LCA short defs

Allusions

a reference to a well-known person, place, or work

Puns

a word used to suggest two meanings

Double Entendre

a pun with one usually sexual meaning

Analogy

a comparison showing a relationship between two sets of ideas

Fables

short stories that teach a lesson

Diction

the literal meaning of a word

Connotation

the implied or associated meaning of a word

Tone

the writer’s attitude toward the subject

Metonymy

using something closely related to represent the whole

Synecdoche

using a part to represent the whole

Epithets

descriptive words or phrases linked to a person or thing

Understatement

downplaying the importance of an idea

Parallel structure

repeating the same grammatical form for effect

Antithesis

using parallel structure to show contrasting ideas

Syntax

the arrangement of words in a sentence

Idiom

a phrase whose meaning cannot be understood literally

Anastrophe

inversion of normal word order

Isocolon

phrases of equal length

Zeugma

one word used in multiple ways in a sentence

Apostrophe

addressing something not present or an abstract idea

Conceit

an extended metaphor

Chiasmus

reversing the order of parallel phrases

Anaphora

repeating words at the beginning of clauses or sentences

Litotes

understatement using negation to emphasize

Pathetic (or anthropomorphic) Fallacy

nature reflects human emotions

Euphemism

a mild expression to replace a harsh one

Paradox

a statement that seems contradictory but is true

Oxymoron

two contradictory words combined for effect

Alliteration

repetition of initial consonant sounds

Aubade

a poem about dawn or morning

Ballad

a short narrative poem in song form

Blank Verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter

Consonance

repetition of consonant sounds, often at the end of words

End-stopped line

a line ending with a natural pause

English (Shakespearean) sonnet

14-line poem with three quatrains and a couplet

Euphony

pleasant, harmonious sounds in language

Foot

a unit of meter, usually with one stressed and one or more unstressed syllables

Free verse

poetry without a fixed meter or rhyme

Iamb

a foot with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable

Internal rhyme

rhyme within a single line

Meter

the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

Villanelle

a 19-line poem with repeated refrains and a set rhyme pattern