APEL Terms List 5

paradox

occurs when the elements of a statement contradict each other. Although the statement may appear illogical, impossible, or absurd, it turns out to have a coherent meaning that reveals a hidden truth: e.g., "Much madness is divinest sense."

juxtaposition

placing of two items side by side to create a certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplish some other purpose. Verb: juxtapose

oxymoron

a figure of speech that combines two apparently contradictory terms into a single unusual expression, as in "jumbo shrimp" or "deafening silence."

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 that is presumable commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art (not to be mistaken for illusion: a thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses)

epigraph

quote set at the beginning of a literary work or at its divisions to set the tone or suggest a theme

elegiac

expressing sorrow often for something past; sorrowful

contradiction

a direct opposition between things compared; inconsistency

understatement

the opposite of hyperbole. It is a kind of irony that deliberately represents something as being much less than it really is: e.g., "I could probably manage to survive on a salary of two million dollars per year."

hyperbole

an overstatement characterized by exaggerated language. e.g., "The shot heard 'round the world."