E-G study cards

Elegy

A formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme.

Ellipsis

The omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context.

Epic

A long narrative poem written in elevated style which presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation.

Epigram

A brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying.

Epigraph

A saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of a work.

Epiphany

A moment of sudden revelation or insight.

Epitaph

An inscription on a tombstone or burial place.

Epithet

A term used to point out a characteristic of a person. Often compound adjectives (such as 'swift-footed Achilles') that become an almost formulaic part of a name, or identifying names athletes may take pride in (such as 'The Rock'). Can be abusive or offensive, but not so by definition.

Ethos

An author's appeal to the audience's respect and understanding that the speaker/writer has the authority to be speaking/writing about that topic.

Eulogy

A formal speech praising a person who has died.

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant.

Exclamatory sentence

A sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation point.

Exigence

The rhetorical situation that caused a writer/speaker to create their response.

Expletive

An interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes, a profanity.

Fable

A brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters.

Fantasy

A story that concerns an unreal world or contains unreal characters; it may be merely whimsical, or it may present a serious point.

Figurative language

Language employing one or more figures of speech (such as simile, metaphor, imagery, etc.).

Flashback

The insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative.

Flat character

A character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story.

Foreshadowing

The presentation of material in such a way that the reader is prepared for what is to come later in the work.

Frame device

A story within a story. An example is Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which the primary tales are told within the narrative structure of the pilgrimage to Canterbury.

Genre

A major category or type of literature.