| Term | Definition |
|---|
| alliteration | repetition of a consonant sound, especially at the beginning of words. |
| allusion | a reference to another event, person, places or work of literature, usually implied and often providing another layer of meaning |
| ambiguity | use of languge where the meaning is unclear or has two or more possible interpretations or meanings |
| ambivalence | more than one possible attitude being displayed by the writer toward a character, theme, or idea |
| antithesis | contrasting ideas or words that are balanced against each other |
| apostrophe | an interruption or breaking off of discourse to address some absent person, nonexistent character, or thing |
| assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighboring words |
| atmosphere | prevailing mood created by a piece of writing |
| blank verse | unrhymed poetry or Shakespearean drama that adheres to a strict pattern in that each line is an iambic pentameter |
| caesura | a conscious break in a line of poetry |
| caricature | a character described through the exaggeration of a small number of features that he or she possesses |
| cliche | a phrase, idea, or image that has been used so much that it has lost much of its orginal meaning and impact |
| colloquial | ordinary, everyday speech and language (adjective) |
| conceit | elaborate and extended comparison, especially between two things that do not, at first, have much in common |
| connotation | an implication or association attached to a word or phrase (not a dictionary definition) |
| denouement | ending of a piece of literature where all is revealed and the plot is unravelled |
| diction | choice of words that a writer makes |
| enjambment | a line of verse that flows on into the next line without pause |
| euphemism | expressing an unpleasant idea in a less blunt and more pleasant way |
| figurative language | language that is symbolic or metaphorical and not meant to be taken literally |
| free verse | verse or poetry written without any fixed structure in meter or rhyme |
| genre | a particular type of writing, e.g. prose, poetry, drama |
| hyperbole | extravagant exaggeration |
| internal rhyme | rhyming words within a line rather than at the end of lines |
| irony | a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of an idea |
| metaphor | an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common |
| metonymy | a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated |
| narrative | a piece of writing that tells a story |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words whose sound copies the sound of the thing or process that they describe |
| oxymoron | a figure of speech which joins together words of opposite meanings |
| paradox | a statement that appears to contradict itself |
| parody | a work that is written in imitation of another work, often with the intention of making fun of the original |
| personification | the attribution of human feelings, emotions, or sensations to an inanimate object, a type of metaphor |
| prose | any kind of writing that is not verse, usually fiction |
| protagonist | the main character or speaker in a poem, monolgue, play, or story |
| pun | a play on words that have similar sounds but quite different meanings |
| refrain | repetition throughout a poem or song of a phrase, line, or series of lines |
| rhyme scheme | the pattern of the rhymes in a poem |
| satire | highlighting or exposing human failings or foolishness within a society through ridiculing them |
| simile | a comparison of one thing to another in order to make description more vivid, usually formed with "like" or "as" |
| stanza | the blocks of lines into which a poem is divided |
| stream of consciousness | a technique in which the writer records thoughts and emotions in a "stream" as they come to mind |
| sub-text | ideas, themes, or issues that are not dealt with overtly by a text but which exist below the surface meaning of it |
| understatement | a figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is |
| elegy | a meditative poem, usually concerned with the theme of death |
| euphony | use of pleasant or melodious sounds |
| empathy | a feeling by a reader of sharing the particular experience being portrayed by the character or writer |
| figurative language | language that is symbolic or metaphorical and not meant to be taken literally |
| meter | the regular use of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry |
| tone | establishes the overall impression of a piece of writing through the combined effects of a number of features, such as diction, syntax, rhythm, etc. |
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