The word choices made by a writer (can be described as: formal, semi-formal, ornate, informal, technical, etc.).

Diction

Language employing one or more figures of speech (simile, metaphor, imagery, etc.). 

Figurative Language

The art of presenting ideas in a clear, effective, and persuasive manner.

Rhetoric

Literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression.

Rhetorical Devices

Format or structure followed by a writer such as comparison/contrast or process analysis.

Rhetorical pattern

The arrangement or framework of a sentence, paragraph, or entire work.

Structure

The choices a writer makes; The combination of distinctive features of a literary work (when analyzing style, one may consider diction, figurative language, sentence structure, etc.).

Style

The manner in which words are arranged into sentences.

Syntax

A central idea of a work.

Theme

The primary position taken by a writer or speaker.

Thesis

The attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or audience.

Tone

A word free from limitations or qualifications ("best", "all", "unique", "perfect").

Absolute

An argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue.

Ad Hominem Argument

A literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions.

Allegory

A reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize.

Allusion

A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way.

Analogy

Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses (Richard D. Bury: "In books I find the dead as if they were alive; in books I foresee things to come; in books warlike affairs are set forth; from books come forth the laws of peace."). 

Anaphora

A brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event.

Anecdote

A figure of reasoning in which one asks and then immediately answers one's own rhetorical questions (or raises and then settles imaginary objections). Reasoning aloud.

Anthypophora

A statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced.

Antithesis

A concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance. 

Aphorism

A pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by reason or logic, and asserts a position, belief, or conclusion.

Argumentation

Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed sylables of adjacent words. Ex: The sergeant asked him to bomb the lawn with hotpots.

Assonance

A construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions ("They spent the day wondering, searching, thinking, understanding.")

Asyndeton

A sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast (George Orwell: "If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.").

Balanced Sentence

A pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by its analysis of why something happens, in contrast to "process", which describes how something happens. Often links situations and events in time, which causes preceding events. Ex: the cause of a war and its effects on a national economy.

Cause/Effect

A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary.").

Chiasmus

A pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by division, which is the process of breaking a whole into parts, and classification, which is the often subsequent process of sorting individual items into categories.

Classification/Division

Generally, the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance, often in parallel structure ("The concerto was applauded at the house of Baron von Schnooty, it was praised highly at court, it was voted best concerto of the year by the academy, it was considered by Mozart the highlight of his career, and it has become known today as the best concerto in the world.").

Climax

Informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing.

Colloquialism

A pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by, in its narrowest sense, how two or more things are similar (compare) and/or how two or more things are different (contrast).

Comparison/Contrast

A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Complex Sentence

A sentence with two or more principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.

Compound Sentence

A sentence with two or more principal clauses and one or more subordinate clauses.

Compound-Complex Sentence

A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor (Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 and John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" are examples).

Conceit

Details that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events.

Concrete Details

The implied or associative meaning of a word (slender vs. skinny; cheap vs. thrifty).

Connotation

A sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases (Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal: "I have been assured by a very knowing American friend of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.").

Cumulative Sentence (Loose Sentence)

A sentence that makes a statement or declaration.

Declarative Sentence

Reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying the principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.).

Deductive Reasoning

A pattern of writing or speaking which strives to inform the audience of what a term means and how it is different from other terms in its class.

Definition

The literal meaning of a word.

Denotation

A pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by physical descriptions of a person, place or thing. It is a pattern that relies on the five sense to inform it.

Description

A variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region ("Y'all" = Southern dialect).

Dialect

Having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing.

Didactic Statement

Harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds.

Dissonance

The omission of a or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context ("Some people prefer cats; others, dogs.").

Ellipsis

A brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying.

Epigram

A saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a heading of a chapter or other section of a work.

Epigraph

The persuasive appeal of one's character or credibility.

Ethos

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant.

Euphemism

A sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark.

Exclamatory Sentence

A pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by using one or more particular cases, or examples, to illustrate or explain a general point or an abstract concept.

Exemplification

Intentional exaggeration to create an effect.

Hyperbole

An expression in a given language that can not be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect ("fly on the wall", "cult to the chase", etc.).

Idiom

The use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses.

Imagery

A sentence that gives command.

Imperative Sentence

A suggestion an author makes (implies) without stating it directly. NOTE: The author/speaker implies; the reader/audience infers.

Implication

Deriving general principles from particular facts or instances ("Every cat I have ever seen has four legs; cats are four-legged animals.").

Inductive Reasoning

A conclusion on draws (infers) based on premises or evidence.

Inference

A sentence that asks a question.

Interrogative Sentence

An intensely vehement, highly emotional verbal attack.

Invective

A sentence constructed so that the predicate comes before the subject (Ex: In the woods I am walking).

Inverted Syntax

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs (situational, verbal, dramatic).

Irony

The specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group or profession.

Placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast.

Juxtaposition

A type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "It was not a pretty picture.")

Litotes

Appeal to reason or logic.

Logos

The mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar ("The doctor wrote a subscription.").

Malapropism

A concise statement, often offering advice; an adage.

Maxim

A direct comparison of two different things.

Metaphor

Substituting the name of one object for another object closely associated with it ("The pen [writing] is mightier than the sword [war/fighting].").

Metonymy

The emotional atmosphere of the work.

Mood

A standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works.

Motif

A dominant pattern of writing or speaking which strives to tell a story by presenting events in an orderly, logical sequence. Conventionally utilizes the first or third person perspective.

Narration

An inference that does not follow logically from the premises (literally, "does not follow").

Non Sequitur

An apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth ("Whoever loses his life, shall find it.").

Paradox

The use of corresponding grammatical or syntactical forms.

Parralelism

A humorous imitation of a serious work (Wierd Al Yankovich's songs, and the Scary Movie series are examples).

Parody

A comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to quality or explain.

Parenthetical Comment

The quality in a work that prompts the reader to feel pity.

Pathos

Often used to describe a writing style, characterized by excessive display of learning or scholarship, characterized by being narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned.

Pedantic

Endowing non-human objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics.

Personification

A strong verbal denunciation. The term comes from the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedonia in the fourth century.

Philippic

The use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural (John Henry Newman: "And to set forth the right standard, and to train according to it, and to help forward all students towards it according to their various capacities, this I conceive to be the business of a University.").

Polysyndeton

A pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by it's explanation of how to do something or how something occurs. It presents a sequence of steps and shows how those steps lead to a particular result (Can be seen often in recipes or directional manuals, a discussion of steps).

Process (a.k.a. Process Analysis)

A question asked merely for rhetorical effect and not requiring an answer.

Rhetorical Question

Harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule.

Sarcasm

The use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions (Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, The Simpsons, etc.).

Satire

An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words (anaphora, anastrophe, antithesis are some examples of themes).

Scheme

Having, containing, or producing the sound of or a sound resembling that of the s or the sh in sash. "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain."

Sibilance

A comparison of two things using "like", "as", or other specifically comparative words.

Simile

A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause.

Simple Sentence

Nonstandard grammatical usage; a violation of grammatical rules (Ex: unflammable; they was).

Solecism

A technique characterized by the continuous unedited flow of conscious experience through the mind recorded on paper. Often used in "interior monologue," when the reader is privy to a character or narrator's thoughts.

Stream of Conciousness

A construction in which one word is used in two different senses ("After he threw the ball, he threw a fit.").

Syllepsis

A three-part deductive argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and a minor premise ("All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.").

Syllogism

Using one part of an object to represent the entire object (for example, referring to a car simply as "wheels").

Synecdoche

Describing one kind of sensation in terms of another ("a loud color" or "a sweet sound"). 

Synesthesia

Needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding ("Widow woman", "free gift").

Tautology

An artful deviation from the ordinary or principal signification of a word (hyperbole, metaphor, and personification are some examples of tropes).

Trope

The deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude than it.

Understatement

The everyday speech of a particular country or region, often involving nonstandard usage.

Vernacular