| A | B |
|---|
| allusion | a reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-know historical or literary event or person |
| attitude | a speaker's, author's, or character's disposition toward or opinion of a subject |
| details | items or parts that make up a larger picture or story |
| diction | word choice |
| figurative language | words or phrases that mean something other than their literal meaning |
| imagery | sensory details of a work; the figurative language of a work |
| irony | figure of speech in which intent and actual meaning differ |
| metaphor | a figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative word like like, as, or than |
| narrative techniques | the methods involved in telling a story; the procedures used by writers of stories or accounts |
| examples of narrative techniques | point of view, manipulation of time, dialogue, interior monologues |
| omniscient point of view | the vantage point of a story in which the narrator can know, see, and report whatever he or she chooses |
| point of view | any of several possible vantage points from which a story is told |
| resources of language | a general phrase for the linguistic devices or techniques that a writer can use |
| examples of resources of language | diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery |
| rhetorical techniques | the devices used in effective or persuasive language |
| examples of rhetorical techniques | contrast, repetition, paradox, understatement, sarcasm, rhetorical questions |
| satire | writing that seeks to arouse a reader's disapproval of an object by ridicule |
| setting | the background of a story; the physical location |
| simile | a directly expressed comparison using like, as, or than |
| structure | the arrangement of materials within a work; the relationship of the parts of a work to the whole; the logical divisions |
| style | the mode of expression in language; the characteristic manner of expression of an author |
| elements of style | diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery, selection of detail, sound effect, tone |
| symbol | something that is simultaneously itself and a sign of something else |
| syntax | the structure of a sentenc |
| theme | main thought about life expressed by a work |
| tone | the manner in which an author expresses his or her attitude |
| allegory | a story in which people, things, and events have another meaning |
| ambiguity | multiple meanings a literary work may communicate, especially two meanings that are incompatible |
| apostrophe | direct address, usually to someone or something that is not present |
| connotation | the implications of a word or phrase, as opposed to its exact meaning |
| denotation | dictionary meaning of a word |
| grotesque | characterized by distortions or incongruities |
| hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration, overstatement |
| jargon | the special language of a profession or group |
| literal | not figurative; accurate to the letter; matter of fact |
| lyrical | songlike; characterized by emotion, subjectivity, and imagination |
| oxymoron | a combination of opposites; the union of contradictory terms |
| paradox | a statement that seems to be self-contradicting but, in fact, is true |
| parody | a composition that imitates the style of another composition normally for comic effect |
| personification | a figurative use of language which endows the nonhuman with human characteristics |
| rhetorical question | a question asked for effect, not in expectation of reply |
| soliloquy | a speech in which a character who is alone speaks his or her thoughts aloud |
| stereotype | a conventional pattern, expression, character, or idea |
| syllogism | a form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. It begins with a major premise followed by a minor premise and a conclusion |
| thesis | the theme, underlying meaning, or position that a writer undertakes to prove or support |
| alliteration | repetition of identical or similar consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words |
| assonance | repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds |
| blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| dactyl | a metrical foot of three syllables, accented, unaccented, unaccented |
| end stopped line | a line with a pause at the end. Lines that end with a period, comma, colon, semicolon, exclamation point, or question mark |
| free verse | poetry that is not written in a traditional meter but is still rhythmical |
| hexameter | a line containing six feet |
| iamb | unstressed, stressed |
| internal rhyme | rhyme that occurs within a line, rather than at the end |
| onomatopoeia | the use of a word whose sound suggests their meaning |
| pentameter | a line containing five feet |
| sonnet | normally a 14 line iambic pentameter poem |
| stanza | usually a repeated grouping of three or more lines with the same meter and rhyme scheme |
| terza rima | a three-line stanza rhymed aba,bcb,cdcc |
| tetrameter | a line of four feet |
| antecedent | that which goes before, especially the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers |
| ellipsis | the omission of a word or several words necessary for a complete construction that is still understandable |
| imperative | the mood of a verb that gives an order |
| parallel structure | a similar grammatical structure within a sentence or within a paragraph |
| periodic sentence | a sentence grammatically complete only at the end |
| loose sentence | a sentence that is grammatically complete before the end |
| trochaic | stressed, unstressed |
| anapestic | unstressed, unstressed, stressed |
| spondee | two extra stressed syllables |
| pyrrhus | two extra unstressed syllables |
| monometer | one foot |
| dimeter | two feet |
| trimeter | three feet |
| tetrameter | four feet |
| heptameter | seven feet |
| octometer | eight feet |
| nonameter | nine feet |
| consonance | the repetition of consonant sounds in different words in a line |
| cacophony | the use of harsh, discordant sounds to produce an effect |
| euphony | the use of soft, harmonious sounds to produce an effect |
| apostrophe | direct address of a person or thing, absent or present |
| synecdoche | method by which a part is put for a whole, whole for a part |
| litotes | affirming something by denying its opposite |
| epithet | a descriptive word or term, often complimentary or occurring in place of a noun or thing |
| antithesis | an opposition or contrast of ideas, emphasized by the positions of contrasting words |
| inversion | changing the normal order of words or phrases |
| visual | sight imagery |
| auditory | sound imagery |
| gustatory | taste imagery |
| olfactory | smell imagery |
| kinesthetic | movement imagery |
| thermal | heat imagery |
| affective fallacy | the error of judging a work of art in terms of its results, especially its emotional effects |
| anachronism | false assignment of an event, person, scene, language--in fact anything--to a time when that thing was not in existence |
| analogy | a comparison of two things, alike in certain respects, particularly a method of exposition by which one unfamiliar object is compared to a more familiar one |
| antagonist | the character in fiction or drama who stands directly opposed to the main character |
| argumentation | one of the 4 chief forms of discourse--purpose is to convince a reader or hearer of something |
| aside | a dramatic convention by which an actor directly and audibly addresses the audience but is not supposed to be heard by the other actors on the stage |
| autobiography | the story of a person's life written by that person |
| bathos | the effect resulting from an unsuccessful effort to achieve dignity or pathos or elevation of style; dropping from the sublime to the ridiculous |
| biography | a written account of a person's life |
| broken rhyme | a term describing the breaking of a word at the end of a verse in order to produce a rhyme |
| caesura | a pause or break in the metrical or rhythmical progress of a line of verse |
| character | a person in a story |
| climax | in rhetoric, a term used to indicate the arragement of words, phrases, and clauses in such a way as to form a rising order of importance |
| closed couplet | two successive verses rhyming aa and containing within the two lines a complete, independent statement |
| colloquialism | an expression used in informal conversation but not accepted as good usage in formal speech or writing |
| comic relief | a humorous scene, incident, or speech in the course of a serious fiction or drama |
| confidant | a character in a novel or drama who takes little part in the action but is a close friend of the protagonist and receives the confidences and intimate thoughts |
| conflict | the struggle which grows out of the interplay of two opposing forces |
