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| Language that brings to mind sense- impressions, especially via figures of speech |
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A rhetorical technique in which a speaker suggests his or her similarity or closeness to a particular group, such as the audience.
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| A character who illuminates the qualities of another character by means of contrast |
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| First-person narration/point of view |
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oA literary style in which the narrator tells the story from his/her own point of view and refers to him/herself as I. The narrator of the story may be an active participant in the story or just an observer.
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| A brief statement to memorialize a deceased person or thing, time, or event that has ended. |
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| A syllable, word, or group of words added to fill a void (perhaps make a metrical scheme work), but which do not add to the meaning of a piece of writing; also an exclamatory word or group of words, especially an obscenity. |
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| A formal statement of praise |
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| The detailed analysis of a literary work |
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| A cleansing or purification of one's emotions through art |
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| A way of speaking that is peculiar to a region, group, or class, or the conventional forms peculiar to a language. Also an expression that is odd or incorrect and yet accepted, or one that has a meaning that does not clearly derive from the words that combine to form it. |
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| A sudden, powerful, and often spiritual or life-changing realization that a character reaches in an otherwise ordinary or everyday moment. |
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| An ending or completion, or something that gives a sense of finality. |
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| An extended metaphor, or an elaborate parallel between two seemingly dissimilar objects of ideas |
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| The association or implied meaning that a word carries along with its literal meaning. |
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| The use of sentimentality, gushing emotion, sensations, action, or plot twists to provoke audience or reader response. Popular in Victorian England and is now considered manipulative and hokey. |
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| Irony (verbal, situational, romantic, dramatic, cosmic) |
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| A technique of detachment that draws awareness to the discrepancy between words and their meanings, between expectation and fulfillment, or most commonly, between what is and what seems to be. |
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| To turn or move away from the main subject of discussion or the main argument in a piece of writing. |
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| The process of bringing opposing parties or positions into a state of accord or compromise; also refers to negotiation. |
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| A concrete object that represents something abstract; unlike a symbol, this has a fixed meaning that does NOT vary in different contexts |
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| To present ideas, images, events, or comments that hint at events to come in a story. |
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| The process of making an audience believe or agree with something. |
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| A figure of speech in which a word or short phrase is omitted, but easily understood from the context; also known as the marks (...) that indicate such omission. |
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| Following the established rules or conventions of writing. |
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| The atmosphere of a work of literature; the emotion created by the work (most notably by its setting) |
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| One of the types of literature such as short stories, poetry, drama, and novels, or one of the categories within those types. |
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| A new or invented word, expression, or usage |
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| Greek for "wisdom" or "reason"; in the context of rhetoric, refers to the process of persuading by means of reason as opposed to style, authority, or emotion. |
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| A design or pattern in a literary work used to achieve a particular effect |
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| A tragic or fatal character flaw that causes the downfall of a person of high status |
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| A serious lyric poem, often of significant length, that usually conforms to an elaborate metrical structure. |
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| Latin for "in the middle of things", refers to the technique of starting a narrative in the middle of the action. |
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| A story about the origins of a culture's beliefs and practices or of supernatural phenomena usually derived from an oral tradition and set in an imagined supernatural past |
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| A recurring idea, structure, contrast, or device that develops or informs the major themes of a work of literature |
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| Focusing on the explicit meaning of words only, and not dealing with context, connotation, figurative language, or other elements that add deeper shades of meaning |
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| A technique in which the author lets the audience in on a character's situation while the character remains uninformed. |
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| The process of discussion and compromise between conflicting positions |
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| In writing and literature, an author's exaggeration or distortion of certain traits or characteristics of an individual |
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| Involving a hypothesis (an assumption granted for the sake of argument) |
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| Informal expression or slang term acceptable in conversation but not usually in formal writing |
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| The overall character, moral makeup, or guiding beliefs of an individual, group, or institution |
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| A pleasing arrangement of sounds |
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| The logical outline of an argument, consisting of a claim supported by evidence and reasons |
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| Intended to instruct or to educate |
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| A formal attempt to justify or defend one's actions while implying regret for them |
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| In an argument, a person cited because his or her opinion carries a special weight |
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| The author's attempt to influence readers by means of logic, argument, and evidence |
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| In a written book the attempt to arouse the audience's feelings and sympathies |
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| The author's attempt to sway readers by creating a positive impression of his or her own character |
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| A writer's attempt to influence readers by choosing words and expressions that create a certain tone or make what the writer says vivid and memorable |
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| A theme, motif, symbol, or stock character that holds a familiar place in culture's consciousness |
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| Relating to beauty or a branch of philosophy concerned with art, beauty, or taste |
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| A yearning for the past of for some condition or state of existence that cannot be recovered |
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| In writing a practice or principle (such as a rule of spelling, grammar, or usage), that is accepted as true or correct |
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| Specific facts or examples to support a claim in a piece of writing |
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| A new or invented word, expression, or usage |
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| The person (sometimes a character) who tells a story; the voice assumed by the writer. The narrator and the author of the work of literature are not the same person |
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| A quotation placed at the beginning of one of its chapters or scenes to provide the reader with some ideas about the content or meaning that follow |
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| Specific word choice used in a piece of writing often chosen for effect but also for correctness and clarity |
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| The explicit literal meaning of a word |
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| The moment of greatest intensity in a text, or the major turning point in the plot |
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| The depiction of fate or the universe as malicious or indifferent to human suffering, creating a painful contrast between our purposeful activity and its ultimate meaninglessness |
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| A literary style in which the narrator conveys a character's inner thoughts while discussing these thoughts in the third person, using proper names and the third-person pronouns he she it and they |
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| The wider social and intellectual context in which communication takes place. The implication is that the meaning of works depends on their context, not just their content. |
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| The principle character in a literary work or narrative |
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| A technique, such as a figure of speech, an author employs to achieve a certain literary or artistic effect. |
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| A word or idea that can be understood in multiple ways; frequently refers to the condition of being obscure or difficult to understand. |
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| A protagonist who is not admirable or who challenges our notions of what should be considered admirable |
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| A pause separating phrases within lines of poetry - an important part of poetic rhythm. Comes from the Latin "a cutting" or "a slicing". Some editors will indicate this by inserting a slash in the middle of a poetic line. Others insert extra space in this location. Others do not indicate this typographically at all |
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| A modern form of comedy dramatizing the meaninglessness, uncertainty, and pointless absurdity of human existence. |
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| Another term for rhetorical climax |
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| A Renaissance genre of drama in which the plot revolves around the hero's attempt to avenge a previous wrong by killing the perpetrator of the deed, commonly with a great deal of bloodshed and incidental violence. |
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| French - little circle. A short poem consisting of ten, thirteen, or fifteen lines using only two rhymes which concludes each section with an abbreviated line that serves as a refrain |
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| A word, sentence, or verse that reads the same way backward or foreward. Certain words in English naturally function this way: racecar, radar, level, etc. |
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| Greek "love of wisdom". The methodical and systematic exploration of what we know, how we know it, and why it is important that we know it. |
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| The process of proving something wrong by argument or evidence |
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| The trope of exaggeration or overstatment |
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| German "time ghost" - The preferences, fashions, and trends that characterize the intangible essence of a specific historical period. |
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| French "little vine" - A short composition showing considerable skill, especially such a composition designed with little or no plot or larger narrative structure. |
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