| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Allegory | a narrative in which the characters, behavior, and even the setting demonstrate multiple levels of meaning and significance. Often a univeral symbol or personified abstraction, such as Cupid portrayed as a chubby angel w/ a bow and arrows. |
| Alliteration | the sequential repetition of a similar initial sound, usually applied to sonsonants, usually in close proximate stressed syllables. |
| Allusion | a leterary, historical, religioius, or mythological reference. |
| Anaphora | the regular repetition of the same words or phrases at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses. |
| Antithesis | the juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, gramattical structure, or ideas |
| Aphorism | a concise statement designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief. |
| Apostrophe | an address or invocation to something inanimate |
| Appeals to authority, emotion, or logic | rhetorical arguments in which the speaker claims to be an authority or expert in a field, or attempts to play upon the emotions or appeals to the use of reason |
| Assonance | the repetition of identical or simliar vowel sounds, ususally in successive or proximate words |
| Asyndeton | a syntactical structure in which conjugations are omitted in a series, usually producing more rapid prose |
| Attitude | the sense expressd by the tone of voice or the mood of a piece or writing; the author's feelings toward his or her subject, characters, events, or theme. May even be his/her feelings towards the reader |
| Begging the Question | an argumentative ploy where the arguer sidesteps the question or conflict, evades or ignores the real question |
| Canon | that which has been accepted as authentic |
| Chiasmus | a figure of speech and generally a syntactical structure wherin the order of the terms in the first half of a parallel clause is reversed in teh second |
| Claim | in argumentation, an assertion of something as fact |
| Colloquial | a term identifying the diction of the common, ordinary folks, especially in a specific region or area. |
| Comparison and contrast | a mode of discourse in which two or more things are compared, contrasted, or both |
| Conceit | a comparison or two unlidely things that is drawn out within a piece of literature, in particular an extended metaphor within a poem |
| Connotation | the implied, suggested, or underlying meaning of a word or phrase |
| Consonance | the repetition or two or more consanants with a change in the intervening vowels |
| Convention | an accepted manner, model, or tradition |
| Critique | an assessment or analysis of something, such as a passage of writing, for the purpose of determining what it is, what its limitations are, and how it conforms to the standard of the genre |
| Deductive reasoning | the method of argument in which specific statements and conclusions are drawn from general principles: movement from the general to the specific |
| Dialect | the language and speech idiosyncrasies of a specific area, region, or group. |
| Diction | the specific word choice an author uses to persuade or convey tone, purpose, or effect. |
| Didactic | from Greek, meaning "good teaching." refers to when writing or speech has an instructive purpose or a lesson |
| Elegy | a poem or prose work that laments, or meditates upon the death of, a person or persons |
| Epistrophe | in rhetoric, the repetition of a phrase at the end of successive sentences |
| Epitaph | writing in praise of a dead person, most often inscribed upon a headstone |
| Ethos | in rhetoric, the appeal of a text to the credibility and character of the speaker, writer, or narrator |
| Eulogy | a speech or written passage in praise of a person; an oration in honor of a deceased person |
| Euphemism | an indirect, kinder, or less harsh or hurtful way of expressing unpleasant information |
| Exposition | the interpretation or analysis of a text |
| Extended Metaphor | a series of comparisons within a piece of writing. if they are consistently one concept, this is also known as a conceit |
| Flashback | an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronology of the narration. also called retrospection |
| Genre | a type or class of literature, such as epic, narrative, poetry, biography, history,etc |
| Homily | a sermon, but more contemporary uses include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual life |
| Hyperbole | overstatement characterized by exaggerated language, usually to make a point or draw attention |
| Imagery | broadly defined, any sensory detail or evocation in a work; more narrowly, the use of figurative language to provoke a feeling, call to mind an idea, or to describe an object |
| Inductive Reasoning | the method of reasoning or argument in which gernal statements and conclusions are drawn from specific principles |
| Irony | the contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant |
| Isocolon | parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure, but also in length |
| Jargon | specialized or technical language or a trade, profession, or similar group |
| Juxtaposition | the location or one thing adjacent to or compared with another to create an effect, reaveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose |
| Litote | a figure of speech that emphasizes its subject by concious understatement |
| Loose Sentence | a long sentence that starts with its main clause, which is followed by several dependent clauses and modifying phrases |
| Inference | a conclustion or proposition arrived at by considering facts, observations, or some other specific data |
| Metaphor | one thing pictured as if it were something else, suggesting a likeness or analogy |
| Metonymy | a figure of speech in which an attribute or commonly associated feature is used to name or designate something |
| Mode of discourse | the way in which information is presented in written or spoken form |
| Mood | a feeling or ambience resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the writer/ narrator's attitude and point of view |
| Narrative | a mode of discourse that tells a story of some sort and it is based on sequences of connected events, usually presented in a straightforward, chronological framework |
| Onomatopoeia | a word capturing or approximating the sound of what it describes |
| Oxymoron | a figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements |
| Paradox | a statement that seems contradictory but may probably be true |
| Parallel structure | the use of similar forms in writing for nouns, verbs, phrases, or thoughts |
| Pathos | the element in literature that stimulates pity or sorrow. In argument or persuation i tends to be the evocation of pity from the reader/listener |
| Periodic sentence | a long sentence in which the main clause is not completed until the end |
| Personification | treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by endowing it with human features or qualities |
| Point of View | the relation in which a narrator/author stands to a subject of discourse |
| Prose | the ordinary form of written language without metrical structure in contrast to verse and poetry |
| Realism | attempting to describe nature and life without idealization and with attention ro detail |
| Rebuttal/refutation | an argument technique wherein opposing arguments are anticipated and countered |
| Rhetoric | the art of using words to persuade in writing or speaking |
| Rhetorical question | a question that is asked simply for the sake of stylistic effect and is not expected to be answered |
| Sarcasm | a form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually critical |
| Satire | a literary work that holds up human failing to ridicule and censure |
| Simile | a direct, explicit comparison of one thing to another, usually using the words like or as to draw the connection |
| Style | the manner in which a writer combines and arranges words, shapes ideas, and utilizes syntax and structure |
| Symbolism | use of a person, place, thing, event, or pattern that figuratively represents or "stands for" something else |
| Synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole |
| Syntax | the way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences |
| Theme | the central or dominant idea or focus of a work. the statement a passage makes about its subject |
| Tone | the attitude the narrator/writer takes toward a subject and theme |
| Voice | the acknowledged or unacknowledged source of the words of the the story |
| Zeugma | a grammatically correct construction in which a word, usually a verb or adjective, is applied to two or more nouns without being repeated |
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