Critical Literary Terms

Words 25-48

Irony

a situation or statement where the truth is the opposite of appearances

Litotes

a type of understatement in which something affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite

Metaphor

a direct comparison of two different things which suggests they are somehow the same

Metonymy

substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it

Motif

a standard theme or dramatic situation which recurs in a various works

Non sequitur

an inference that does not logically follow from the premise(s)

Onomatopoeia

a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds

Oxymoron

an expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined

Paradox

an apparently contradictory statement which actually contains some truth

Parody

a humorous imitation of a serious work

Pathos

the quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity or sorrow

Pedantic

describing an excessive display of learning or scholarship

Personification

endowing non-human objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics

Sarcasm

harsh, cutting language/tone designed to ridicule

Satire

the use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions

Style

the overall manner in which an individual writer expresses ideas

Syllepsis

the linking of one word with two other words in two strikingly different ways

Syllogism

a logical argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and a minor premise

Symbol

an object which is something in itself yet is used to represent something else

Synecdoche

using one part of an object to represent the entire object

Syntax

the manner in which words are arranged by a writer into sentences

Tautology

needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding

Tone

the attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or audience

Understatement

the deliberate representation of something as less in magnitude than it really is