Language and Composition: Vocabulary List #2

Allegory

The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning

Allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art

Analogy

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them

Anecdote

a short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun

Aphorism

A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle

Atmosphere

The emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb

Didactic

the primary aim of teaching or instructing,
especially the teaching of moral or ethical principles (in Greek it means teaching)

Euphemism

a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept

Motif

a symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story

Paradox

A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule

Point of View

the perspective from which a story is told

Rhetoric

the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively

Satire

A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule

Semantics

The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another

Syntax

The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentence

Theme

The central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life

Tone

Similar to mood, this describes the author’s attitude toward his material, the audience, or both