. | 18 | |
| 7509009576 | foreboding | a strong inner feeling or notion of a future misfortune, evil, etc.; presentiment. | 19 | |
| 7649227784 | connotation | what a word suggests beyond its basic dictionary definition; a word's overtones of meaning | 20 | |
| 7649241722 | consonance | the repetition at close intervals of the final consonant sounds of accented syllables or important words | 21 | |
| 7649250581 | denotation | the basic definition or dictionary meaning of a word | 22 | |
| 7649255121 | English or Shakespearean sonnet | A 14 line poem with the rhyme scheme: ababcdcdefefgg. Content parallels rhyme scheme with 3 quatrains and a concluding couplet. Sometimes follows octave and sestet with break coming at end of 8th line. | 23 | |
| 7649271939 | epiphany | a moment or event in which a character achieves a spiritual insight into life or into her or his own circumstances. | 24 | |
| 7649278285 | accommodating | easy to deal with; eager to help or please; obliging. | 25 | |
| 7649283829 | tender | soft or delicate in substance; not hard or tough; weak or delicate in constitution; not strong or hardy. | 26 | |
| 7649289370 | cordial | courteous and gracious; friendly; warm; invigorating the heart; stimulating | 27 | |
| 7649312429 | solicitous | anxious or concerned; careful or particular; eager | 28 | |
| 7649320316 | confiding | trustful; credulous or unsuspicious | 29 | |
| 7920157780 | metonymy | Figure of speech in which some significant aspect or detail of an experience is used to represent the whole experience. Example: The White House in place of the president. | 30 | |
| 7920160194 | satire | A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or of keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice. | 31 | |
| 7920160195 | synecdoche | Figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole. Example: Wheels as an expression for a car. | 32 | |
| 7920162261 | synesthesia | Presentation of one sense experience in terms usually associated with another sensation. | 33 | |
| 7920162262 | tone | The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject, the audience or herself/himself; the emotional coloring or meaning of a work. | 34 | |
| 7920164565 | grave | serious or solemn manner or appearance | 35 | |
| 7920164566 | ominous | giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious | 36 | |
| 7920167632 | appalling | causing shock or dismay; horrific | 37 | |
| 7920167633 | agitated | feeling or appearing troubled or nervous | 38 | |
| 7920171303 | tremulous | shaking or quivering slightly; timid; nervous | 39 | |
| 8606438128 | Absurdism | A philosophy based on the belief that the universe is irrational and meaningless and that the search for order brings the individual into conflict with the universe | 40 | |
| 8606441674 | Existentialism | A chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad. | 41 | |
| 8606446333 | Nihilism | A viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless; a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth and especially of moral truths | 42 | |
| 8606455797 | Abhorrent | Disgusting; loathsome; repellent/feeling repugnance or loathing | 43 | |
| 8606459399 | Acerbic | Harsh or severe; caustic; vitriolic | 44 | |
| 8606472876 | Admonitory | Cautionary; warning | 45 | |
| 8606475523 | Audacious | Fearlessly daring; bold; lacking restraint or circumspection; arrogantly insolent | 46 | |
| 8606479957 | Baffled | Puzzled; confounded; bewildered | 47 | |
| 8606490333 | Banal | Repeating a worn out conversation or type; unaffecting and drearily predictable; trite; ordinary; boring; commonplace; mundane; pedestrian. | 48 | |
| 8606504603 | Bucolic | Of or characteristic of the countryside; peaceful or serene. | 49 | |
| 8606508367 | Romanticism | A style of art, literature, etc., during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that emphasized the imagination and emotions. | 50 | |
| 8606513752 | Realism | A manner of treating subject matter that presents a careful description of everyday life, usually of the lower and middle classes. A theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is. | 51 | |
| 8606526458 | Regionalism | The theory or practice of emphasizing the characteristics of locale or setting, as by stressing local speech. Often referred to as local color. | 52 | |
| 8606531715 | Impressionism | A theory and practice in literature that emphasizes immediate aspects of objects or actions without attention to details. Tells but doesn't interpret. | 53 | |
| 8606532356 | Verisimilitude | The appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability. | 54 | |
| 8606556238 | Ennui | A feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom. | 55 | |
| 8606579056 | Clinical | Pertaining to or connected with a clinic; pertaining to direct observation and treatment of patients; objective, detached. | 56 | |
| 8606581705 | Condemning | Expressing disproval of; censuring; criticizing; to pronounce judgement against; to sentence; to doom | 57 | |
| 8606594275 | Condescending | to come down voluntarily to the level of inferiors with whom one is dealing; deign; to deal with people in a patronizing manner; patronizing; belittling | 58 | |
| 8606600997 | Contentious | Argumentative; quarrelsome; belligerent; bellicose; fractious | 59 | |
| 8606624427 | Derisive | Mocking; scoffing | 60 | |
| 8606638138 | Desultory | Moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected; rambling; occurring; haphazardly; random | 61 | |
| 8606644795 | Didactic | intended to instruct; expository; morally instructive | 62 | |
| 8606649230 | Disparaging | To belittle; slight; to reduce in esteem or rank; condescending; patronizing | 63 | |
| 8606653132 | Dogmatic | Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or improvable principles. | 64 | |
| 8606657661 | Elegiac | Expressing sorrow; mournful; plaintive | 65 | |
| 8606662883 | Elitist | A sense of being part of a superior or privileged group; arrogant; pompous; haughty | 66 | |
| 8606667981 | Eloquent | Persuasive, fluent and graceful in discourse; highly, vividly or movingly expressive of emotion. | 67 | |
| 8606674655 | Embittered | To be filled with resentment; hostile | 68 | |
| 8606682638 | Erudite | Deeply learned; scholarly; intellectual | 69 |
