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Allegory

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The device of using character and/or story elements symbolically to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. {symbolic elements}

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Alliteration

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The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words (as in "she sells sea shells"). {repetition of sounds}

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Allusion

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A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. {reference to common things}

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Ambiguity

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The multiple meanings, either intentional or unintentional, of a word, phrase, sentence, or passage. {more than two meanings}

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Anadiplosis

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The repetition of the last word of one clause at the begging of the following clause. {last word first}

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Analogy

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A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them. {similarity or comparison}

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Anaphora

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One of the devices of repetition, in which the same expression (word or words) is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, clauses, or sentences. {repetition at the beginning of two or more lines}

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Anecdote

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A short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event. {short narrative of a person's life}

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Antecedent

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The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun. {anything referred to by a pronoun}

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Aphorism

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A terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle. {a general truth}

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Apostrophe

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A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. {imaginary person gets addressed}

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Atmosphere

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The emotional mood created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author's choice of objects that are described. {emotional mood set by the author}

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Clause

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A grammatical unit that contains both a subject and a verb.

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Colloquial/Colloquialism

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The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing.

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Coherence

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A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be arranged so that the meaning of the whole may be immediately clear and intelligible. {arranged to be clear}

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Conceit

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A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between dissimilar objects. {a fanciful expression}

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Connotation

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The nonliteral, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning. {the nonliteral meaning of a word}

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Denotation

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The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or color. {the literal definition}

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Diction

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Related to style, this refers to the writer's word choices, especially with regard to their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness. {the writer's word choices}

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Didactic

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From the Greek, this literally means "teaching."

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Epistrophe

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The opposite of anaphora, repetition at the end of successive clauses. {the opposite of anaphora}

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Euphemism

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From the Greek for "good speech," these are a more agreeable or less offensive substitute for a generally unpleasant word or concept. {Greek for "good speech"}

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Exposition

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In essays, one of the four chief types of composition, the others being argumentation, description, and narration. Its purpose is to explain something. {explains something}

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Extended Metaphor

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A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work.

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Figurative Language

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Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.

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Figure of Speech

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A device used to produce figurative language.

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Generic Conventions

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This term describes traditions for each genre. These conventions help to define each genre; for example, they differentiate an essay and journalistic writing or an autobiography and political writing. {describes traditions for each genre}

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Genre

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The major category into which a literary work fits. The basic divisions of literature are prose, poetry, and drama.

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Homily

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This term literally means "sermon," but more informally, it can include any serious talk, speech, or lecture involving moral or spiritual advice. {means "sermon"}

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Hyperbole

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A figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

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Imagery

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The sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. On a physical level, this uses terms related to the five senses; we refer to visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory imagery. On a broader and deeper level, however, one image can represent more than one thing. {sensory details used to describe objects}

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Inference/Infer

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To draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented.

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Invective

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An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

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Irony/Ironic

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The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant. [1] Verbal, the words literally state the opposite of the writer's (or speaker's) true meaning. [2] Situational, events turn out the opposite of what was expected. [3] Dramatic, facts or events are unknown to a character in a play or piece of fiction but known to the reader, audience, or other characters in the work. {what is stated and what is really meant}

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Loose Sentence

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A type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) comes first, followed by dependent grammatical units such as phrases and clauses. [opposite of periodical] {main idea comes first}

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Metaphor

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A figure of speech using implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution of one for the other, suggesting some similarity. {comparison of unlike things}

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Metonymy

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A term from the Greek meaning "changed label" or "substitute name," this is a figure of speech in which the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it. {Greek for "changed label" or "substitute name"}

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Mood

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This term has two distinct technical meanings in English writing. The first meaning is grammatical and deals with verbal units and a speaker's attitude. The indicative mood is used only for factual sentences. The subjunctive mood is used to express conditions contrary to fact. The imperative mood is used for commands. The second meaning is literary, meaning the prevailing atmosphere or emotional aura of a work. {two meanings: [1] grammatical [2] literary}

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Narrative

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The telling of a story or an account of an event or series of events.

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Onomatopoeia

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A figure of speech in which natural sounds are imitated in the sounds of words. [words like buzz, hiss, hum, crack]

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Oxymoron

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From the Greek for "pointedly foolish," this term is a figure of speech wherein the author groups apparently contradictory terms to suggest a paradox. [ex: jumbo shrimp] {Greek for "pointedly foolish"}

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Paradox

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A statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity. {statement that contradicts itself}

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Parallelism

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This term comes from the Greek roots meaning "beside one another." It refers to the grammatical or rhetorical framing of words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to give structural similarity. {Greek for "beside one another"}

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Parody

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A work that closely imitates the style of content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.

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Pedantic

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An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish. {an adjective that is overly scholarly}

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Periodic Sentence

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A sentence that presents its central meaning in a main clause at the end. This independent clause is preceded by a phrase or clause that cannot stand alone. {a sentence with the meaning at the end}

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Personification

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A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes or emotions. {an inanimate object that is given human attributes}

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Point of View

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In literature, the perspective from which a story is told. [1] The first persons narrator tells the story with the first person pronoun, "I," and is a character in the story. [2] The third person narrator relates the events with the third person pronouns, "he," "she," and "it." {the perspective the story is told in}

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Predicate Adjective

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One type of subject complement/ an adjective, group of adjectives, or adjective clause that follows a linking verb. It is in the predicate of the sentence, and modifies, or describes, the subject. {an adjective, group of adjectives, or adjective clause}

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Predicate Nominative

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A second type of subject complement/ a noun, group of nouns, or noun clause that renames the subject. It follows a linking verb and is located in the predicate of the sentence. {a noun, group of nouns, or noun clause}

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Prose

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One of the major divisions of genre, this term refers to fiction and nonfiction, including all its forms.

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Repitition

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The duplication, either exact or approximate, of any element of language, such as a sound, word, phrase, clause, sentence, or grammatical pattern. {the duplication of things}

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Rhetor

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The speaker who uses elements of rhetoric effectively in oral or written setting.

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Rhetoric

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From the Greek for "orator," this term describes the principles governing the art of writing effectively, eloquently, and persuasively. {Greek for "orator"}

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Rhetorical Modes

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This flexible term describes the variety, the conventions, and the purposes of the major kinds of writing. The four most common are: expository, argumentation, description, narration. {describes the purpose of major writings}

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Sarcasm

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From the Greek meaning "to tear flesh," this term involves bitter, caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or something. {Greek for "to tear flesh"}

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Sardonic

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This term suggests little or no hope.

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Satire

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A work that targets human vices and follies or social institutions and conventions for reform or ridicule. [ex: political cartoons] {follies society for reform}

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Semantics

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The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, their historical and psychological development, their connotations, and their relation to one another. {linguistics that studies the meaning of words}

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Style

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This term has two purposes: [1] An evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction, syntax, figurative language, and other literary devices. [2] Classification of authors to a group and comparison of an author to similar authors. {evaluates the author's work}

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Subject Complement

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The word (with any accompanying phrases) or clauses that follows a linking verb and complements, or completes, the subject of the sentence by either [1] renaming it or [2] describing it. {word that follows a linking verb}

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Subordinate Clause

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Like all clauses, this word group contains both a subject and a verb (plus any accompanying phrases or modifiers), but unlike the independent clause, the subordinate clause cannot stand alone; it does not express a complete thought. {contains a subject and a verb, but cannot stand alone}

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Syllogism

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From the Greek for "reckoning together,"this term is a deductive system of formal logic that presents two premises that inevitably lead to a sound conclusion. [ex: All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is a man] {Greek for "reckoning together"}

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Symbol/Symbolism

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Generally, anything that represents itself and stands for something else. Usually a symbol is something concrete such as an object, action, character, or scene that represents something more abstract. [1] Natural symbols [2] Conventional symbols [3] Literary symbols. {anything that stands for something else}

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Syntax

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The way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, and sentences. This term can be thought as group of words, while diction refers to the individual words.

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Theme

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The central idea or message of work, the insight it offers into life.

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Thesis

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The sentence or group of sentences that directly expresses the author's opinion, purpose, meaning, or position.

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Tone

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Similar to mood, this term describes the author's attitude toward his material, the audience, or both.

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Transition

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A word or phrase that links different ideas. Used especially, although not exclusively, in expository and argumentative writing, this term effectively signals a shift from one idea to another. [ex: furthermore, consequently, nevertheless, for example, in addition, likewise, similarly, and on the contrary] {word or phrase that signals a shift from one idea to another}

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Trope

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An artful variation from expected modes of expression of thoughts and ideas, a figure of speech involving a "turn" or change of sense -- a use of the word in a sense other than its proper or literal one. [ex: metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, litotes, irony, oxymoron, onomatopoeia] {a metaphorical use of a word or expression}

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Understatement

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The ironic minimizing of fact, this term presents something as less significant than it is.

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Undertone

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An attitude that may lie under the ostensible tone of the piece.

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Unreliable Narrator

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An untrustworthy or naive commentator on events and characters in a story. [ex: Huck Finn]

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Wit

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Intellectually amusing language that surprises and delights. These statements are humorous, while suggesting the speaker's verbal power in creating ingenious and perceptive remarks. This term usually uses terse language that makes a pointed statement. {Intellectual remarks}

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Zeugma

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A trope, one word (usually a noun or main verb) governs two other words not related in meaning. [ex: He maintained a business and his innocence/ She opened the door and her heart] {one word that governs two other words}

Glossary of Terms for the Analysis of Prose – Flashcards

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