English Final Terms

Simile

Simile

Comparing using "like" or "as"

Direct metaphor

Direct comparison

Indirect metaphor

Implied comparison

Personification

Giving human traits to non-human things

Alliteration

Repetition of initial sounds

Metonymy

Substituting a related term

Synecdoche

Using a part to represent the whole

Anaphora

Repetition at the beginning

Epistrophe

Repetition at the end

Rhetorical question

Question not needing an answer

Idiom

Expression not literal

Paradox

Contradictory statement

Oxymoron

Two contradictory terms

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas in parallel structure

Chiasmus

Reversing the order in parallel phrases

Allegory

Symbolic narrative usual with political messages

Fable

Short story with moral lesson usually with animals

Symbol

Representing something else

Binary

Two contrasting parts

Extended metaphor

Sustained comparison throughout a poem or story

Limited narrator

Limited perspective

Omniscient narrator

All-knowing perspective

First-person

Narrator as "I"

Second-person

Narrator as "you"

Third-person

Narrator as "he/she/they"

Satire

Using humor to criticize

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Caricature

Exaggerated portrayal

Burlesque

Mocking imitation

Malapropism

Humorous misuse of words

Parody

Imitating for comic effect

Incongruity

Lack of harmony

Anachronism

Out-of-time element

Meiosis

Understatement

Passive voice

Subject acted upon Predicate before subject

Verbal irony

Saying one thing but meaning the opposite

Dramatic irony

Audience knows something characters don't

Situational irony

Outcome is different from what was expected

Socratic irony

Pretending ignorance to expose flaws in others' arguments

Active voice

Subject performs the action

Gothic

Horror, dark, grim

Romanticism

movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual.

Epistolary

Story told through letters

Frame device

A story within a story

Foil

Character contrasts with another to highlight qualities

Memoir

Personal account of experiences

Dynamic character

Changes throughout the story

Static character

Remains the same

Nonlinear timeline

Events presented out of chronological order

Unreliable narrator

Questionable credibility

Biblical allusion

Reference to the Bible or religious text

Classical allusion

Reference to ancient Greek or Roman culture

Historical allusion

Reference to historical events

Literary allusion

Reference to another literary work

Diction

Word choice

Rhetoric

Persuasive language

Logos

Appeal to logic

Ethos

Appeal to ethics

Pathos

Appeal to emotions

Syntax

Sentence structure

Bandwagon

Following the majority

Scapegoating

Blaming a person or group for problems

Slippery slope

Assuming one event will lead to a series of negative events

Appeal to authority

Using authority figures to support an argument

Foreshadowing

Hinting at future events