| A | B |
|---|
| ABSTRACT | refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images |
| AD HOMINEM | In an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "against the man." |
| ALLEGORY | a work that functions on a symbolic level. |
| ALLITERATION | the repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers." |
| ALLUSION | a reference contained in a work. |
| ANALOGY | a literary device employed to serve as a basis for comparison. It is assumed that what applies to the parallel situation also applies to the original circumstance. In other words, it is the comparison between two different items. |
| ANECDOTE | a story or brief episode told by the writer or a character to illustrate a point. |
| ANTECEDENT | the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers. |
| ANTITHESIS | the presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. "To be or not to be..." "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country..." |
| ARGUMENT | a single assertion or a series of assertions presented and defended by the writer. |
| ATTITUDE | the relationship an author has toward his or her subject, and/or his or her audience |
| BALANCE | a situation in which all parts of the presentation are equal, whether in sentences or paragraphs or sections of a longer work. |
| CACOPHONY | harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage in a literary work. |
| CHARACTER | those who carry out the action of the plot in literature. Major, minor, static, and dynamic are types of these. |
| COLLOQUIAL | the use of slang in writing, often to create local color and to provide an informal tone. |
| COMIC RELIEF | the inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work, thereby intensifying the next tragic event. |
| CONFLICT | a clash between opposing forces in a literary work, such as man vs. man; man vs. nature; man vs. god; man vs. self. |
| CONNOTATION | the interpretive level of a work based on its associated images rather than its literal meaning. |
| DEDUCTION | the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example. |
| DENOTATION | the literal or dictionary meaning of a word. |
