APLang Terms of Style Analysis

Abstract Language

Words that describe ideas or feelings, not things you can see or touch

Allegory

A story where characters and events stand for bigger ideas or moral lessons

Alliteration

Repeating the same starting sound in nearby words

Allusion

A brief reference to a well-known person, event, book, or story

Anecdote

A short, interesting story used to make a point or add humor

Antecedent

The noun that a pronoun refers to

Antithesis

Two opposite ideas placed next to each other for contrast

Circumlocution

Using too many words or being indirect instead of saying something simply

Conceit

A long or unusual metaphor

Concrete Language

Words that describe things you can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch

Controlling Metaphor

A main metaphor that shapes an entire work

Diction

An author’s choice of words

Ellipsis

Leaving out words that are understood but not stated

Exemplification

Using examples or stories to explain or prove a point

Figurative Language

Non-literal language used to create meaning or images

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration for effect or humor

Idiom

A phrase with a meaning different from its literal words

Imagery

Language that helps the reader picture something in their mind

Dramatic Irony

The reader knows something a character does not

Situational Irony

What happens is the opposite of what is expected

Verbal Irony

Saying one thing but meaning the opposite

Juxtaposition

Placing things side by side to compare or contrast them

Metaphor

A direct comparison between two unlike things

Metonymy

Replacing something with a related word or symbol

Onomatopoeia

A word that sounds like the noise it describes

Oxymoron

Two contradictory words used together

Paradox

A statement that seems false but is actually true

Parallelism

Using the same grammatical structure to show equal ideas

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things

Rhetorical Purpose

The author’s reason for writing and choosing certain techniques

Satire

Using humor or exaggeration to criticize or expose flaws

Simile

A comparison using like or as

Synecdoche

Using a part to represent the whole or the whole to represent a part