allegory
The device of using character and/or story elements to represent an idea in addition to the literal meaning.
alliteration
the repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in 2 or more neighboring words.
allusion
a direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known( book, event, myth, place or artwork)
anaphora
The exact repetition of words or phrase AT/FROM the beginning of successive lines or sentences
antecedent
the word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.
antimetabole
the repetition of words in an inverted order to sharpen a contrast.
JFK - "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
antithesis
the opposition or contrast of ideas, the direct opposite
aphorism
A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or moral principle.
apostrophe
A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love.
asyndeton
Deliberately leaving conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses.
Example: Gettysburg Address: "But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.
clause
A grammatical uni that contains both a subject and a verb.
colloquial/colloquialism
The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing for a familiar tone.
connotation
The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.
denotation
The strict, liberal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.
diction
Related to style, diction refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.
euphimism
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept.
figurative language
Writing o speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.
figure of speech
A device used to produce figurative language
Hyperbole
A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.
imagery
The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.
irony/ironic
The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what actually is true.
litotes
A form of understatement that involves making an affirmative point by denying its opposite.
metapohor
A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity.
metonymy
A figure of speech in which the a name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associates with it.
onomatopoeia
A figure speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. buzz, hiss, hum, crack....
oxymoron
A figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. JUMBO SHRIMP, CRUEL KINDNESS
paradox
A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity.
parallelism
Refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity.
periodic sentence
the opposite of loose sentence, a sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end.
personification
A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions.
polysyndeton
The deliberate use of a series of conjunctions
satire
A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule.
style
1) An evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices.
2) Classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors.
subordinate clause
word groups with both a subject and a verb but it cannot stand alone
symbol/symbolism
Anything that represents of stands for something else
synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole or occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part.
synthesis
When one kind of sensory stimulus evokes the subjective experience of another.
syntax
The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Understatement
The ironic minimizing of fact, understatement presents something as less significant than it it.
zeugma
A construction in which one word(usually a verb) modifies or governs - often in different, sometimes incongruent ways - 2 or more words in a sentence.