| A | B |
|---|
| absolute | a word free from limitations or qualifications |
| adage | a familiar or wise saying |
| ad hominen argument | an argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position |
| allegory | a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions |
| alliteration | the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words |
| allusion | a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize |
| analogy | a comparison of two different things that are similar in |
| anaphora | the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences |
| anecdote | a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event |
| antecedent | the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers |
| antithesis | a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced |
| aphorisim | a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance |
| apostrophre | 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 |
| argument | a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work |
| asyndeton | 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 a contrast |
| bathos | insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity |
| chiasmus | a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed |
| cliche | an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off |
| climax | the point of highest interest in a literary work |
| colloqualisim | informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing |
| complex sentence | a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause |
| compound sentence | a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions |
| conceit | a fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor |
| concrete details | details that relate to or describe actual. specific things or events |
| connotation | the implied or associative meaning of a word |
| cumulative sentence | a sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases |
| declarative sentence | a sentence that makes a statement or declaration |
| deductive reasoning | reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general princip le and then applying that principle to a specific case |
| denotation | the literal meaning of a word |
| dialect | a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation often associated with a particular geographical region |
| dialogue | conversation between two or more people |
| diction | the word choices made by a writer |
| didactic | having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing |
| dilemma | a situation that requires a person to decide between two equally attractive or equally unattractive alternatives |
| dissonance | harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds |
| elegy | a formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme |
| epic | a long narrative poem written in elevated style which presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation. |
| epigram | a brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying |
| epigraph | a saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of a work |
| epiphany | a moment of sudden revelation or insight |
| epitaph | an inscription on a tombstone or burial place |
| epithet | a term used to point out a characteristic of a person. |
| eulogy | a formal speech praising a person who has died |
| euphenisim | a formal speech praising a person who has died |
| exlamatory sentence | a sentence expressing strong feeling , usually punctuated with an exclamation mark |
| expletitive | an interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes, a profanity |
| ellipsis | the omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context |
| fable | a brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters |
| fantasy | a story that concerns an unreal world or contains unreal characters; a fantasy may be merely whimsical, or it may present a serious point |
| figurative language | language employing one or more figures of |
| flashback | the insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative |
| flat character | a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story |
| foreshadowing | the presentation of material in such a way that the reader is prepared for what is to come later in the work |
| frame device | a story within a story |
| genre | a major category or type of literature |
| homily | a sermon, or a moralistic lecture |
| hubris | excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy |
| hyperbole | intentional exaggeration to create an effect |
| hypothetical question | a question that raises a hypothesis, conjecture, or supposition |
| idiom | an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect |
| imagery | the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses |
| implication | a suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly. |
| inductive reasoning | deriving general principles from particular facts or instances |
| inference | a conclusion one draws (infers) based on premises or evidence |
| invective | an intensely vehement. highly emotional verbal attack |
| irony | the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or. incongruity between what 1s expected and what actually occurs |
| jargon | the specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group or profession |
| juxtaposition | placing two elements side-by-side to present comparison or contrast |
| legend | a narrative handed down from the past, containing elements and usually supernatural elements |
| limerick | a humorous, frequently bawdy, verse of three long and two short lines rhyming aabba |
| limited narrator | a narrator who presents the story as it is seen and understood by a single character and restricts information to what is seen. heard, thought, or felt by that one character |
| literary license | deviating from normal rules or methods in order to achieve a certain effect |
| litotes | a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite |
| malaproprisim | the mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar |
| maxim | a concise statement, often offering advice; an adage |
| metaphor | a direct comparison of two different things |
| metonomy | substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it |
| mood | the emotional atmosphere of a work |
| motif | a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works |
| motivation | a character' s incentive or reason for behaving in a certain manner· that which impels a character to act |
| myth | a traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that help explain natural events |
| narrative | a story or narrated account |
| narrator | the one who tells the story; may be first- or third-person, limited or omniscient |
| non sequitor | an inference that does not follow logically from the premises |
