English Literary Terms

Front 1

Ad hominem

Back 1

attack against person not issue

Front 2

Ad populum

Back 2

when writer appeals to longing to belong, bandwagon appeal

Front 3

Allusion

Back 3

reference to another work or event that the reader is assumed to understand or know

Front 4

Ambiguity

Back 4

having more than one meaning, indtending confusion

Front 5

Analogy

Back 5

comparison of two things

Front 6

Anaphora

Back 6

repetition for emphasis

Front 7

Anecdote

Back 7

short narrative without plot that leads to thesis

Front 8

Antecedent

Back 8

the noun being referred to by a pronoun

Front 9

Antithesis

Back 9

opposite

Front 10

Aphorism

Back 10

much wisdom in a few words; terse statement with general truth

Front 11

Begging the question

Back 11

circular arguement

Front 12

Catharsis

Back 12

purges feelings through drama

Front 13

Colloquialism

Back 13

slang

Front 14

Connotation

Back 14

implied or related meaning

Front 15

Denotation

Back 15

definition

Front 16

Diction

Back 16

word choice

Front 17

Epiphany

Back 17

sudden realization

Front 18

Euphemism

Back 18

indirect statement instead of directness to avoid offense

Front 19

False Analogy

Back 19

illogical fallacy; draws from not really similar examples

Front 20

Hubris

Back 20

excessive pride

Front 21

Hyperbole

Back 21

exagerration

Front 22

Inference

Back 22

Educated guess

Front 23

Invective

Back 23

verbal abuse or scolding

Front 24

Irony

Back 24

combination of dialogue and action that is contrary to logic

Front 25

Juxtaposition

Back 25

two unlike things side by side to compare and contrast

Front 26

Logos

Back 26

appeal through logic

Front 27

Metonymy

Back 27

closely related term substituted for a part or whole

Front 28

Motif

Back 28

repeated image or idea

Front 29

Narration

Back 29

explanation of action

Front 30

Non sequitur

Back 30

irrelevant statement, humerous and illogical

Front 31

Omniscient

Back 31

form of narration where narrator knows all character's thoughts, actions, and feeling

Front 32

Onomatopoeia

Back 32

a word that almost exactly represents a sound

Front 33

Oxymoron

Back 33

two words that fundamentally oppose each other used together

Front 34

Paradigm

Back 34

pattern or model of thought

Front 35

Paradox

Back 35

two ideas that fundamentally oppose each other put together

Front 36

Parallelism

Back 36

parallel structure

Front 37

Parody

Back 37

a humorous imitation of a work meant to satirize

Front 38

Pathos

Back 38

appeal to an emotion

Front 39

Persuasion

Back 39

convincing another of the plausibility of an idea

Front 40

Point of View

Back 40

a classification of the narration style

Front 41

Red Herring

Back 41

attacking one aspect of an issue and claiming a position on another aspect of it

Front 42

Reductio ad absurdum

Back 42

reducing a situation to the point of absurdity

Front 43

Repetition

Back 43

Repeating of an idea

Front 44

Rhetoric

Back 44

methods used to persuade

Front 45

Sarcasm

Back 45

satire that ridicules through caustic language