| A | B |
|---|
| Allegory: | work of literature in which people, objects, and events stand for abstract qualities |
| Allusion: | an indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work |
| Antithesis: | juxtaposition of strongly contrasting words, images, or ideas, often using parallel structure |
| Aphorism: | brief statement that expresses a general principal or truth about life |
| Archaic Language: | an old-fashioned way of using language, as opposed to the modern way |
| Assonance: | the repetition of vowel sounds within words |
| Caesura: | a pause or a break in a line of poetry |
| Consonance: | the repetition of consonant sounds within and at the ends of words |
| Deism: | the belief that, although a higher power created the world, there is no direct intervention |
| Diction: | a writer's or speaker's choice of words, including both vocabulary and syntax (the order or arrangement of words) |
| Elevated Language: | formal words and phrases that lend a serious tone to a discussion |
| Foil: | character whose traits contrast with those of another character |
| Gothic Literature: | characterized by grotesque characters, bizarre situations, and violent events |
| Hyperbole: | the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or for humorous effect |
| Modernism: | a literary movement that is characterized by a high degree of experimentation and characters that are most often alienated |
| Mood: | feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader |
| Imagery: | descriptive words and phrases that a writer uses to re-create sensory experiences |
| Naturalism: | emphasized how instinct and environment affect human behavior |
| Irony: | a contrast between appearance and actuality |
| Paradox: | a statement that seems to contradict itself but may nevertheless suggest an important truth |
| Parallelism: | when a speaker or writer expresses ideas of equal worth with the same grammatical form |
| Periodic Sentences: | a long sentence that has additional details at the beginning and the main point at the end |
| Rationalism: | a movement in 18th-century thought that emphasized the role of reason in human affairs |
| Realism: | a literary method based on careful observations of contemporary life, often focusing on the middle or lower classes |
| Rhetorical Question: | a question to which no answer is expected because the answer is obvious |
| Southern Gothic: | 20th century writers in the American south who used gloom and pessimism |
| Stream of Consciousness: | presents the flow of a character's seemingly unconnected thoughts, responses, and sensations |
| Style: | distinctive way in which a work of literature is written |
| Syllogism: | a form of deductive reasoning made up of a three-part set of statements or propositions that includes a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion |
| Synesthesia: | imagery that appeals to one sense when another is being stimulated |
| Theme: | central idea or ideas the writer intends to share with the reader |
| Tone: | a writer's attitude toward his or her subject |
| Tragedy: | a dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character who is involved in historically, morally, or socially significant events |
| Tragic Hero: | a character whose basic goodness and superiority are marred by a flaw that brings about or contributes to his or her downfall |
| Loaded Language: | words with strong connotations, or emotional associations |
| Local Color Realism: | a style of writing that brings a particular region alive by portraying its dialects, dress, mannerisms, customs, character types, and landscapes |
