A.p Language

Front 1

a familiar proverb or wise saying

Back 1

Adage

Front 2

an argument attacking an individual’s character rather than his or her position on the issue

Back 2

Ad hominem

Front 3

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

Back 3

Allegory

Front 4

repetition of initial consonant sounds. Sally sells sea shells.

Back 4

Alliteration

Front 5

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

Back 5

Allusion

Front 6

compares two different things that are similar in some way.

Back 6

Analogy

Front 7

repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences

Back 7

Anaphora

Front 8

work, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers

Back 8

Antecedent

Front 9

statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced.

Back 9

Antithesis

Front 10

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

Back 10

Aphorism

Front 11

one addresses an absent or imaginary person

Back 11

Apostrophe

Front 12

detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth, is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious, and is meant to evoke a response

Back 12

Archetype

Front 13

construction in which elements are presented in series without conjunctions.

Back 13

Asyndeton

Front 14

words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast

Back 14

Balanced sentence

Front 15

insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing intended to evoke pity.

Back 15

Bathos

Front 16

statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed, like Susan walked in, and our rushed Mary.

Back 16

Chiasmus

Front 17

Overused Expression

Back 17

Cliche

Front 18

informal words not accepted in formal language.

Back 18

Colloquialism

Front 19

one independent clause and one dependent clause.

Back 19

Complex Sentence

Front 20

two or more independent clauses (sentences) with conjunctions.

Back 20

Compound sentence

Front 21

fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor.

Back 21

Conceit

Front 22

relate to or describe actual, specific things or events.

Back 22

Concrete details

Front 23

implied meaning.

Back 23

Connotation

Front 24

makes a statement or declaration.

Back 24

Declarative sentence

Front 25

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

Back 25

Deductive reasoning

Front 26

literal meaning.

Back 26

Denotation

Front 27

speech/grammar associated with a particular region (like an accent).

Back 27

Dialect

Front 28

conversation

Back 28

Dialogue

Front 29

word choice

Back 29

Diction

Front 30

having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing.

Back 30

Didactic

Front 31

harsh, not harmonious, or discordant sounds.

Back 31

Dissonance

Front 32

formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme

Back 32

Elegy

Front 33

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

Back 33

Ellipsis

Front 34

Long, narrative, adventuresome poem

Back 34

Epic

Front 35

brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying

Back 35

Epigram

Front 36

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

Back 36

Epigraph

Front 37

inscription on a tombstone or burial place.

Back 37

Epitaph

Front 38

term used to point out a characteristic of a person. Homeric epithets are often compound adjectives (swift-footed Achilles) that become an almost formulaic part of a name. They can be abusive or offensive, but are not so by definition. Athletes can be give epithets like “the rocket.”

Back 38

Epithet

Front 39

formal speech praising someone who has died.

Back 39

Eulogy

Front 40

indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant (pass away instead of die).

Back 40

Euphemism

Front 41

expresses strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark.

Back 41

Exclamatory sentence

Front 42

interjection to lend emphasis, sometimes profanity.

Back 42

Expletive

Front 43

brief story that leads to moral, often using animals as characters.

Back 43

Fable

Front 44

employs one or more figures of speech (simile, metaphor, imagery).

Back 44

Figurative language

Front 45

insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative.

Back 45

Flashback

Front 46

embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story.

Back 46

Flat character

Front 47

presentation of material in such a way that the reader is prepared for what is to come later in the work.

Back 47

Foreshadowing

Front 48

story within a story.

Back 48

Frame device

Front 49

sermon or moralistic lecture.

Back 49

Homily

Front 50

excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy.

Back 50

Hubris

Front 51

intentional exaggeration to create an effect.

Back 51

Hyperbole

Front 52

raises a hypothesis, conjecture, or supposition.

Back 52

Hypothetical question

Front 53

expression that can’t be understood from the literal meaning. (He kicked the bucket.)

Back 53

Idiom

Front 54

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

Back 54

Imagery

Front 55

Suggestion an author makes without saying it (implies).

Back 55

Implication

Front 56

deriving general principles from particular facts or instances. (Every cat I’ve seen has four legs; cats are four-legged animals.)

Back 56

Inductive reasoning

Front 57

conclusion based on evidence.

Back 57

Inference

Front 58

intense, vehement, highly emotional attack.

Back 58

Invective

Front 59

use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; incongruity between what is expected and what happens.

Back 59

Irony

Front 60

specialized language or vocab. Of a particular group or profession.

Back 60

Jargon

Front 61

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

Back 61

Juxtaposition

Front 62

light verse consisting of 5 lines of regular rhythm in which the first, second, and fifth lines (each has 3 feet) thyme, and the second and third lines (each consisting of two feet).

Back 62

Limerick

Front 63

he/she presents the story as it is seen and understood by a single character and restricts info. To what is seen, heard, thought, or felt by that one character.

Back 63

Limited narrator

Front 64

deviating from normal rules or methods in order to achieve a certain effect, like intentional fragments.

Back 64

Literary license

Front 65

understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite, like describing a horrible accident as it’s not a pretty picture.

Back 65

Litotes

Front 66

mistaken substitution of one work for another word that sounds similar, like the doctor wrote a subscription instead of prescription.

Back 66

Malapropism

Front 67

offers advice, like an adage.

Back 67

Maxim

Front 68

direct comparison of two different things.

Back 68

Metaphor

Front 69

substituting the name of one object for another closely associated with it, like the pen (writing) is mightier than the sword (fighting).

Back 69

Metonymy

Front 70

standard reoccurring theme, element, or dramatic situation in a piece.

Back 70

Motif

Front 71

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

Back 71

Non sequitur

Front 72

sees, knows, and tells all, including the inner thoughts of the characters.

Back 72

Omniscient narrator

Front 73

words formed from the imitation of natural sounds. Pow!

Back 73

Onomatopoeia

Front 74

expression where words contract each other. Jumbo shrimp.

Back 74

Oxymoron

Front 75

simple story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson.

Back 75

Parable

Front 76

apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth. (Don’t go near the water until you learn how to swim.)

Back 76

Paradox

Front 77

use of corresponding grammatical or syntactical forms.

Back 77

Parallelism

Front 78

restatement of text in a different form, usually for clarity.

Back 78

Paraphrase

Front 79

humorous imitation of a serious work.

Back 79

Parody

Front 80

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

Back 80

Parenthetical

Front 81

promotes feelings for pity

Back 81

Pathos

Front 82

excessive display of learning or scholarship.

Back 82

Pedantic

Front 83

endowing nonhuman objects or creatures with human qualities or characteristics

Back 83

Personification

Front 84

strong verbal denunciation.

Back 84

Philippie

Front 85

use, for rhetorical effect, of more conjunctions than is necessary or natural.

Back 85

Polysyndeton

Front 86

play on words

Back 86

Pun

Front 87

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

Back 87

Rhetoric

Front 88

asked merely for effect and not requiring an answer.

Back 88

Rhetorical question

Front 89

literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression

Back 89

Rhetorical devices

Front 90

describes a character or literary work that reflects the characteristics of Romanticism, the literary movement beginning in the late 18th century that stressed emotion, imagination, and individualism.

Back 90

Romantic

Front 91

demonstrates some complexity and develops or changes in the course of a work.

Back 91

Round character

Front 92

use of humor to emphasize human weaknesses or imperfections in social institutions

Back 92

Satire

Front 93

person or group blamed for another.

Back 93

Scapegoat

Front 94

time, place, and environment in which action takes place.

Back 94

Setting

Front 95

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

Back 95

Simile

Front 96

consisting of one independent clause.

Back 96

Simple sentence

Front 97

nonstandard grammar usage; violation of grammar rules.

Back 97

Solecism

Front 98

the choices a writer makes; the combination of distinctive features of a literary work.

Back 98

Style

Front 99

artistic movement emphasizing the imagination and characterized by incongruous juxtapositions and lack of conscious control.

Back 99

Surrealism

Front 100

construction in which one word is used in two different sense, like in after he threw the ball, he threw a fit.

Back 100

Syllepsis

Front 101

3 part deductive argument in which a conclusion is based on a major premise and minor premise. (A=C, B=A, therefore C=A)

Back 101

Syllogism

Front 102

using one part of an object to represent the entire object, like referring to a car as wheels.

Back 102

Synecdoche

Front 103

describing one kind of sensation in terms of another, like a loud color, a sweet sound.

Back 103

Synesthesias

Front 104

manner in which words are arranged into sentences.

Back 104

Syntax

Front 105

needless repetition which adds no meaning or understanding, like free gift.

Back 105

Tautology

Front 106

central idea of a work.

Back 106

Theme

Front 107

primary position taken by a writer.

Back 107

Thesis

Front 108

a work in which the protagonist, a person of high degree, is engaged in a significant struggle and which ends in ruin or destruction.

Back 108

Tragedy

Front 109

overused and hackneyed

Back 109

Trite

Front 110

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

Back 110

Vernacular