craze
make (someone) insane or wildly out of control
launch
to start
poise
graceful and elegant bearing in a person
refute
disprove
transcendence
The teaching that God, by nature, is beyond this world and beyond the comprehension of human beings.
hyberbole
exaggerated statements not meant to be taken literally
ecstatic
extremely happy
alliteration
the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
willful
(adj.) stubbornly self-willed; done on purpose, deliberate
premise
an assumption; the basis for a conclusion
mundane
ordinary, commonplace, boring
conjecture
a guess, often one based on inadequate or faulty evidence
paradox
a statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time.
onomatopoeia
words who pronunciations imitate the sounds they describe. A dog's bark sounds like "woof," so "woof" is an example of onomatopoeia
passive construction
(passive voice) A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence.
enjambment
the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
foreboding
(n.) a warning or feeling that something bad will happen; (adj.) marked by fear, ominous
understatement
the presentation of something as being smaller or less important than it actually is
enamel
hard, outermost layer of a tooth
metaphor
a common figure of speech that makes a comparison by directly relating one thing to another unrelated thing (these things may share some similarities)
botany
study of plants
simile
a comparison using "like" or "as
lilting
saying or doing something with a rise and fall in the voice, often cheerfully
naive
lacking sophistication or experience
subdue
to bring under control
ceramics
objects made from clay or other combinations of minerals baked at high temperature
slant rhyme
rhyme in which the vowel sounds are nearly, but not exactly the same (i.e. the words "stress" and "kiss"); sometimes called half-rhyme, near rhyme, or partial rhyme
assonance
repetition of a vowel sound
whimsy
an object, device, or creation that is fanciful or rooted in unreality
formal diction
Contains language that creates an elevated tone. It is free of slang, idioms, colloquialisms, and contractions. It often contains polysyllabic words, sophisticated syntax, and elegant word choice.
bracken
large coarse fern often several feet high
personification
A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes
iambic pentameter
a poetic meter that is made up of 5 stressed syllables each followed by an unstressed syllable
dominion
control; rule; area of influence
disillusionment
a feeling of disappointment resulting from the discovery that something is not as good as one believed it to be