new lit terms

Ad hominem argument

An attack on the character of a person rather than on the substance of their argument.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity.

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Allusion

A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, literary, or political significance.

Ambiguity

The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a particular word, phrase, sentence, or passage.

Analogy

A comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity.

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers.

Antithesis

A figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of each other.

Aphorism

A concise statement of a general truth or principle.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction.

Atmosphere

The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects.

Attitude

The perspective or tone the writer adopts toward a specific subject or audience.

Caricature

A representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic or grotesque effect.

Chiasmus

A rhetorical figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

Clause

A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.

Colloquialism

The use of informal words, phrases, or even slang in a piece of writing.

Conceit

A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects.

Concrete Detail

Details that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events rather than abstract ideas.

Connotation

The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning.

Denotation

The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color.

Diction

The author's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.

Didactic

A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction, or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Euphemism

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

Extended metaphor

A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

Figure of speech

A device used to produce figurative language, such as apostrophe, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, paradox, personification, simile, or synecdoche.

Genre

The major category into which a literary work fits, such as prose, poetry, or drama.

Homily

This term literally means 'sermon,' but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

Imagery

The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions.

Inference/infer

To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented.

Invective

An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

Irony

The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant, or the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true.

Juxtaposition

Placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast.

Language

The entire body of words used in a text, including style, diction, syntax, and figurative language.

Loose sentence

A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses.

Metonymy

A term from the Greek meaning 'changed label'; a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it.

Mood

The prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work.

Narrative Technique

The style of telling the 'story,' including the order of events and the narrator's perspective.

Onomatopoeia

A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words.

Oxymoron

A figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox.

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.

Parallelism

The grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity.

Parody

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

Pedantic

An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish.

Periodic sentence

A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end.

First-person point of view

A narrative style where the narrator tells the story from their own perspective using 'I' or 'we'.

Third-person point of view

A narrative style where the narrator relates the events with the third-person pronouns 'he,' 'she,' and 'it'.

Prose

One of the major divisions of genre, referring to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms, written in ordinary language and most closely resembling everyday speech.

Repetition

The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern.

Rhetoric

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

Logos

A rhetorical appeal to reason or logic.

Ethos

A rhetorical appeal based on the character, credibility, or reliability of the speaker.

Pathos

A rhetorical appeal to the emotions or interests of the audience.

Exposition

One of the four chief types of composition, the purpose of which is to explain something.

Argumentation

One of the four chief types of composition, the purpose of which is to prove the validity of an idea or point of view by presenting sound reasoning, discussion, and argument.

Description

One of the four chief types of composition, the purpose of which is to re-create, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action.

Rhetorical question

A question asked merely for effect with no answer expected.

Sarcasm

Bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something.

Satire

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

Simile

A figure of speech that uses 'like' or 'as' to compare two different things.

Subject complement

The word or clause that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either renaming it or describing it.

Subordinate clause

A group of words that contains both a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence.

Syllogism

A deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises (the first called 'major' and the second 'minor') that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion.

Symbol/symbolism

Anything that represents itself and stands for something else.

Syntax

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

Theme

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

Thesis

The sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or proposition.

Tone

The author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both.

Transition

A word or phrase that links different ideas.

Meiosis

The Greek term for understatement or belittling; a rhetorical figure that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance than it actually is.

Wit

Intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights.