| A | B |
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| Epiphany | A sudden or intuitive insight or perception into the reality or essential meaning of something usually brought on by a simple or common occurrence or experience |
| Onomatopoeia | A word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes, such as buzz or hiss. |
| Diction | An author's choice of words to convey a tone or effect |
| Utopia | An imaginary place of ideal perfection. The opposite of a dystopia. ÑAn imaginary place where people live dehumanized, often fearful lives. |
| Hyperbole | An overstatement characterized by exaggerated language |
| Deus ex machina | As in Greek theater, use of an artificial device or contrived solution to solve a difficult situation, usually introduced suddenly and unexpectedly |
| Antagonist | Character or force in a literary work that opposes the main character, or protagonist |
| Analogy | Comparison of two things that are alike in some respects. Metaphors and similes are both types of analogy |
| Inductive | Conclusion or type of reasoning whereby observation or information about a part of a class is applied to the class as a whole. Contrast with deductive. |
| Nostalgia | Desire to return in thought or fact to a former time |
| Thesis | Focus statement of an essay; premise statement upon which the point of view or discussion in the essay is based. AntithesisÑThe juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words or phrases. |
| Litote | Form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis and intensity. For example, "She is not a bad cook." Or "No man ever followed his genius until it misled him." Thoreau |
| Zeugma | Grammatically correct linkage of one subject with two or more verbs or a verb with two or more direct objects. The linking shows a relationship between ideas more clearly. |
| Ethos | In dramatic literature, the moral element that determines a character's actions, rather than thought or emotion. |
| Propaganda | Information or rumor deliberately spread to help or harm a person, group, or institution |
| Didactic | Intended for teaching or to teach a moral lesson |
| Formal Language | Language that is lofty, dignified, or impersonal |
| Allegory | Narrative form in which characters and actions have meanings outside themselves; characters are usually personifications of abstract qualities |
| In medias res | Opening a story in the middle of the action, requiring filling in past details by exposition or flashback. |
| Colloquial | Ordinary language; the vernacular. For example, depending on where in the United States you live, a sandwich is called a sub, a grinder, or a hero. |
| metaphors | "The stream's a snake." |
| simile | "She dances like a princess." |
| hyperbole | "My date last night was the most beautiful girl in the world." |
| litotes | Bill Gates is rather well-off |
| personification | "The fog crept in on little cat feet." |
| allusion | "My boyfriend dances like King Kong." |
| synecdoche | "Have you got your wheels, man?" |
| paradox | "A little learning is a dangerous thing." |
| antithesis | "Wretches hang that jury-men may dine." |
| apostrophe | "Goodbye, cruel world." |
| metonymy | "The White House has responded to the criticism." |
| oxymoron | "Jumbo shrimp" |
| parallelism | "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer,/ When the proofs, the figures were ranged before me." |
| alliteration | repetition of the first letters of words |
| hyperbole | exaggeration |
| personification | giving human qualities to something that is not |
| metaphor | comparison with a hidden meaning |
| simile | comparison using "like" or "as" |
| symbolism | a word,thing or picture that represents something else |
| foreshadowing | clues in a story about what will happen later |
| irony | meaning one thing but saying the opposite |
| onomatopeia | a word that imitates the sound |
| paradox | a statement that has a conflicting meaning |
| satire | use of irony to mock a custom, habit or idea that seems silly |
| oxymoron | a statement that contains contradictory terms |
| analogy | comparing two things |
| allegory | a story that is intended to teach a lesson |
| Personification | giving an inanimate object human-like characteristics |
| Simile | a comparison using "like" or "as" |
| Metaphor | making a direct comparison |
| Mood | the feeling or atmosphere that the writer creates for the reader |
| Theme | the main idea in a work of literature |
| Symbolism | when something concrete represents an abstract idea |
| tone | the writer's attitude is revealed through this |
| plot | the structure of a story |
| Apostrophe | addresses directly a person or personified thing |
| Enthymeme | informally stated syllogism |
| Climax | arranging words, clauses or sentences in the order of increasing iimportance weight or emphasis |
| Diacope | repetition of a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase |
| Antimetabole | reversing the orderof repeated words or phrases to intensify the fiinal formulation to present alternatives or to show contrast |
| Antiphrasis | one word irony, established by context |
| Epizeuxis | repetition of one word for emphasis |
| Aposiopesis | stopping abruptly and leaving a statement unfinished |
| Anacoluthon | finishing a sentence with a different gramatical structure from that with which it began |
| Enumeratio | detailing parts, causes effects or consequences to make a point more forcibly |
| Apostrophe | And the point is, dear friend, you are obnoxious. |
| Enthymeme | You can tell this recorder is junk, it's made in Japan |
| Diacope | We will win, I tell you, we will win! |
| Antiphrasis | "Come here, Einstein," she said to Michael Patrick. |
| Aposiopesis | If you touch me again, I'll..... |
| Epizeuxis | That vomit looks gross, gross, gross. |
| Anecdote | A brief story or tale told by a character in a piece of literature |
| Aphorism | A concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief. The writings of Benjamin Franklin contain many aphorisms, such as "Early to bed and early to rise/Make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." |
| Apostrophe | A figure of speech in which a person, thing, or abstract quality is addressed as if present; for example, the invocation to the muses usually found in epic poetry. |
| Oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements, as in "jumbo shrimp" or "deafening silence." |
| Allusion | A figure of speech which makes brief, even casual reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object to create a resonance in the reader or to apply a symbolic meaning to the character or object of which the allusion consists. For example, in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, the surname of the protagonist, George Milton, is an allusion to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, since by the end of the novel, George has lost the dream of having a little ranch of his own to share with his friend Lennie. |
| Syllogism | A form of deduction. An extremely subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument |
| Satire | A literary style used to make fun of or ridicule an idea or human vice or weakness |
| Bildungsroman | A novel or story whose theme is the moral or psychological growth of the main character. |
| Epitaph | A piece of writing in praise of a deceased person |
| Parody | A satirical imitation of a work of art for purpose of ridiculing its style or subject. |
| periodic sentence | A sentence that withholds its main idea until the end. For example: Just as he bent to tie his shoe, a car hit him. |
| Sarcasm | A sharp caustic remark. A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually bitterly or harshly critical. For example, a coach saying to a player who misses the ball, "Nice catch." |
| Expletive | A single word or short phrase intended to emphasize surrounding words. Commonly, expletives are set off by commas. Examples: in fact, of course, after all, certainly |
| Irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational | A situation or statement characterized by significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant. Irony is frequently humorous, and can be sarcastic when using words to imply the opposite of what they normally mean |
| Eulogy | A speech or writing in praise of a person or thing; an oration in honor of a deceased person |
| Paradox | A statement that seems contradictory, but is actually true. |
| loose sentence | She ran over the dog on her way out of the driveway. |
| Bildungsroman | Owen Meany |
| Apostrophe | O heavens, dost thou not believe me? |
| Juxtaposition | a juxtaposition occurs when two images that are otherwise not commonly brought together appear side by side or structurally close together, thereby forcing the reader to stop and reconsider the meaning of the text through the contrasting images, ideas, motifs, etc |
| Epigraph | Epigraph -- A short inscription at the beginning of a document or component |
| Anaphora | the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of several consecutive sentences or verses to emphasize an image or a concept. |
| Anadiplosis | a device in which the last word or phrase of one clause, sentence, or line is repeated at the beginning of the next. |
| Appeals to: authority, emotion, logic | pathos |
| Euphemism | an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces |
| Tone | the attitude a writer takes towards a subject |
| Asyndeton | He bought oranges, apples, bananas at the store. |
| figurative language | does not mean what exactly what it says;used to add color |
| metaphor | Pizza is food heaven. |
| simile | a comparison of two unlike objects; USES LIKE or AS |
| hyperbole | a large exaggeration |
| personification | giving an non-human thing human qualities |
| onomatopoeia | words that sound like their meaning |
| alliteration | a series of words that begin with the same letter |
| alliteration | Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. |
| literal language | means exactly what it says |
| metaphor | Your eyes are diamonds. |
| simile | Your eyes are like diamonds. |
| hyperbole | There were a thousand people at my party. |
| onomatopoeia | We watched the BLIP on the computer monitor. |
| personification | The stars reached down from the sky. |
| literal language | I like pizza. |
| metaphor | a comparison of two unlike objects;does NOT use LIKE or AS |
| monosyllabic | one syllable in length |
| polysyllabic | more than one syllble in length |
| colloquial | slang word |
| informal | conversational word |
| formal | literary word |
| archaic | old-fashioned word |
| denotative | containing an exact meaning |
| connotative | containing a suggested meaning |
| concrete | specific and tangible |
| abstract | general and conceptual |
| euphonious | pleasant-sounding |
| cacophonous | harsh sounding |
| diction | choice of words |
| simple sentence | contains one subject and one verb |
| compound sentence | contains two independent clauses joined by a (;) or coordinating conjunction |
| complex sentence | contains an independent clause and at least one subordinate clause |
| compound-complex sentence | contains at least one principal clause and at least one subordinate clause |
| loose sentence | makes sense if brought to a close before actual ending |
| periodic sentence | makes sense only when the end of the sentence is reached |
| juxtaposition | unassociated ideas placed next to each other |
| parallel structure | grammatical or structural similarity between sentence elements |
| repetition | words, sounds, ideas that are used more than once |
| rhetorical question | a question that expects no answer |
| use of logic, claims and evidence to convince an audience of a certain point | logos |
| writer is established as trustworthy and credible | ethos |
