| Term | Definition |
|---|
| allegory | a story in which people, things, and events have another meaning. ex: The Crucible |
| asyndeton | connectives are omitted between words, [phrases or clauses. ex: I've been stressed, distressed, beat down, beat up, held down, held up, conditioned, reconditioned. |
| polysyndeton | Connectives are always supplied between words and phrases or clauses, as when Milton talks about Satan pursuing his way. ex: and swims and sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. |
| allusion | a reference to a person, a place, an event, or another work of literature |
| ambiguity | the multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, snentence, or passage |
| analogy | comparison |
| antithesis | opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction ex: Not that I have loved Ceasar less, but that I loved Rome more. |
| apostrophe | direct address, usually to someone or something that is not present. ex: Judge, O ye gods, how dearly Caesar loved him |
| connotation | the implications of a word or phrase as opposed to its exact meaning |
| denotation | the dictionary meaning of a word, as opposed to its connotation |
| diction | word choice |
| emotive imagery | emotionally charged words |
| hyperbole | deliberate exaggeration, overstatement |
| irony | verbal, dramatic, situational |
| juxtaposition | side by side |
| metaphor | language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects |
| narrative techniques | methods of telling a story - point of view, argument, allegory, description, exposition, monologue, interior monologue, dialogue, stream of consciousness, manipulation of time |
| stylistic techniques | diction, syntax, figurative language, imagery, tone, detail, sound effects, parallelism, rhetorical questions |
| narrative pace | dashes |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words whose sound suggest their meaning |
| paradox | a statement that seems to be self-contradicting, but, in fact, is true; oxymoron is a type of paradox. ex: I never shall be chaste except you ravish me. |
| parallel construction | repetition of a grammatical pattern. ex: Is it wise to hug misery, to make a song of Melancholy, to weave a raland of sighs, to abandon hope wholly? |
| syntax | sentence structure - simple, compound, complex; declarative, interrogative; imperative, exclamatory, fragment |
| tone | everything - imagery, stucture, diction, etc. |
| understatement | presenting something else significant that it is |
| aposiopesis | a form of ellipse by which a speaker comes to an abrupt halt, seemingly overcome by passion or modesty |
| cacophony | joining of harsh words. ex: We went to parlay with you and your grisly gang... |
| euphony | the use of compatible, harmonious sounds to produce a pleasing, melodious effect. ex: I knew a woman, lovely in her bones. |
| metonymy | substitution of one word for another which it suggests ex: He is a man of cloth |
| anadiplosis | the repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next. ex: Men in great places are thrice servants; servants ... |
| anaphora | the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or lines |
| anastrophe | transposition of normal word order ex: ... yet never a breeze up blew |
| epistrophe | repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses |
| synechdoche | the use of a part for the whole |
| pedantic | an adjective that descrives words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish |
| epizeuxis | repetition of one word for emphasis. ex: you are going to be in trouble, trouble |
| epanalepsis | repeats the beginning word of a clause or sentence at the end |
| antimetabole | the repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order |
| anthimeria | the substitution of one part of speech for another. ex: The poet says we milestone our lives. |
| epithet | a word of phrase adding a characteristic to a person's name |
| genre | a piece of writing classified by type - for example, letter; narrative; eulogy; editorial |
| litotes | understatement: "Her performance ran the gamut of emotion from A to B; As the principle dancer, she displyed only two flaws, his arms and his legs." |
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