| A | B |
|---|
| Ad Hominem Argument | an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his position on an issue |
| Allegory | a literary work in which the characters, objects, or actions repesent abstractions |
| Anaphora | the repetition of words or phrases at the begining of consecutive lines or sentences |
| Anecdote | a brief narative that focuses on a particular incident |
| Antecedent | the word, phrase, or clause, to which a pronoun refers |
| Antithesis | a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced |
| Aphorism | a cincise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme of balance |
| Apostrophe | a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction |
| Archetype | a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response |
| Asyndenton | a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions |
| Balanced Sentence | a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize contrast |
| Chiasmus | a statement of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed "Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary" |
| Cliché | an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off |
| Colloquialism | informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing |
| Conceit | a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor |
| Deductive Reasoning | reasoning in which a conclution is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case "The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning" |
| Didactic | having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing |
| Elegy | a formal poem presenting a meditation or another solem theme |
| Ellipsis | the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context "Some people prefer cats; others dogs" |
| Epigam | a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying |
| Epiphany | a moment of sudden revelation or insite |
| Epitaph | an inscripption on a tombstone or burial place |
| Epithet | a term used to point out a characteristic of a person. "Swift-footed Achilles" "The Rocket" |
| Eulogy | a formal speech praising a person who has died |
| Euphemism | an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant |
| Expletive | an interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes profanity |
| Homily | a sermon, or a moralistic lecture |
| Hypothetical Question | a question that raises a hypothesis, conjecture, or supposition |
| Idion | an espression in a given languange that cannot be understood from a literal meaning of the words in the expression; or a regional speech or dialect |
| Inductive Reasoning | deriving general principles from particular facts or instances |
| Invective | an intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attacks |
| Juxtaposition | placing two elements side by side to present a comparision or contrast |
| Litotes | a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (describing a particulary horrific scene by saying "it was not a pretty picture" |
| Malapropism | the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar (the doctor wrote a subscription) |
| Maxim | a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage |
| Metonymy | substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it (the pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [war/fighting]) |
| Motif | a standard theme, element, or dramatic ssituation that recurs in various works |
| Non Sequitur | an inference that does not follow logically from the premises (literally, "does not follow") |
| Parable | a simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson |
| Paradox | an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth |
| Parallelism | the use of corresponding gramatical or syntactical forms |
| Parody | a humorous imitation of a serious work |
| Pedantic | characterized by an exessive display of learning or scholarship |
| Philippic | a strong verbal denunciation. The term comes from the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedonia in the fourth century |
| Polysyndeton | the use, for rhetorical effect, or more sonjunctions than is necessary or natural |
| Pun | a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but defferent meanings |
| Sarcasm | harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule |
| Satire | the use of humor to emphasize human weakness or imperfections in social institutions |
| Solecism | nonstandard grammatical usage; a violation of grammatical rules |
| Surrealism | an artistic movement emphasizing the imagination and characterized by incingruous juxtapositions and lack of conscious control |
| Syllepsis | a construction in which one word is used in two different senses Äfter he threw the ball, he threw a fit" |
| Syllogism | a three-part deductive argument in which a conclution is based on a major premise and a minor premise "All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal" |
| Synecdoche | using one part of an object to represent the entire object (for example, refering to a car simply as "wheels") |
| Synesthesia | describing one kind of sensation in terms of another "a loud color," "a sweet sound" |
| Syntax | the manner in which words are arranged into sentences |
| Tautology | needless repetitionwhich adds no meaning or understanding "widow woman," "free gift" |
| Trite | overused and hackneyed |
| Vernacular | the everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage |
