| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Imagery | A term that incorporates all sensory perceptions. Can be Allusions, Similes, Metaphors, or Motion |
| Structure | The way writing is put together, such as stanzas, paragraphs, ect. |
| Syntax | Sentence structure. Must connect to argument or another part of the house |
| Theme | Central idea or statement that unites an entire book, dissertation, ect. It runs throughout and is the primary argument |
| Motif | A subset of theme, it is a reappearing object or thing that is symbolic of something. |
| Allusion | Use of influence of historical, cultural, Biblical, ect. elements. Understandable by most people |
| Apostrophe | talking to an idea, emotion, person, ect. that is not present. Ex. Prayer |
| Anathema | Something that is very distasteful. |
| Archetype | Stock element, stays the same. It is usually determined by culture. Ex. Wicked Stepmom |
| Cliche | Highly overused expression. Created through truth, but the overuse of it robbed it of complexity and meaning. |
| Dramatic Irony | Found mostly in plays, kit is an element or convention of drama. |
| Structural Irony | Reversal found in the structure of something. |
| Epithet | Links two words together to characterize someone. Ex. "Richard the Lion-Hearted" |
| Euphemism | A soft way of putting a harsh fact. |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration that is powerful and purposeful |
| Idiom | Expression that is localized to geography, region, groups, ect. It is considered colloquial. |
| Inversion | Reversing the order of words in a sentence or reversing entire sentences. It is used to create an impact when providing information, making a point, ect. |
| Irony | The use of reversal, when what is said in a message is in conflict with the truth, character, ect. |
| Colloquial | Localized slang. Best avoided in writing. |
| Jargon | Vocabulary that is limited to a specific occupation |
| Litotes | A deliberate understatement that serves as a statement. Ex. That was no small task. |
| Meiosis | Understatement to belittle or put down. Ex.: A lawyer defending a schoolboy who has set fire to his school might call the act of arson a "prank." In this case using meiosis to attempt to diminish the significance of what he had done (in this case grand arson) to the level of a harmless joke or minor act of vandalism. |
| Metaphor | Direct comparison of two different things without like or as. It is more powerful than simile. |
| Metonymy | A type of metaphorical language or metaphor. It refers to something by referring to something related to it. Ex. Police and Badge |
| Oxymoron | A contradictory term Ex. Civil War, Jumbo Shrimp. |
| Paradox | Statement that appears to be false but is true in reality. It is used to further an argument |
| Personification | Attributing human qualities to an inanimate object. |
| Symbol | A concrete item that represents an abstract idea. Do not get it confused with "refers:, ect. |
| Synechdoche | Uses a part to explain a whole or a whole to explain a part. ex. Lend me an ear. |
| Tragic Irony | Elemts of tragedy that starts good and ends bad. The opposite may also hold true |
| Tropes | A very fancy word for "figure of speech." |
| Verbal irony | Irony found in what is said |
| Allegory | An extended metaphor, in which it may personify abstract ideas |
| Aphorism | A sharp saying. If used enough, it becomes a Cliche |
| Dirge | Musical, mournfu lsong or expression |
| Elegy | Poem of mourning |
| Threnody | Song or hymn of mourning |
| Monody | Praise for the death of a person. Ex. "He's in a better place." |
| Eulogy | Speech in praise of someone's life. Can have poetic qualities that make it like an elegy. |
| Genres | Type of form of literature, music, ect. |
| Epic | Long poem about a hero |
| Epistle | A letter or letters |
| Epitaph | Inscription on gravestones. Usually two lines long and describes someone. |
| Fable | A short story using animals or the like that gives a preachy and moralistic theme. |
| Homily | An instructional, moralistic, inspiring sermon. It is lighter than an actual sermon |
| Lyric | Verse that focuses in an idea or emotion. It is not a narrative. |
| Mock Ironic | To belittle at various degrees |
| Narrative | A story |
| Novel | A long story |
| Novelle | A piece longer than a short story, but not as long as a novel. Ex. Billy Budd |
| Parody | Mocking of something serious in the same structure of the serious object. |
| Prose | A form that is not poetry |
| Sardonic | Hopeless and bitter sarcasm. |
| Satire | Uses a reversal to bring light to problems. The intention is to make something better |
| Sonnet | A fixed form of poetry. It is 14 lines, has a particular rhyme scheme and thought development |
| Tragedy | Something that begins hopefully, but ends tragically |
| Verse | Not prose, but poetry. |
| Rhetoric | All the appeal of the house. They are the tools to make the point clear and used with the argument. |
| Ad hominem | The fallacy of attacking a person rather than his argument. |
| Antithesis | The opposite of something |
| Casual Reasoning | Reasoning having to do with a cause. One thought leads to another |
| Circular Reasoning | Reasoning that ends and begins in the same place. No evidence is offered |
| Coinage/ Neologism | Creating new words |
| Sarcasm | Involves a reversal, the intention being to pick on or hurt |
| Deductive Reasoning | Reasoning in which ideas are at the beginning and proof follows. Essays, textual commentary, and loose sentences are deductive |
| Either/ or Reasoning | A black or white type of thinking, where there are only absolutes. |
| Inductive Reasoning | Reasoning in which ideas come at the end. Global commentary and periodic sentences are inductive |
| Logical Fallacy | Way of supporting facts that are not logically sound. |
| Non sequitor | A break in logical progression. All logical fallacies are non sequitors |
| Pathetic Fallacy | Fallacy of emotion |
| Red- Herring | A purposeful digression meant to confuse |
| Refutation/ Refute | To prove wrong or incorrect |
| Resources of Language | Rhetorical devices, strategies, ect. used to determine the message |
| Rhetorical Question | Question not meant to be answered but to draw attention to a point. |
| Rhetorical Shift | A change in mood accompanied by a change in nuance. The focus may shift and it is frequently introduced with "But" or "so" |
| Rhetorical Strategies | Devices of language, ect. |
| Strawman | The fallacy of taking an argument that no one will attack. |
| Syllogism | Form of reasoning in which it goes to major premise, minor premise, and then conclusion. Ex. a=b, so b=a |
| Zeugma | Uniting a single verb to refer to different objects, for which one does not fit. It is essential denotative in meaning for one and connotative for the other. |
| Alliteration | Repetition of initial, usually consonant sounds. Used to affect the pace or tone. It is also an umbrella term for "Assonance" |
| Sibilance | A type of alliteration in which the "s" sound is repeated. |
| Cacophonous | A strident sounding word or sound |
| Euphonious | Very soft sounding |
| Assonance | Repetition of initial vowel sounds. |
| Blank Verse | Unruled poetry |
| Caesura | A break mid line in poetry (with punctuation) to affect meter and tone. |
| Qualifying | Use to adjust or modify the precedent or after. |
| Consonance | Repetition of internal consonant sounds followed by a different vowel sound. |
| End- Stop Rhyme | Poetry in which punctuation is at the end. |
| Onomatopoeia | Word for which the sound suggests its meaning |
| Rhyme | Similar sound at the end of a sentence |
| Anadiplosis | A technique in which the word at the end is the same as the start for the next sentence. |
| Anaphora | Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases. |
| Antimetabole | Repetition of a phrase in reversed order. |
| Asyndeton | Linking of words or phrases with punctuation rather than conjunctions. It tightens the image and quickens the speed. It may also produce a sense of overwhelming. |
| Chiasmus | Reverse in syntax, but words are different. Ex. to eat is boring, to sleep is fulfilling. |
| Cumulative Sentence | Loose sentence. The main part is at the begging and the proof is at the end. It is deductive. |
| Balanced Sentence | Grammatically balanced. Antithesis is usually involved. Ex. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. |
| Ellipsis | Omission of words, often signified by three dots (...) |
| Epanalepsis | Words start and end a sentence. Ex. Blood will have blood. |
| Interrupted Sentence | A sentence that has a thrown in part usually with dashes (- - ) |
| Loose Sentence | The topic or point is in the beginning. |
| Polysyndeton | Shoves "ands" and conjunctions to link ideas, things, ect. It too creates a sense of overwhelming |
| Ambiguity | What is unclear. Warrants closer attention |
| Anecdote | A personal story to illustrate a point. |
| Elliptical Sentence | When a portion of it is gone, but the whole still makes sense |
| Annotation | The act of putting in marginal thought |
| Antecedent | The word a pronoun replaces. Can come before or after the pronoun. |
| Atmosphere | The tine and mood of a work |
| Connotation | The emotional definition of a word |
| Conventional | Specific and standard |
| Denotation | the dictionary meaning or a word |
| Devices | Tools. The House. |
| Diction | An author's word choice |
| Didactic | Teacher like or parable like tone. |
| Explication | Breaking down something into part to explain how the argument is built. |
| Generic Conventions | What is common to a genre. |
| Inference | To gain meaning from something that is not directly said |
| Invective | A put down or one liner. Usually harsh, angry, profane, ect. |
| Mood | Atmosphere and tone |
| Narrative Devices | Tools used to tell the story. |
| Organization | The subset of structure, it is how the piece is put together. |
| Pedantic/ Bombastic | The attempt of using elevated language. It is overly educated and does not fit. |
| Persuasive Devices | Tools used to persuade. It is a form of rhetoric. |
| Phrase point of view | Angle from which something is being written or told. |
| Omniscient POV | All knowing and god-like in knowledge narrator |
| Limited Omniscience POV | Almost all knowing narrator |
| Objective POV | Unbiased in perspective |
| Stream of Consciousness POV | The first thing that comes to mind is said |
| Rhetorical Mode | Types of writing, genres |
| Expository | Used to explain or reveal |
| Persuasive | to convince using emotion. Synonymous with argumentative on the test. |
| Argumentative | Intellectual based persuasion. Synonymous with persuasive on the test. |
| Descriptive | Details |
| Unity | Cohesion |
| Protagonist | Main character |
| Antagonist | One who opposes the main character |
| Bathos | Something that is tricvial or unintentionally anticlimactic. |
| Burlesque | Vaudeville or low class humor |
| Pun | Humorous play on words |
| Anthropomorphism | Giving an animal the traits of a human. |
| Vernacular | Common speak |
| Anachronism | Old and Outdated |
| Malapropism | Word similar to another that is mistakenly substituted . |
| Carpe diem | The most common interpretation of the phrase is as an existential cautionary term with emphasis on making the most of current opportunities because life is short and time is fleeting. It is thematically related to several other expressions and phrases |
| Confidant/ Confidante | Male and female you confide in. |
| Utopia | A perfect place |
| Dystopia | A nightmarish, hellish place |
| Empathy vs. Sympathy | To feel true pain and understanding for and to intellectually simulate another pain, respectively. The latter may have an air of superiority. |
| Epiphany | Sudden awakening or realization |
| Microcosm | View of the world through something small. Ex. Lord of the Flies |
| Persona | The image, point of view, persona, and tone one assumes. |
| Surreal | Out of reality |
| Verisimilitude | trying to articulate how a false theory could be closer to the truth than another false theory. |
| Audience | Whom the writer is addressing. |
| Lexicon | Level of language register |
Combine with other sets
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