| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Allegory | Fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts |
| Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words |
| Allusion | A reference, usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person |
| Analogy | The correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different |
| Anecdote | A short story used to illustrate a point the author is making |
| Antithesis | An opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses |
| Assonance | A type of internal rhyming in which vowel souds are repeated |
| Atmosphere | The emotional feeling -or mood- of a place, scene, or event |
| Colloquial Language | Slang or common language that is informal |
| Diction | An author's choice of words |
| Didactic | Writing which has the purpose of teaching or instructing |
| Elegy | A work that expresses sorrow |
| Euphemism | A mild or pleasant sounding expression that substitutes for a harsh, indelicate, or simply less pleasant idea |
| Figurative Language | All uses of language that imply an imaginative comparison |
| Foreshadowing | A purposeful hint placed in a work of literature to suggest what may occur later in the narrative |
| Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis |
| Irony | When a situation produces and outcome that is the opposite of what is expected |
| Juxtaposition | When two contrasting things are placed next to each other for comparison |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly |
| Mood | The prevailing or dominant feeling of a work, scene, or event |
| Onomatopoeia | An effect created by words that have sounds that reinforce their meaning |
| Oxymoron | Two contradictory words in one expression |
| Paradox | A seeming contradiction that in fact reveals some truth |
| Parallelism | A literary technique that relies on the use of the same syntactical structures |
| Parody | An effort to ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing a comic imitation of the work |
| Periodic Sentence | Presents the main clause at the end of the sentence, for emphasis |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which ideas or objects are described as having human qualities or personalities |
| Point of View | The particular perspective from which a story is told |
| Pun | A play on words |
| Repetition | The reiteration of a word or phrase for emphasis |
| Rhetorical Devices | The specific language tools that an author uses to carry out a rhetorical strategy (diction, imagery, or syntax) |
| Rhetorical Question | A question that is asked for the sake of argument |
| Satire | To ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events, or doctrines |
| Simile | A commonly used figure of speech that compares one thing with another using the words "like" or "as" |
| Symbol | Something that stands for something else |
| Syntax | The way words are arranged in a sentence |
| Theme | The central idea |
| Tone | Attitude |
| Understatement | When an author assigns less significance to an event or thing than it deserves |
| sonnet | Fourteen-line lyric poem that is usually written in iambic pentameter and that has one of several rhyme schemes. |
| blank verse | poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| free verse | Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme |
| expose | Journalistic writing to expose weakness, faults or shortcomings |
| fable | a short moral story (often with animal characters) |
| parable | a short narrative designed to teach a moral lesson |
| cacophony | loud confusing disagreeable sounds |
| euphony | any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds |
| connotation | an idea that is implied or suggested |
| denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression |
| catharsis | a clensing or purging that releases emotions |
| aphorism | a short pithy instructive saying |
| hubris | excessive pride |
| soliloquy | a speech given by a character alone on stage |
| monologue | a long speech made by one person |
| pedantic | An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish. |
| terse | breif and to the point |
| trenchant | adj. keen and forceful; caustic |
| ornate | rich in decorative detail |
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