Lit Terms "A"

absolute

a word free from limitations or qualifications (best, all, perfect)

accent

when a part of a word, phrase or sentence is spoken with greater force or stronger tone.

adage

a familiar proverb or wise saying

ad hominin argument

to the man; appealing to personal interests, prejudices, or emotions rather than to reason; an argument attacking an individual’s character rather than his or her position on an issue.

allegory

a literary work with two or more levels of meaning: one literary level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, settings, objects or characters in an allegory stand for ideas and qualities beyond themselves.

alliteration

the repetition of initial consonant sounds of several words in a group. It is often used in poetry to emphasize and to link words as well as to create pleasing, musical sounds.

allusion

a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work or work of art. Allusions often come from the Bible, classic Greek and Roman myths, plays by Shakespeare, historical or political events and other materials authors expect their readers to know.

ambiguity

is the intentional or unintentional expression of a word or idea that implies more than one meaning and usually leaves uncertainty in the reader - a statement that can contain two or more meanings.

anachronism

anything out of its proper time

anadiplosis

repeating the end of a word of a clause as the beginning of the next one

anagram

the rearrangement of the letters in a word or phrase to make another word or phrase.

analogy

a comparison made between two objects, situations or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects.

analysis

is the process of studying the whole by examining its parts

anaphora

the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs

anecdote

is a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event.

antagonist

is a character or force in conflict with the main character (protagonist) in a literary work.

antecedent

means going before or preceding, It is also a word, phrase or clause that a relative pronoun refers to.

anticlimax

is often used deliberately for comic effect to create an ironical letdown by descending from a noble tone or image to a trivial ludicrous one.