Tone
The attitude that a character or narrator or author takes towards a given subject.
ex) Tone can be joyful, serious, humorous, sad, threatening, formal, informal, pessimistic, or optimistic.
Juxtaposition
The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with a contrasting effect. (looks at both similarities and differences) ex) Night and Day
Periodic sentence
A persuasive sentence that moves towards something impactful, the main point of the sentence is near the end of it or near the period of the sentence. (Subject and Verb at the end)
ex) I have a job, go to school, transport my siblings to and from practice, I need my own car.
Nonperiodic sentence
The main point of the sentence is at the beginning with the supporting details followed afterwards. (Subject and Verb in the begging)
ex) I need a car because I have to get to work and go to practice.
Antithesis
A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.
ex) speech is silver, but silence is gold
Parallel structure
Using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level. (Might uses worlds like than or as)
ex) My dog not only likes to play fetch, but he also likes to chase cars.
Polysyndeton
A list or series of words, phrases, or clauses that is connected with the repeated use of the same conjunction.
ex) Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers.
Asyndeton
It is a sentence containing a series of words or clauses in close succession, linked without the use of conjunctions.
ex) He crossed the road without looking, without listening, without caution.
Author’s style
The literary element that describes the ways that the author uses words, the author's word choice, sentence structure, figurative language, and sentence arrangement all work together to establish mood, images, and meaning in the text. (Does not include the author's opinion)
Diction
The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.
Audience
A group of readers who reads a particular piece of writing. As a writer, you should anticipate the needs or expectations of your audience in order to convey information or argue for a particular claim.
Syntax
The set of rules that determines the arrangement of words in a sentence.
Satire
The art of making someone or something look ridiculous, raising laughter in order to embarrass, humble, or discredit its targets.
Hortative
Giving strong encouragement
Imperative
A sentence that expresses a direct command, request, invitations, warning, or instruction
Metaphor
A comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated.
Synecdoche
Figure of speech in which a part represents the whole, as in the expression “hired hands” for workmen or, less commonly, the whole represents a part, as in the use of the word “society” to mean high society.
Personification
Personifying an object means figuratively describing it with human traits in order to craft a vivid image of that object in your reader's mind.
Zeugma
literary term for using one word to modify two other words, in two different ways. An example of a zeugma is, “She broke his car and his heart.” When you use one word to link two thoughts, you're using a zeugma.
Archaic Diction
Old language mostly found in poetry
Anaphora
The repetition of words or phrases in a group of sentences, clauses, or poetic lines.
Allusion
Brief but purposeful references, within a literary text, to a person, place, event, or to another work of literature.
Oxymoron
A figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings, like “old news,” “deafening silence,” or “organized chaos.” Oxymorons may seem illogical at first, but in context they usually make sense.
Antimetabole
Figure of emphasis in which the words in one phrase or clause are replicated, exactly or closely, in reverse grammatical order in the next phrase or clause
Inversion is NEVER the answer
Inversion is NEVER the answer