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Plot
Exposition - Introduces characters, conflict, and setting
Alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
Analogy
A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of of explanation or clarification
Anecdote
brief story told to entertain or to make a point
Aphorism
a short pointed statement that expresses a
wise or clever observation about human experience.
Apostrophe
Figure of speech that directly expresses an
absent or imaginaryperson or abstraction
Argument
Writing or speech that attempts to convince
the reader to adopt a particular opinion or
course of action.
Aside
a character’s comment, in a play, that is directed to the audience or another character
Assonance
repetition of same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables that end with different consonant sounds (e.g. low, tow, given, distance)
Broad Generalization
a statement mostly based on limited knowledge
about a large group of things, places, or people
(e.g. All women like to shop.)
Consonance
repetition of consonant sounds before and after different vowels
Fable
a short tale to tell a moral lesson often with animals
or inanimate objects as characters (e.g. Aesop’s fables)
Fallacy
erroneous reasoning that renders arguments logically unsound
Figurative Language
a phrase that stands for something other than its literal meaning, used for descriptive effect
Foil
a character who provides a strong contrast to another character
Juxtaposition
an act or instance of placing
close together or side by side, especially
for comparison or contrast
Memoir
an account of one’s personal life or experiences
Meter
Rhythmical pattern determined by the number and types of
stresses, or beats, in each line.
Monologue
A speech by one character, unlike a soliloquy, that is addressed to another character or characters.
Mood/Atmosphere
the feeling or created by a literary work or passage
Motif
recurring subject, theme, idea, etc.
Onomatopoeia
use of words that imitate sounds
Oversimplification
Description of something in a way that does not include all
the facts or details (and that causes misunderstanding)
Oxymoron
combination of contradictory terms or words (eg. cruel kindness, jumbo shrimp
Paradox
- statement that seems to say
two opposite things, but that
may be true
Parallelism
two or more words,
phrases, or clauses, that are
similar in length and grammatical form
Pun
play on words involving two words
that sound alike or have different Meanings
Rhetoric
The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
Sarcasm
caustic language that is meant to
hurt or ridicule someone or something
Sonnet
line poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter
Soliloquy
A long speech delivered by a character, alone on stage
Tragedy
a work of literature that tells of a catastrophe or great misfortune
Tragic Flaw
hero’s weakness which causes
a downfall
Tragic Hero
Main character who
experiences a downfall
