| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Ad Hominem Argument | Attacks the opposing speaker or another person rather than addressing the issues at hand |
| Allegory | Fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts |
| Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words |
| Allusion | A reference, usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person |
| Ambiguity | Uncertain or indefinite; subject to more than one interpretation |
| Analogy | The correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different |
| Anecdote | A short story used to illustrate a point the author is making |
| Antecedent | Every pronoun refers back to a previous noun or pronoun |
| Antithesis | An opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses |
| Apostrophe | A figure of speech in which an absent person or personified object is addressed by a speaker |
| Appositive | A word or phrase that follow a noun or pronoun for emphasis or clarity |
| Assonance | A type of internal rhyming in which vowel souds are repeated |
| Asyndeton | When the conjunctions (such as "and" or "but") that would normally connect a string of words, phrases, or clauses are omitted from a sentence |
| Atmosphere | The emotional feeling -or mood- of a place, scene, or event |
| Attitude | The feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing toward a subject, person, or idea |
| Contrast | Oppositions |
| Colloquial Language | Slang or common language that is informal |
| Connotative | The interpretive level of a word based on associated images rather than the literal meaning |
| Deductive Argument | The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example |
| Diction | An author's choice of words |
| Didactic | Writing which has the purpose of teaching or instructing |
| Elegy | A work that expresses sorrow |
| Ellipses | Indicated by a series of three periods; shows that words have been omitted |
| Ethos | Refers to generally ethics, or values |
| Euphemism | A mild or pleasant sounding expression that substitutes for a harsh, indelicate, or simply less pleasant idea |
| Exposition | Writing or speech that is organized to explain |
| Figurative Language | All uses of language that imply an imaginative comparison |
| Foreshadowing | A purposeful hint placed in a work of literature to suggest what may occur later in the narrative |
| Hyperbole | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis |
| Imagery | A mental picture that is conjured by specific words and associations |
| Inductive Argument | Creating a case by providing specific examples and drawing a conclusion based on the evidence they provide |
| Irony | When a situation produces and outcome that is the opposite of what is expected |
| Juxtaposition | When two contrasting things are placed next to each other for comparison |
| Logos | The use of reason as a controlling principle in an argument |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it |
| Mood | The prevailing or dominant feeling of a work, scene, or event |
| Onomatopoeia | An effect created by words that have sounds that reinforce their meaning |
| Oxymoron | Two contradictory words in one expression |
| Paradox | A seeming contradiction that in fact reveals some truth |
| Parallelism | A literary technique that relies on the use of the same syntactical structures |
| Parody | An effort to ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing a comic imitation of the work |
| Pathos | A sympathetic feeling of pity or compassion evoked by an artistic work |
| Periodic Sentence | Presents the main clause at the end of the sentence, for emphasis |
| Persona | The character created by the voice and narration of the speaker of a text |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which ideas or objects are described as having human qualities or personalities |
| Point of View | The particular perspective from which a story is told |
| Pun | A play on words |
| Repetition | The reiteration of a word or phrase for emphasis |
| Rhetoric | The art and logic of a written or spoken argument to persuade, to analyze, or to expose |
| Rhetorical Strategy | The way an author organizes words, sentences, and overall argument in order to achieve a particular purpose |
| Rhetorical Devices | The specific language tools that an author uses to carry out a rhetorical strategy (diction, imagery, or syntax) |
| Rhetorical Question | A question that is asked for the sake of argument |
| Satire | To ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events, or doctrines |
| Selection of Detail | The specific words, incidents, images, or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative |
| Simile | A commonly used figure of speech that compares one thing with another using the words "like" or "as" |
| Speaker | The narrator of a story, poem, or drama |
| Syllogism | A form of deductive reasoning in which pieces of evidence are used to create a new conclusion |
| Symbol | Something that stands for something else |
| Synonym | A word that has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word |
| Syntax | The way words are arranged in a sentence |
| Tension | A feeling excitement and expectation the reader or audience feels because of the conflict, mood, or atmosphere of the work |
| Theme | The central idea |
| Tone | Attitude |
| Understatement | When an author assigns less significance to an event or thing than it deserves |
| Zeugma | When a word is used with two adjacent words in the same construction, but only makes literal sense with one of them |
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