| Term | Definition |
| Abstract Language | language without concrete or specific references such as "beauty" and "ugly" |
| Allegory | a story or poem in which characters, settings, and even events stand for other people or events. |
| Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words |
| Allusion | a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art |
| Ambiguity | having two or more different and sometimes conflicting meanings; lack of clarity in a work. |
| Analogy | a comparison of two different things to show how they're alike. |
| Annotation | the critical commentary or explanatory notes that accompany a text |
| Antecedent | the word, phrase, or clause that is referred to by a pronoun. |
| Antithesis | direct contrast/opposition |
| Aphorism | A brief, clearly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life |
| Appositive | noun phrase that renames or adds info |
| Apostrophe | A technique by which a writer addresses an inanamite object, an idea, r a person who is either dead or absent. |
| Atmosphere | the mood or feeling that is evoked |
| Attitude | the writers approach or feeling, toward what they're writing |
| Clause | a group of related words that contain both a subject and a verb |
| Cliche | an overused or trite remark |
| Colloquial | the use of slang or informalities in speech or writings, it gives a work a conversational, familar tone |
| Conceit | an elaborate metaphor or figurative device; a fanciful supposition |
| Concrete detail/language | Specific examples and details |
| Connotation | this suggestion, implication, feelings associated with a word |
| Denotation | the literal meaning, dictionary definition of a word. |
| Dependent Clause | cannot stand by itself |
| Diction | word choice |
| Didactic | intended to instruct |
| Equivocation | ambiguous, vague, intentionally evasive |
| Euphemism | substitutes a more agreeable word for an unpleasant one |
| Extended Metaphor | comparison between two things throughout a story, chapter, or poem |
| Figuartive Language | Describes one thing in terms of another, symbolism. |
| Genre | Literary type or class |
| Gerund | the "ing" form of a verb, but used as a noun |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration for emphasis |
| Imagery | Literal (concrete) / figurative (figures of speech) |
| Inference / infer | to draw a conclusion from |
| Invective | harsh, insulting language; abusive and denunciatory |
| Inversion | the reversal or the normal word order of a sentence |
| Verbal irony | contrasted between statement and actual meaning |
| Situational Irony | what appears to be and what is acutally the case |
| Loose Sentence | main idea at the begining of the sentence and then adds on more detail |
| Metaphor | comparison between two unlike things without using like or as. |
| Mood | feeling the author tries to create |
| Motif | recurring element that unifies, a part of the main theme, may be a character a recurrent image or a verbal pattern |