Vocab

Abstraction

an idea that isn't physical or concrete

Allegory

a work of art or literature that goes beyond its literal meaning, where the characters or places represent bigger concepts, often to make a political or moral commentary (LOTF is an allegory)

Alliteration

when two or more words (next to each other or close) start with the same letter/sound

Allusion

a reference (sometimes indirect) to something (often Shakespeare, the Bible, or Greek mythology in western canon)

Ambivalence

simultaneous and contradicting attitudes toward a subject matter, which often leads to uncertainty

Analogy

a comparison of two otherwise unlike things based on resemblance of a particular aspect

ex “To use a food analogy, the Earth's interior is like a smoothie and Mars' is like a chunky fruit salad.”

Analogical comparison

comparing two vastly different things together (either as an example or as an exaggeration). Typically, there will be multiple points of comparison.

Anecdote

a short story about a real incident (often used to highlight the subject at hand)

Antecedent

the word that a pronoun refers to (i.e. the word the pronoun "replaces"); OR an event that took place previously to influence the present situation

Anticlimax

a sudden change from something serious to something absurd or unimportant