| Term | Definition |
|---|
| ad hominem | appealing to feelings or prejudices instead of to intellect or reason |
| antecedent | a word to which a pronoun refers |
| arch | characterized by clever or sly humor, often saucy, playful, and somewhat irreverent |
| bombast | inflated, pretentious language |
| conceit | a witty or ingenious thought; a diverting or highly fanciful idea, often stated in figurative language |
| elegy | a poem or prose selection that laments or meditates on the passing or death of someone or something of value. (elegiac) |
| elliptical construction | A sentence containing a deliberate omission of words. ie "May was hot and June the same." |
| epigram | concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement |
| epithet | an adjective or phrase that expresses a striking quality of a person or thing; ie. sun-bright topaz, sun-lit lake. Can also be used to apply to vulgar or profane wexclamations |
| eponymous | title character of a work of litereture |
| exegesis | detailed analysis or interpretation of a work of prose or poetry |
| frame | provides a premis or setting for a narrative |
| harangue | forceful sermon, lecture, or tirade |
| hubris | excessive pride that often affects tone |
| humanism | faith and optimism in human potential and creativity |
| deductive reasoning | a method of reasoning by which specific definitions, conclusions, and theorems are drawn from general principles |
| idyll | a lyric poem or passage that describes a kind of ideal life or place |
| inductive reasoning | a method of reasoning in which a number of specific facts or examples are used to make a generalization |
| invective | a direct verbal assault; a denunciation; casting blame on someone or something |
| lampoon | a mocking, satirical assault on a person or situation |
| litotes | a form of understatement in which the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis or intensity. ie. "he is not a bad dancer" |
| loose sentence | a sentence that follows the customary word order of English sentences, ie, subject-verb-object. The main idea of the sentence is presented first and is then followed by one or more subordinate clauses |
| maxim | a saying or proverb expressing common wisdom or truth |
| mode | the general form, pattern, and manner of expression of a piece of discourse |
| montage | a quick succession of images or impressions used to express an idea |
| pastoral | a work of literature dealing with rural life |
| pathetic fallacy | faulty reasoning that inappropriately ascribes human feelings to nature or nonhuman objects |
| pedantic | narrowly academic instead of broad and humane; excessively petty and meticulous |
| persona | the role or facade that a character assumes or depicts to a reader or other audience |
| periodic sentence | a sentence that departs from the usual word order of English sentences by expressing its main thought at the end. In other words, the particulars in the sentence are presented before the idea they support. |
| subject complement | the name of a grammatical unit that is comprised of predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives |
| subtext | the implied meaning that underlies the main meaning of an essay or other work |
| syllogism | a form of deductive reasoning in which given certain ideas or facts, other ideas or facts must follow ie. All men are mortal; Mike is a man; therefore, Mike is mortal |
| trope | the generic name for a figure of speech such as image, symbol, similie, and metaphor |
| versimilitude | similar to truth; the quality of realism in a work that persuades readers that they are getting a vision of life as it is or could have been |
| whimsy | an object, device, or creation that is fanciful or rooted in unreality |
| contentious | exhibiting a tendency towards quarrels and disputes; argumentative |
| equanimity | evenness of mind, especially under stress; balance |
| predicate nominative | a noun or a pronoun that is the same as the subject of the sentence. It explains or identifies something about the subject. ie. "Mrs. Hayes is our teacher." The predicate nominative and the subject can be inverted and the sentence will retain its meaning; Predicate nominatives always follow linking verbs. |
| predicate adjective | is not part of the noun phrase headed by the noun it modifies; rather, it is connected to the noun by a linking verb. ie. "The book is big" NOT "The big book" |
| canon | the works considered most important in a national literature period; works widely read and studied |
| gothic novel | a novel in which supernatural horrors and an atmosphere of unknown terrors pervades the action |
| in media res | a Latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of eveents but at some other critical point |
| metaphysical poetry | the work of poets, particularly those of the seventeenth century, that uses elaborate conceits, is highly intellectual, and expresses the complexities of love and life |
| non sequitir | a statement or idea that fails to follow logicaly from the one before |
| ottava rima | an eight-line rhyming stanza of a poem |
| prosody | the grammar of meter and rhythm in poetry |
| picaresque novel | an episodic novel about a roguelike wanderer who lives off his wits |
| roman a clef | french for a novel in which historical events and actual people appear under the guise of fiction |
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