Anecdote
A brief story told by a character
Perspective
A character's point of view of the events
Aphorism
A concise judgment designed to make a point or illustrate a commonly held belief
Contradiction
A direct opposition between things compared
Apostrophe
A figure of speech in which a person, thing, or abstract quality is addressed as if present
Oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory elements
Allusion
A figure of speech which makes a brief reference to a historical or literary figure, event, or object
Syllogism
A form of deduction. An extremely subtle, sophisticated, or deceptive argument
Satire
A literary style used to make fun of an idea or human weekness
Bildungsroman
A story whose theme is the moral or psychological growth of the main character
Devices
A particular word pattern used in a literary work to evoke a desired effect
Foil
A person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast
Epistolary
A piece of literature contained in or carried on by letters
Epitaph
A piece of writing in praise of a dead person
Parody
A satirical imitation of a work of art for the purpose of ridiculing its style of subject
Delayed sentence
A sentence that withholds its main idea until the end
Sarcasm
A form of verbal irony in which apparent praise is actually harshly critical
Expletive
A single word or short phrase intended to emphasize surrounding words (ex: in fact, after all,)
Irony
A situation/statement characterized by significant difference between what is expected/understood and what actually happens
Euology
A speech writing in praise of a person or thing
Paradox
A statement that seems contradictory, but is actually true
Epiphany
A sudden insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually brought on by a common experience
Onomatopoeia
A word capturing the sound of something it describes (buzz)
Diction
An author's choice of words to convert tone/effect
Utopia
An imaginary place of ideal perfection, opposite of dystopia
Hyperbole
An overstatement characterized by exagerrated language
Deus ex machina
In Greek theater, use of an artificial device or contrived solution to solve a difficult situation
Antagonist
Character that opposes the main character
Analogy
Comparison of two things that are alike in some respects
Inductive
Conclusion or type of reasoning where observation about a part of a class is applied to the class as a whole
Nostalagia
Desire to return to a former time
Chiasmus
Figure of speech by which the order of the terms in the first parallel clauses is reversed
Thesis
Focus statement of an essay
Litote
Understatement where the negative of the contrary is used to achieve emphasis
Doppelganger
Ghostly counterpart of a living person or alter ego
Zeugma
Grammatically correct linkage of one subject with two or more verbs or a verb with two or more direct objects
Ethos
The moral element that determines a character's actions
Propaganda
Information/rumor deliberately spread to help/harm a person, group, or institutions
Didactic
Intended for teaching or to teach a moral lesson
Formal language
Language that is lofty, dignified, or impersonal
Allegory
Narrative form in which characters and actions have meanings outside themselves
Abstract
Not related to the concrete properties of an object
In medias res
Opening a story in the middle of the action
Colloquial
Ordinary language
Isocolon
Parallel structure in which the parallel elements are similar not only in grammatical structure, but also in length
Aesthetic
Pertaining to the value of art for its own sake or for form
Juxtaposition
Placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect
Elegy
Poem/prose lamenting the death of someone
Antihero
Protagonist of a literary work who does not embody the traditional qualities of a hero
Catharsis
Purification/cleansing of the spirit through the emotions of pity and terror as a witness to tragedy
Epigraph
Quote set at the beginning of a literary work to set the tone or suggest a theme
Motif
Recurrent device, formula, or situation that oftens serves as a signal for the appearance of a character or event
Parallelism
Recurrent syntactical similarity where several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed alike to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences equal in importance
Anaphora
Regular repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses
Anadiplosis
Repetitions of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause
Appeals to: authority, emotion, logic
Rhetorical arguments in which the speaker appeals to authority, emotion, or logic
Imagery
Sensory details in a work
Euphemism
Substitution of a milder or less direct opposition for one that is harsh/blunt
Genre
Term used to describe literary forms, such as tragedy, comedy, novel, or essay
Voice
The acknowledged or unacknowledged source of the words of the story
Tone
The attitude a literary work takes towards its subject and theme
Theme
The central or dominant idea or concern of a work
Protagonist
The chief character in a work of literature
Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word
Mood
The feeling or ambiance resulting from the tone of a piece as well as the narrator/writer's attitude and POV
Realism
The literary practice of attempting to describe life and nature without idealization and with attention to detail
Prose
The ordinary of a form of written language without metrical structure
Audience
The person(s) reached by a piece of writing
Aysndeton
The practice of omitting conjunctions between words, phrases, or cluases
Deductive
The reasoning process by which a conclusion is drawn from set of premises and contains words
Assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds
Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds or any vowel sounds within a formal groupong
Consonance
The repetition of two or more consonants with a change in the intervening vowels
Invective
The use of angry and insulting language in satirical writing
Point of view
The view the reader gets of the action and characters in a story
Persona
The voice or figure of the author who tells and structures the story and who may or may not share the values of the actual atuhor
Syntax
The way words are put together for form phrases, clauses, and sentences
Canon
The works of an author that have been accepted as authentic
Foreshadow
To hint at or present things to come in a story or play
Begging the question
To sidestep or evade the real probelem
Anachronism
Use of historically inaccurate details in a text
Ambiguity
Use if language in which multiple meanings are possible
Personification
Treating an abstraction or nonhuman object as if it were a person by giving it human qualities
Connotation
What is implied by a word
Transition words
Words and devices that bring unity and coherence to a piece of writing