| A | B |
|---|
| understatement | statement in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about |
| verbal irony | a kind of irony in which words are used to suggest the opposite of their actual meaning |
| vernacular | using the native language of a country or place; commonly spoken by the people of a particular country or place |
| verisimilitude | the semblance of truth; the degree to which a writer creates the appearance of truth |
| vignette | a short, delicate literary sketch |
| villanelle | a verse form consisting of nineteen lines divided into six stanzas—five tercets (three line stanzas) and one quatrain (four line stanza) |
| voice | the “speaker” in a piece of literature |
| zeugma | when one part of speech (most often the main verb, but sometimes a noun) governs two or more other parts of a sentence (often in a series). |
| syllepsis | when a single word that governs or modifies two or more others must be understood differently with respect to each of those words. |
