| Term | Definition |
|---|
| alliteration | the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a word, words beginning with the same consanant or vowel |
| allusion | reference to historical, religious, or mythical literature |
| ambiguity | unclear by virtue of having more than one meaning |
| anadiplosis | repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next |
| analogy | drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect |
| anaphora | repetition of a word or phrase as the beginning of successive clauses |
| anathema | a curse or strong denunciation |
| antecedent | word a pronoun represents |
| anticlimax | a change from a serious subject to a lame one at the end of a story |
| antimetabole | Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order |
| aphorism | a short pithy instructive saying |
| apostrophe | A technique by which a writer address an inanimate object, an idea, or a person who is either ded or absent. |
| archetype | an original model on which something is patterned |
| assonance | the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words |
| asyndeton | lack of conjunctions between coordinate phrases, clauses or words |
| balanced sentence | One in which two parallel elements are set off against each other like equal weights on a scale. |
| bathos | a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one |
| cacophony | A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones. |
| chiasmus | contrast by parallelism in reverse order |
| clause | a group of words with a subject and a verb |
| cliche | a trite or obvious remark |
| colloquial | characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation |
| complex sentence | a sentence composed of at least one main clause and one subordinate clause |
| compound sentence | a sentence composed of at least two coordinate independent clauses |
| compound complex sentence | at least one dependent clause and two or more independent clauses |
| conceit | fanciful expression |
| connotation | suggested or implied meaning of an expression |
| consonance | the repetition of consonants (or consonant patterns) especially at the ends of words |
| cumulative sentence | sentence that begins with the main idea and adds additional information, usually for description; also called a loose sentence |
| declarative sentence | a sentence (in the indicative mood) that makes a declaration |
| denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression |
| device | any clever (deceptive) maneuver, a plan |
| diction | word choice |
| didactic | prose intended to teach or moralize excessively |
| dirge | a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person |
| elegy | A lyric poem lamenting the dead. |
| ellipsis | omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences |
| epanalepsis | repetition of word at end of clause that occurred at beginning of clause |
| epitaph | an inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the person buried there |
| euphamism | use of mild or indirect expression instead of one that is more harsh or direct |
| euphony | any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds |
| extended parallelism | the repetition of words or grammatical elements for cumulative force and rhythm over several sentences. |
| extended metaphor | A type of a metaphor that is developed over several lines or with several examples. |
| fable | a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events that teaches a lesson; Aesop wrote a bunch |
| figurative language | Language that uses metaphor or simile and other techniques rather than literal description |
| genre | a class of art (or artistic endeavor) having a characteristic form or technique |
| homily | a sermon on a moral or religious topic |
| hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor |
| imagery | figurative language that generates uses sensory information |
| inference | logical interpretation based on prior knowledge and experience |
| invective | abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill will |
| inverted order of a sentence | sentence with a predicate first and then the subject. |
| irony | a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity or discordance between what a speaker or a writer says; and what he or she means, or is generally understood. |
| juxtaposition | placing two ideas or characters"side by side" for comparison or contrast |
| litotes | understatement, for intensification, by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed |
| loose sentence | A type of sentence if which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical clauses |
| lyric | a short poem of songlike quality |
| metonymy | substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads') |
| mock heroic | ridiculing a heroic style, action, or character |
| mood | the emotional or atmosphere of a story |
| motif | a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work |
| myth | a traditional story that helps to explain a culture's beliefs |
| narrative | consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story |
| natural order of a sentence | a sentence where the subject comes before the predicate |
| onomatopoeia | Word that expresses a sound |
| oxymoron | A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. |
| parable | a short moral story (often with animal characters) |
| paradox | (logic) a self-contradiction |
| parallelism | The use of identical or equivalent syntactic constructions in corresponding clauses or phrases. |
| parody | humorous or satirical mimicry |
| pedantic | showing off learning, bookish |
| periodic sentence | a complex sentence in which the main clause comes last and is preceded by the subordinate clause |
| personification | representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature |
| prose | ordinary writing as distinguished from verse |
| prosody | the study of poetic meter and the art of versification |
| pun | a humorous play on words |
| repetition | the repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device |
| rhetoric | study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking) |
| rhetorical modes | exposition, description, narration, argumentation |
| rhetorical question | a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered |
| sarcasm | witty language used to convey insults or scorn |
| satire | A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attemmpt to bring about a change. |
| semantics | the study of language meaning |
| sentence structure | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences |
| shift | change in tone |
| simile | a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as') |
| simple sentence | a sentence having no coordinate clauses or subordinate clauses |
| split order of a sentence | sentence that divides the predicate into two parts with the subject coming in the middle |
| stream of consciousness | the continuous flow of ideas and feelings that constitute an individual's conscious experience |
| style | a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period |
| syllogism | deductive reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises |
| symbolism | the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning |
| synecdoche | substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa |
| syntax | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences; the rhetorical device of word arrangement |
| theme | a unifying idea or school of thought that is in a literary or artistic work |
| tone | the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author |
| tragedy | drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance |
| trite | hackneyed; commonplace |
| understatement | a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said |
| vernacular | the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language) |
Combine with other sets
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