Studied by 3 peopleAllegory
A story, poem, or picture that can interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one
Alliteration
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
Allusion
An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference
Ambiguity
The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness
Anaphora
The use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence, to avoid repetition
Antecedent
A thing or event that existed before or logically precedes another
Antithesis
A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else
Aphorism
A pithy observation that contains a general truth, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Apostrophe
A punctuation mark "( ‘ ) used to indicate either possession or the omission of letters or numbers
Assonance
In poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or dipthong in non rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible
Asyndetion
The omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence
Atmosphere
The pervading tone or mood of a place, situation, or work of art
Attitude
A settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior
Ballad
A slow sentimental or romantic song; a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship having passed orally
Bildungsroman
A novel dealing with one person’s formative years or spiritual education
Blank verse
Verse without rhyme, especially that which used iambic pentameter
Caesura
Metrical pause or break in a verse where one phrase ends and another phase begins; only interruption or break
Dynamic Character
Changes throughout the story
Static Character
Doesn’t change throughout the story
Round Character
Lifelike figures with complex, multifaced personalities. They’re deep
Flat Character
Lacks complexity in several facets
Direct Characterization
Literary device used to tell conclusive details about a character to the reader with little to no ambiguity. Fact about a character
Indirect
Literary device that reveals details about a character without stating them explicitly
Chiasmus
Grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form
Clause
A group of words containing a subject and predicate and functioning as a member of a complex or compound sentence
Colloquialism
A word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation
Conceit
A fanciful expression in writing or speech; an elaborate metaphor
External conflict
Conflict within literature that occurs outside of the main character
Internal conflict
Conflict within literature that occurs inside of a main character, when a character experiences tensions within themselves
Connotation
An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary menaing
Couplet
Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit
Heroic couplet
A pair of rhyming iambic pentameters, much used by Chaucer and the poets of the 17th and 18th centuries such as Alexander Pope.
Denotation
The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests
Details
A particular item of information that supports an idea or contributes to an overall impression
Devices of sound
Elements of literature and poetry that emphasize sound. Repetition, rhyme, alliteration, and assonance
Diction
The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing
Didactic
Intended to teach, particularly in having moral instructions as an ulterior motive. Teach than entertain
Digression
A temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing
Elegy
A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead
End-stopped
Having a pause at the end of each line of a poem
Enjambment
The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of the line, couplet, or stanza
Epic
A long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures or heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation
Epic Simile
a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that are many lines in length
Epigram
A pithy, saying or remark expressing on idea in a clever and amusing way
Epilogue
A section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what happen
Epiphany
The sudden and striking realization that comes from an experience
Epistle
A letter
Ethos
The characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations
Euphemism
A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing
Exposition
A comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory. The insertion of background information within a story or narrative
Figurative language
The use of words in a way that deviates from the conventional order and meaning in order to convey a complicated meaning, colorful writing, clarity, or evocative comparison
Foil
A character who is presented as a contrast to a second character so as to point to or show to advantage some aspect of the second character
Free indirect style
Technique of presenting a character’s voice partly mediated by the voice of the author
Free verse
Open form of poetry. Doesn’t use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern
Gothicism
A genre that places strong emphasis on intense emotion, pairing terror with pleasure, death with romance
Grotesque
A bizarre or twisted character, becoming as such through some kind of obsession. May be physical or mental.
Hexameter
A line of verse consisting of six metrical feet, especially of six dactyls.
Hyperbole
Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
Iamb
A metrical foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable
Imagery
Visually descriptive or figurative language
Internal rhyme
A rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next
Verbal irony
A statement in which the speaker’s words are incongruous with the speaker’s intent
Situational
The irony of something happening that is very different to what was expected
Dramatic
Literary device by which the audience’s or reader’s understanding of events or individuals in a work surpasses that of its characters
Jargon
Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession in a group and are different for others to understand
Juxtaposition
The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effects
Litote
A phrase that uses negation to create an affirmative understatement
Logos
To appeal to the audience’s sense of reason or logic
Loose sentence
The independent clause is the beginning followed by one or more dependent clauses
Cumulative loose sentence
An independent clause followed by one or more modifiers
Lyrical
A formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person
Malapropism
Verbal blunder in which one word is replaced by another similar in sound but different meaning
Metaphor
A comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated
Metonymy
The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant
Mood
The atmosphere of the narrative. The emotional response that the writer wishes to evoke in the reader through a story
Motif
Distinctive feature or idea that recurs across a story, often helps develop other narrative elements
Narrative techniques
The way in which a writer coneys what they want to say to their reader and the methods that they use to develop a story
Ode
A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea
Omniscient point of view
The narrator knows everything, and isn’t limited to the viewpoint of any character
Onomatopoeia
The naming of a thing or action by imitation of natural sounds
Oxymoron
A words or group of words that is self-contradicting
Parable
A short simple story illustrating a moral or a spiritual truth
Paradox
Literary device that appears to contradict itself but contains some truth, theme, or humor
Parallel structure
The repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence
Parallelism
Coordinate ideas are arranged in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that balance one element with another or equal importance and similar wording
Parody
An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect
Pathos
A quality that evokes pity or sadness
Pentameter
A line of verse containing five metrical feet
Periodic sentence
The main point (independent clause) occurs at the end of the sentence, after one or more side points (dependent clause) lend up to the main point
Personification
Figuratively describing it with human traits in order to craft vivid images of that object in your reader’s mind
Point of view
The writer’s way of deciding who is telling the story to whom
First person point of view
The narrator is a person in the story, telling it from their point of view
Third person point of view
The narrator exists outside the events of the story, and relates the actions of the characters by referring to their names or by the third-person pronouns
Limited person point of view
The narrator tells the story from the perspective of a single protaganist
Polysyndeton
A rhetorical and literary technique in which a conjunction appears over and over again to join different thoughts in one sentence
Prose
Verbal or written language that follows the natural flow of speech
Realism
A literary movement that represents reality by portraying mundane, everyday experiences as they are in real life
Reliability
The ability to be relied on or dependent on, as for accuracy, honesty, or achievement
Resources of language
Written and spoken corpora, computational lexica, terminology databases, speech collection
Rhetoric
The study and uses of written, spoken and visual languages; The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techiques
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