Lit and Lang Terms that are difficult for me

Aphorism

A short, pithy statement expressing a general truth.

Pastoral

A work idealizing rural life, often shepherds and countryside.

Catharsis

The emotional release/purification experienced by an audience, especially in tragedy

Decorum

Appropriateness of style to subject and occasion.

Farce

A comedy relying on exaggerated, improbable situations for humor.

Travesty

A grotesque or absurd imitation that distorts the original.

Anecdote

A short, personal story used to illustrate a point.

Plaint

An expression of sorrow or complaint, often in verse.

Accent

The emphasis or stress placed on a syllable in speech or poetry.

Caricature

A description that exaggerates certain features for comic or satiric effect.

Lampoon

A harsh satire mocking an individual or group.

Subjunctive mood

A verb mood expressing wishes, hypotheticals, or conditions contrary to fact.

Archaism

The use of deliberately old-fashioned language.

Burlesque

A literary work that mocks a subject through exaggeration or ridiculous imitation.

Parable

A short story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

Doggerel

Crude, poorly constructed verse, often comic.

Cacophony

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

Anachronism

Something placed in the wrong time period.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech addressing an absent person, abstract idea, or inanimate object directly.

Zeugma

A figure of speech where one word applies to multiple others in different senses (e.g., "she broke his heart and his car").

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect expression substituted for a harsh or blunt one.

Colloquialism

Informal, everyday language or expressions.