Allegory-Characterization

"ALLEGORY"

"A story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people, events, or abstract ideas or qualities. Example: Animal Farm; Dante’s Inferno; Lord of the Flies"

"ALLITERATION"

"Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. Example: “When the two youths turned with the flag they saw that much of the regiment had crumbled away, and the dejected remnant was coming slowly back.” – Stephen Crane"

"ALLUSION"

"A reference to someone or something known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or culture. An indirect reference."

"AMBIGUITY"

"Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. If unintentional, it becomes vagueness and detracts from the work."

"ANALOGY"

"A comparison made between two things to show how they are alike."

"ANAPHORA"

"Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row to emphasize a point."

"ANASTROPHE"

"Inversion of the normal or logical order of a sentence’s parts for rhythm, emphasis, or euphony. A fancy term for inversion."

"ANECDOTE"

"A brief story told to illustrate a point or reveal character."

"ANTAGONIST"

"The opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero (protagonist) in a story."

"ANTIMETABOLE"

"Repetition of words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order. Example: Molière: “One should eat to live, not live to eat.” (In poetry, this is called chiasmus.)"

"ANTITHESIS"

"Balancing strongly contrasting words, phrases, or ideas, often using similar grammatical structure."

"ANTIHERO"

"A central character who lacks traditional heroic qualities like courage, grace, intelligence, or morality."

"ANTHROPOMORPHISM"

"Attributing human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects. (Same as personification.)"

"APHORISM"

"A brief, cleverly worded statement that expresses a wise observation or general truth. Also called a maxim or epigram."

"APOSTROPHE"

"Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a personified object or idea. Example: Josiah Holland — “Laocoön! Thou great embodiment / Of human life and human history!” (If asking a god or goddess for inspiration, it’s called an invocation.)"

"APPOSITION"

"Placing two coordinate elements side by side, where the latter explains or qualifies the first. Example: Thomas Paine — “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot…”"

"ASSONANCE"

"Repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds, especially in nearby words."

"ASYNDETON"

"Using commas without conjunctions to separate a series of words, emphasizing each part equally (X, Y, Z instead of X, Y, and Z). (Contrast with polysyndeton.)"

"BALANCE"

"Constructing a sentence so that both halves are about the same length and importance. Unbalanced sentences can be used for special effect."

"CHARACTERIZATION"

"The process by which the writer reveals a character’s personality."