satire
literary style that ridicules or attacks an idea or situation, often for the purpose of inducing change
sentence structure
arrangement of parts of a sentence
sentiment
a view or feeling, often emotional
sentimental
of or prompted by strong emotional response to an experience, often nostalgic, tender, or sad
setting
environment of a discourse that consists of time period, place, including socio-political or historical circumstances
simile
figurative comparison using the words as, like, or than
stream of consciousness
style of writing where the author tries to capture the random flow of thoughts in the human mind
style
manner in which an author uses and arranges words, forms sentences, and creates structures to convey ideas
stylistic devices
a general term referring to diction, syntax, tone, figurative language, and other elements that contribute to the style of a piece of discourse
subject complement
grammatical unit with predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives
subjective
of or relating to private and personal feelings or ideas as opposed to facts and reality
subtext
implied meaning that underlies the main meaning of a literary work
syllogism
form of deductive reasoning where all ideas and facts much logically follow each other
symbolism
use of an object to evoke ideas and associations not literally part of the original object
synecdoche
figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part
syntax
organization of language into meaningful structure
theme
main idea or meaning, often abstract, that is the foundation for a piece of discourse
thesis
main idea of a piece of discourse
tone
author's attitudes towards the subject being written about
tragedy
form of literature in which the hero is destroyed by some character flaw or force that leads to suffering
transition
stylistic device used to create a link between ideas
trope
generic name for a figure of speech
understatement
a restrained statement that departs from what could be said
verbal irony
discrepancy between the literal and implied meanings of written or spoken words, often humorous
verse
synonym for poetry; one or more lines in song or poetry
verisimilitude
similar to the truth
voice
real or assumed personality used by a speaker or writer
whimsy
object, device, or creation that is fanciful and unreal
wit
quickness of intellect and the power for saying brilliant, often unexpected, things