Noun
A word that names a person, place, thing, idea, or concept.
Verb
A word that expresses an action, being, or state of being.
Adjective
A word that modifies (describes) a noun, a pronoun, or an aadjective.
Adverb
A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.
Preposition
A word that shows a relationship between a noun or pronoun and some other word in the sentence, usually indicating direction or location.
Interjection
A word indicating abrupt, emphatic exclamation expressing emotion.
Conjunction
A word that joins words or groups of words.
Pronoun
A word that renames or takes the place of a noun.
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Assertion
A statement or declaration, often without reasoning or support.
Argument
A statement put forth and supported by evidence.
Claim
In argumentation, an assertion of something as fact.
Anecdote
A short, simple narrative of an incident, often used for humorous effect or to make a point.
Antithesis
Opposition, or contrast of ideas or words in a balanced or parallel construction.
Cacophony
Harsh and discordant sounds in a line or passage in a literary work.
Euphony
The pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work
Diction
An author or speaker's choice of words that creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning.
Denotation
The literal or dictionary definition of a word.
Connotation
The implied or suggested meanings associated with a word beyond its dictionary definition.
Derivation
The history and origin of a word or phrase.
Declarative Sentence
A sentence that makes a statement or declaration.
Exclamatory Sentence
A sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark.
Interrogatory Sentence
A sentence that asks a question and ends with a period.
Imperative Sentence
A sentence that commands, enjoins, implores, or entreats.
Logos
A Greek term that means "word"; an appeal to logic; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals.
Pathos
A Greek term that refers to suffering but has come to be associated with broader appeals to emotion; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals.
Ethos
A Greek term referring to the character of a person; an appeal to ethics and morality; one of Aristotle's three rhetorical appeals.
Hyperbole
A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor.
Juxtaposition
The arrangement of two or more ideas, characters, actions, settings, phrases, or words side-by-side or in close proximity for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, or suspense.
Motif
A recurring/repeated object, concept, or structure in a work of literature.
Maxim
A wise saying, proverb, or aphorism.
Proverb
A popular saying that is meant to express something wise or true; a maxim or an aphorism.
Rhetorical Question
A question asked for rhetorical effect in which no response is expected since the answer is obvious or the audience answers mentally.
Understatement
The deliberate representation of something as lesser in importance than it actually is; a deliberate under-emphasis.
Satire
A type of writing that ridicules or pokes fun at the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change; it often employs sarcasm, hyperbole, and irony.
Horatian Satire
Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty. The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule, the absurdities and follies of human beings, aiming at producing in the reader not anger, but a wry smile; named for the Roman satirist Horace.
Juvenalian Satire
Formal satire in which the speaker attacks vice and error of human beings and society with contempt and indignation, seeking to evoke anger in readers; named for Roman satirist Juvenal.
Simile
A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds, usually formed with "like" or "as.
Fragment
A word, phrase, or clause that does not form a full sentence
Periodic Sentence
A sentence that builds toward and ends with the main clause, creating a kind of crescendo-effect.
Loose Sentence
A sentence that follows the customary word order of English sentences, with the main clause in the beginning, creating an informal, conversational feel.
Parallel Sentence
A sentence containing similarity of words, phrases, or clauses in a list of series.
Parallel Structure
The repetition of phrases, clauses, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure.
Simple Sentence
A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause.
Compound Sentence
A sentence composed of at least two coordinate independent clauses and often connected with a coordinating conjunction.
Complex Sentence
A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
Compound-Complex Sentence
A sentence with two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
Anadiplosis
The repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause.
Analogy
A comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else, without using "like" or "as.
Anaphora
The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences.
Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction.
Asyndeton
A construction in which words in a series or list are presented without conjunctions, such as A,B,C, instead of A, B, and C; asyndeton speeds up the pace of a sentence.
Chiasmus
A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary.")
Climax
The arrangement of clauses in ascending order of forcefulness; a turning point.
Conduplicatio
A figure of repetition in which the key word or words in one phrase, clause, or sentence is/are repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases; repetition of a key word over successive phrases or clauses.
Epistrophe
The repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses (as in Lincoln's "of the people, for the people, by the people").
Metonymy
A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it.
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific (as thief for pickpocket), or the m
Parenthesis
The insertion of a word or group of words that interrupts normal syntactical flow.
Polysyndeton
The deliberate use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some might be omitted (as in 'he ran and jumped and laughed for joy').
Zeugma
A type of pun in which the use of a word modifies two or more words, but used for different meanings (On the fishing trip, he caught three trout and a cold).
Tone
The attitude of the author/speaker toward the audience and/or subject.
Mood
The feeling created in the reader or audience by a literary work or speech.