| A | B |
|---|
| analogy | point-by-point comparison between two things for the purpose of clarifying the less familiar of the two |
| anaphora | repetition of a word or words at the beginning of successive lines, clauses, or sentences |
| anecdote | a brief story that focuses on a single episode or event in a person's life |
| aphorism | a brief statement that expresses a general principle or truth about life |
| apostrophe | a figure of speech in which someone, some abstract quality or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present |
| asyndeton | the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence |
| cliche | an overused expression |
| colloquialism | an expression used in informal conversation, but not accepted universally in a formal speech or writing. |
| conceit | a complicated and intellectual metaphor |
| connotation | the suggested or emotional meaning associated with a particular word |
| denotation | the literal meaning of a word |
| diction | the writer's or speaker's choice of words |
| didactic | the use of instructiveness in literature. |
| ellipsis | the omission of one or more words in a phrase or sentence that can be understood even though they are omitted |
| epiphany | a moment of realization by a character in a work of literature |
| euphemism | a mild or indirect word/expression replaced for something considered to harsh |
| extended metaphor | when an author uses a metaphor extensively in a single work of literature |
| genre | the distinct types into which literary works are grouped |
| hyperbole | a figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect |
| idiom | a common figure of speech whose literal meaning is different from the understood meaning |
| invective | harsh, abusive language |
| irony | a contrast between appearance and reality |
| litotes | understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary (as in Ònot a bad singerÓ or Ònot unhappyÓ) |
| metonymy | the substitution of the name of an attribute for that of the whole thing |
| mixed metaphor | a combination of two or more incompatible metaphors used for ridiculous effect |
| onomotopoei | creating or using words to imitate sounds |
| oxymoron | a figure of speech in which opposite terms appear in conjunction |
| paradox | a phrase or statement that is seemingly contradictory but may be true. |
| parody | writing that imitates the style of a literary genre for humorous effect |
| personification | giving an object, animal, or idea human characteristics |
| style | the distinctive way in which a work of literature is written |
| symbol | a person, place or object that has a meaning in itself and also stands for something more abstract, such as an idea or feeling |
| synechdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole |
| syntax | the study of a sentence's structure |
| tone | the mood or atmosphere created by the work of literature |
| trope | any figure of speech |
| understatement | a writing technique which creates emphasis by saying less than what is actually or literally true |
