Literary Terms and Concepts

A set of flashcards covering key literary terms and concepts for study and review.

Allegory

The use of character and/or story elements symbolically to bothk represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning.

Allusion

Direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art.

Analogy

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.

Anaphora

One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines.

Anecdote

Short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event.

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

Antithesis

The juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in balanced or parallel words, phrases, and grammatical structures.

Aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle.

Appeal

A strategy of persuading audiences; includes logos (appeal to reason), pathos (appeal to emotion), and ethos (appeal to ethics).

Asyndeton

A syntactical structure in which conjunctions are omitted in a series, usually producing more rapid prose.

Bias

Impartial judgment.

Coherence

A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning of the whole is clear and intelligible.

Colloquialism

The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing.

Complex Sentence

A sentence with one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Compound Sentence

A sentence consisting of two or more independent clauses.

Conceit

A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.

Connotation

The literal, associative meaning of a word.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning that begins with a general principle and concludes with a specific instance that demonstrates that general principle.

Denotation

The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word.

Engage

To pique and maintain the interest of the reader throughout the reading of a text.

Euphemism

A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept.

Evidence

The ideas (facts, statistics) that support an argument.

Figurative Language

Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

Flow

When the text is represented in a fluent, seamless, logical, and/or meaningful way.

Focus

To sustain attention on the purpose and/or controlling idea of the piece.