| 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 events stand for other people |
| Alliteration | the repetition of one or more initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words |
| Allusion | a reference to a person, place, event from history, literature, religion, or other source meant to create an effect or enrich the meaning of the idea |
| Ambiguity | having two or more different and sometimes conflicting meanings; lack of clarity in a work |
| Analogy | comparison between two things to show how they are alike |
| Annotation | the critical commentary or explantory 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 statemen that makes a wise observation about life |
| Appositive | noun phrase that renames or adds info |
| Apostrophe | a technique by which a writer addresses an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is either dead or absen |
| Atmosphere | the mood and feeling that is evoked |
| Clause | a group of related words that contain both a subject and a verb |
| Cliche | an overused or trite expression |
| Colloquial/Colloquialism | the use of slang or informalities in speech or writings; it gives a work a conversational, familiar tone |
| Conceit | an elaborate metaphor or figuritive device; a fanciful supposition |
| Connotation | the suggestion, implication, feelings associated with a word |
| Denotation | the literal meaning or dictionary definition of a word |
| Dependent Clause | can not stand by itself |
| Diction | word choice |
| Didactic | intended to instruct |
| Equivocation | ambiguous, vague, intentionally evasive |
| Eupherism | substitutes a more agreeable word for an unpleasan one |
| Genre | literary class or type |
| Gerund | the ing form of a verb, but used as a noun |
| Hyperbole | exaggeration for emphasis |
| Invective | harsh, insulting language; abusive and denunciatory |
| Inversion | the reversal of the normal word order of a sentence |
| Loose Sentence | main idea at the beginning of the sentence and then adds on more detail |
| Metaphor | comparison between two unlik things by saying one is the other |
| Motif | recurring element that unifies, a part of the main theme, may be a character a recurrent image or a verbal pattern |
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