Term

Definition

Examples

How to Identify/Remember

Don’t Mix it UP!

Allegory

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning

Tortoise and the Hare has the allegory of persistence over arrogance

often didactic

Not motif because that is a thematic idea that’s repeated; didactic is intended to teach

Alliteration

Device that uses the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes.”

Repeats letters and sounds, watch out for that!

Allusion

a reference to a well-known person, character, place, event that a writer uses to deepen a readers understanding

biblical references, art, historical

Ambiguity

a device that uses the quality of being open to more than one interpretation or meaning, inexactness

“The chicken is ready to eat” can mean that the animal is hungry or that the people are about to feast

More than one possible meaning, accidental or deliberate

Not ambivalence (that’s being mixed up emotionally)

Ambivalence

Simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings towards something or someone

“novel plot was good but character development was lacking, how do i feel about the book?”

ambivalence is many things at once, ambiguity is not being able to determine what the opinion or meaning is

Analogy

a comparison between two unlike things that explains their relation to teach other and emphasizes similarities

Finding a lost dog is like finding a needle in a haystack

explains much more than a metaphor to discuss why the comparison is being made

more for logical explanations

Anaphora

A device that uses the repetition of words or phrases at the start of sentences

“Let freedom ring from Georgia. Let freedom ring from the Appalachians”

Repetition of phrases, but only at the start!

Kind of syntax

Antithesis

tricky tricky

literary device that places opposite words, ideas, or qualities parallel to each other to strengthen an argument

Keep your friends close but your enemies closer

contradictory statement

parallel structure!!!!!!! that’s the key!!

When the rich wage war its the poor who die

parallel structure!!!!!!!!!

rich adn poor are opposites! ahhh

diff from oxymoron, this contrast makes sense!!

Aphorism

concise phrase used to describe a customary truth about life, device

Don’t judge a book by its cover

The pen is mightier than the sword

can have negative connotations

usually metaphorical

Not an idiom because those can’t be literal, while these can and aphorisms are universal while idioms are cultural

Assonance

A device that uses the repetition of vowel sounds, usually stressed, in words that are close together to create rhythm

Stem end and blossom tend

His tender heir might bear his memory

Similar vowel sounds

Consonance with consonants; alliteration is either vowel or consonant

Asyndeton

absence of conjunctions between parts of a sentence

I came I saw I conquered

I made you my temple, my mural, my sky

Chiasmus

A device that repeats grammar constructions or words and phrases in reverse order

“who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves”

“All for one and one for all”

Watch for sentence structure

Parallelism and anaphora are often confused with it because of syntax usage

Claim

an assertion that something is the case; a thesis that guides writing and declares the essay’s focus

“we live in a time of great change”

No facts or evidence yet, just a thesis

Clause

a unit of grammatical organization; can be independent or dependent

Colloquialism

not formal diction, used in familiar conversations and not meant to be taken literally

Hit the hay

Yo

Often in dialogue, slang, cultural expressions, idioms

Connotation

The implied emotional meaning of a word beyond its literal definition

Home has a connotation of warmth and family and it literally means a place people live in

Snake = betrayal

watch for tone surrounding the word

Denotation is the actual definition

Consonance

A device that uses the repetition of consonant sounds in words close together to create rhythm

“I have been one acquainted with the night”

Similar consonant sounds

Assonance with vowels, alliteration with both

Denotation

The literal meaning of a word

Rose= not love, but a flower

Snake= a reptile, not betrayal

Diction

word choice that influences tone and style

Formal diction can be using commence instead of begin

Watch for how certain words add to description

never say just diction!!

Didactic

A work such as a novel or tale that is intended to teach, especially when teaching moral instructions as an ulterior motive

Aesop’s fables that often have a hidden moral

Find it by considering if there is a message

allegory is : a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning

Euphemism

device that uses the substitution of unpleasant or offensive phrase for something more agreeable and pleasing

passed away instead of dead

Evidence

The available body of facts or info indicating whether a belief or claim is true

must be relevant to thesis, usually a quote

Hyperbole

an extravagant exaggeration used to emphasize a point

so hungry i could eat a horse

Idiom

an expression whose meaning is not literal, no underlying message though

he spilled the beans

raining cats and dogs

generally cultural

Imagery

device that uses vivid descriptions that use all five senses to describe

as she walked through the wintery woods, her teeth chattered and the leaves crunched underfoot

can be auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and visual

Imply

to express, suggest, or insinuate something without a direct statement

Its getting late implies that they want to leave

Infer

to deduce or conclude from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements and make a well-informed guess

someone eats something and makes a face, can infer they don’t like it

Invective

Insulting, abusive, or highly critical language that is always negative

“You’re afraid of your own shadow

will always be negative, designed to hurt

Criticism is productive and helps, invectice language does not

Irony

the use of words to signify the opposite of the intended expression as a device

A fire truck on fire

What a beautiful day when its raining

Usually funny ,spot the opposite of the situation or something funny

Juxtaposition

the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with a contrasting effect

enter and do not enter sign right next to each other

night and day

don’t have to be opposite

Litotes

understatement in which an affirmative is expressed b the negative of the contrary

I’ve had worse

You won’t be sorry means you’ll be glad

Loose sentence

a sentence in which the independent clause comes first and continues with more modifiers and subordinate clauses

We reached Paris, after a turbulent flight and exciting experiences, like ice cream…

Metaphor

a comparison not using like or as to compare very unlike objects and suggest a relationship

heart of gold

she’s a night owl

eyes are a window to the soul

not as deatield or extensive as analogies

very different things are being compared

Motif

device, noticeable and important recurring thematic element, especially a main idea or central theme

Romeo and Juliet has light and darkness

Yellow brick road in oz

relates to motive of the passage, appears repeatedly to emphasize the idea

not theme, leads to the theme instead

Onomatopoeia

a word being formed from a sound something makes, sound descriptors

boom, zap

The leaves crunched underfoot.

Oxymoron

A device that uses two words with opposite meanings in conjunction to express something, oftentimes creating paradoxes and contradictions

“She was pretty ugly”

Parting is such sweet sorrow

Weird combo of words

Paradoxes are meant for deeper thought; juxtaposition is more involved and lengthy

Paradox

a self-contradictory statement that provokes deep though, device

time travel

This statement is false.

The only rule is there are no rules.

logical arguments that lead to absurd conclusions

not like oxymoron because those make no sense and these make you think hard

Parallelism

A device that uses the repetition of grammatical structure in a piece of writing, not necessarily the same words or phrase

“One small step for man, one great leap for mankind”

Usual formula of Adjective + noun+ preposition repeated

Uses syntax

Not like chiasmus (doesn’t reverse)

Parody

strategy; funny or exaggerated copy of a book song, movies that mimics the orignal in a silly way for entertainment, not to make a serious point

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

never serious, just pokes fun!!

Pedantic

Giving too much attention to formal rules or small and irrelevant details, overly specific form of diction

An astounding amount of detail about a rose garden that has no symbolism or hidden meaning in a text

Strangely concentrated focus on insignificant details or overly repetitive phrases that add little meaning

Periodic sentence

a sentence that leaves the independent clause for last to create suspense

In spite of heavy snow, the game continued.

Personification

A device that attributes human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality or idea in human form.

“The sun smiled down at me”

Humanlike actions or characteristics given to a thing that wouldn’t otherwise have them to make them more relatable and connectable

Polysyndeton

multiple coordinating conjunctions used together to emphasize

Like, but, or, nor, and (FANBOY)

All you are is mean, and a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life

Repetition of conjunctions, unique because its repeated with commas mainly

Repetition

repeating of a word or phrase two or more times

i got this i got this i got this

check for anaphora!

Sarcasm

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt

asking what movie is being seen while wearing all pink

spilling coffee, that went well

different meaning than what is said

diff. from irony because that’s meant to say the opposite, but sarcasm criticizes

Satire

a strategy, a type of humor that makes fun of people, society, or politics to make a point of problems

political cartoons

entire work!

criticizes something major and problematic

Syllogism

device, using 2 logical statements to make a sometimes wrong conclusion to argue something

Unicorns can’t fly. I can’t fly. Therefore, I am a unicorn.

don’t have to be true!! form of reasoning

Symbol

A thing that represents or stands for something else, primarily when a material object represents an abstract concept or idea.

The dove for peace, black for mourning

Syntax

sentence structure; a set of rules and principles in a language that dictates how phrases and clauses are arranged into sentences

needs subject and verb to be a sentence

Warrant

the assumption that your reader needs to agree with in order to find your evidence strong; conclusion the reader comes to

Not found in the text, it comes from combining thesis and evidence together to make an assumption