| Term | Definition |
|---|
| low comedy | bottom of comedy ladder, dirty jokes and gestures, slapstick and other loud elements, deformed characters |
| farce | 2nd on comedy ladder, mistaken identities, coincidences, mistimings, fate, predictably improbable plots and sloppy happy endings |
| comedy of manners | 3rd on comedy ladder, emphasizes love between upper classes, language, drama expressed wittily, satyrical |
| comedy of ideas | highest level of comedy ladder, characters argue ideas, representative of people who hold ideas, ideas embodied in conflict, wits or lack thereof are expressed against characters who view reality differently |
| allusion | a reference to another work of literature, person, or event |
| caricature | drawing, imitation, or description that ridiculously exaggerates peculiarities or defects |
| chiasmus | A figure of speech that reverses the order of words in phrases that would otherwise be structured the same. (e.g. Heaven is too great of humanity; humanity is too great for heaven) |
| double entendre | a statement that has two meanings, one of which is dirty or vulgar |
| epigram | a witty saying expressing a single thought or observation |
| freudian slip | Freud's term for a seemingly meaningless slip of the tongue that reveals an unconscious thought |
| hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor |
| understatement | the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended |
| invective | abusive speech or name-calling |
| ironic reversal | the expression of sentiments or language that is the opposite of what would ordinarily be expected |
| litotes | understatement for rhetorical effect (especially when expressing an affirmative by negating its contrary) EX: I was not a little upset |
| malapropism | the comical, unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar |
| mimicry | the imitation of someone's speech or movement, usually for the purpose of ridicule |
| parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule |
| pun | a "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things |
| repartee | a swift and witty reply; a conversation characterized by swift and witty replies |
| sarcasm | verbal irony that is clearly bitter and mocking |
| segue | a transition without pause |
| verbal irony | language stating the opposite of what is meant; contradiction |
| wit | display of cleverness and wuickness in the expression of ideas, generally reveals itself through phrasing, allusions, comparisons, etc., rather than in situations or incidents |
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