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Stack #4611773
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ad hominem argument | This term comes from the Latin phrase meaning “to the man.” It refers to an argument that attacks the opposing speaker or another person rather than addressing the issues at hand. |
| allegory | An allegory is a fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts. |
| alliteration | reference, usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person. For example, in the sentence, “She faced the challenge with Homeric courage,” “Homeric” is an allusion to Homer’s works The Iliad and The Odyssey |
| allusion | A reference, usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person. For example, in the sentence, “She faced the challenge with Homeric courage,” “Homeric” is an allusion to Homer’s works The Iliad and The Odyssey. |
| ambiguity, ambiguous | When something is ambiguous, it is uncertain or indefinite; it is subject to more than one interpretation. |
| analogy | Analogy asks a reader to think about the correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different. |
| antecedent | Every pronoun refers back to a previous noun or pronoun—the antecedent; antecedent is the grammatical term for the noun of or pronoun from which another pronoun derives its meaning. |
| antithesis | An opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses. For example, “Whereas he was boisterous, I was reserved” is a sentence that balances two antithetical observations. |
| apostrophe | A figure of speech in which an absent person or personified object is addressed by a speaker. For example, “love” is personified and addressed as though present in the sentence, “Oh love, where have you gone?” |
| apotheosis | The word “apotheosis” is derived from the Greek word meaning to deify.” Apotheosis occurs in literature when a character or a thing is elevated to such a high status that it appears godlike. |
| appositive | A word or phrase that follows a noun or pronoun for emphasis or clarity. Appositives are usually set off by commas. |
| assonance | A type of internal rhyming in which vowel sounds are repeated. For instance, listen to the assonance caused by the repeated short "o" sounds in the phrase, "the pot's rocky, pocked surface." |
| asyndeton | Asyndeton occurs when the conjunctions (such as and or but) that would normally connect a string of words, phrases, or clauses are omitted from a sentence. For example, the sentence "I came, I saw, I conquered" employs asyndeton. |
| atmosphere | Atmosphere is the emotional feeling--or mood--of a place, scene, or event. In Toni Morrison's Beloved, for example, the opening chapters convey an atmosphere of loneliness and grief. |
| attitude | Attitude describes the feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing toward a subject, person, or idea. This expression is often used as a synonym for tone. |
| bathos | Bathos is false or forced emotion that is often humorous. Whereas pathos draws upon deep emotion, bathos takes this emotion to such an extreme that the reader finds it humorous rather than touching. |
| contrast | Writers often use contrasts, or oppositions, to elaborate ideas. Contrasts help writers to expand on their ideas by allowing them to show both what a thing is and what it is not. |
| diction | Diction refers to an author's choice of words. For instance, in the sentence, "That guy was really mad!" the author uses informal diction ("guy," "mad"), |
| elegiac, elegy | elegy is a work (of music, literature, dance, or art) that expresses sorrow. It mourns the loss of something, such as the death of a loved one |
| ethos | Ethos is the characteristic spirit or ideal that informs a work. Ethos also refers more generally to ethics, or values. In rhetorical writing, authors often attempt to persuade readers by appealing to their sense of ethos, or ethical principles. |
| euphemism | A euphemism is a mild or pleasant sounding expression that substitutes for a harsh, indelicate, or simply less pleasant idea. Euphemisms are often used to soften the impact of what is being discussed. |
| exposition | The word "exposition" refers to writing or speech that is organized to explain. For example, if the novel you read involves a wedding, your exposition might explain the significance of the wedding to the overall work of literature |
| fiction | The word "fiction" comes from the Latin word meaning to invent, to form, to imagine. Works of fiction can be based on actual occurrences, but their status as fiction means that something has been imagined or invented in the telling of the occurrence. |
| figurative language | Figurative language is an umbrella term for all uses of language that imply an imaginative comparison. |
| foreshadowing | Foreshadowing is a purposeful hint placed in a work of literature to suggest what may occur later in the narrative. |
| hyperbole | Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis. The expressions, "my feet are as cold as an iceberg" and "I'll die if I don't see you soon, |
| image, imagery | An image is a mental picture that is conjured by specific words and associations, but there can be auditory and sensory components to imagery as well. |
| irony, ironic | Irony occurs when a situation produces an outcome that is the opposite of what is expected. |
| juxtaposition | When two contrasting things--ideas, words, or sentence elements--are placed next to each other for comparison, a juxtaposition occurs. |
| logos | The word "logos" refers to the use of reason as a controlling principle in an argument. In rhetorical writing, authors often attempt to persuade readers by appealing to their sense of logos, or reason. |
| metaphor | A metaphor is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly, usually for emphasis or dramatic effect. |
| metonymy | Metonymy is a figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it. |
| mood | Mood is the prevailing or dominant feeling of a work, scene, or event. The opening scene of Macbeth in which three witches are center stage, for instance, sets a mood of doom and tragedy for the first act of the play. Mood is similar to atmosphere. |
| onomatopoeia | Onomatopoeia is an effect created by words that have sounds that reinforce their meaning. |
| oxymoron | An oxymoron combines two contradictory words in one expression. The results of this combination are often unusual or thought provoking. |
| pacing, or narrative pacing | Pacing is the speed of a story's action, dialogue, or narration. Some stories are told slowly, some more quickly. Events happen fast or are dragged out according to the narrator's purpose. |
| paradox | A paradox is a seeming contradiction that in fact reveals some truth. |
| parallelism | Parallelism is a literary technique that relies on the use of the same syntactic structures, (phrases, clauses, sentences) in a series in order to develop an argument or emphasize an idea. |
| parody | Parody is an effort to ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing an imitation of the work or of the author's style. |
| pathos | Pathos is a sympathetic feeling of pity or compassion evoked by an artistic work. In rhetorical writing, authors often attempt to persuade readers by appealing to their sense of pathos, or their emotions. |
| person | Person is a grammatical term that describes the relationship of a writer or speaker to an audience by examining the pronouns that are used. |
| persona | Persona is the character created by the voice and narration of the speaker of a text. The term "persona" implies a fictional representation or an act of disguise (that the speaker is not the author, but a created character). |
| personification | Personification is a figure of speech in which ideas or objects are described as having human qualities or personalities. |
| point of view | The particular perspective from which a story is told is called the point of view. Stories may be told from the point of view of specific characters or a narrator. |
| pun | A pun is a play on words. A pun is created by using a word that has two different meanings, or using two different words with similar meanings, for a playful effect. |
| repetition | Repetition is the reiteration of a word or phrase for emphasis |
| rhetoric, rhetorical purpose | Rhetoric is the art and logic of a written or spoken argument. Rhetorical writing is purposeful; examples of rhetorical purposes include to persuade, to analyze, or to expose. The lines between purposes, strategies, and devices are blurry. |
| rhetorical question | A rhetorical question is a question that is asked for the sake of argument. No direct answer is provided to a rhetorical question; however, the probable answer to such a question is usually implied in the argument. |
| rhetorical, or narrative, strategy | A strategy is a plan of action or movement to achieve a goal. In rhetoric or writing, strategy describes the way an author organizes words, sentences, and overall argument in order to achieve a particular purpose. |
| satire | To satirize is to ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events, or doctrines, or to make fun of human foibles or weaknesses. "A Modest Proposal" and Gulliver's Travels, both by Jonathan Swift, are satires of particular people and events of his time. |
| selection of detail | The specific words, incidents, images, or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative are referred to as the selection of detail. |
| simile | A simile is a commonly used figure of speech that compares one thing with another using the words "like" or "as." For example, the sentence, "He drank like a camel, he was so thirsty," contains the simile "like a camel.". |
| speaker | The speaker is the narrator of a story, poem, or drama. The speaker should not be confused with the author, who creates the voice of the speaker; the speaker is a fictional persona. |
| syllogism | A syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning in which pieces of evidence are used to create a new conclusion. |
| symbol | A symbol is something that stands for something else. The American flag, |
| synonym | A word that has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word is called a synonym. For example, funny is a synonym for laughable; big for large; secret for hidden; silly for ridiculous. |
| syntax | Syntax refers to the way words are arranged in a sentence. |
| tension | Tension, in a work of literature, is a feeling of excitement and expectation the reader or audience feels because of the conflict, mood, or atmosphere of the work. |
| texture | Texture describes the way the elements of a work of prose or poetry are joined together. It suggests an association with the style of the author |
| theme | The theme of a work is usually considered the central idea. There can be several themes in a single work. |
| tone | Tone, which can also be called attitude, is the way the author presents a subject. An author's tone can be serious, scholarly, humorous, mournful, or ironic, just to name a few examples. |
| understatement | When an author assigns less significance to an event or thing than it deserves, the result is an understatement. For example, if a writer refers to a very destructive monsoon as "a bit of wind," the power of the event is being deliberately understated. |
| voice | How the speaker of a literary work presents himself or herself to the reader determines that speaker's unique voice. |
| zeugma | The term "zeugma" refers to a particular breach of sense in a sentence. It occurs when a word is used with two adjacent words in the same construction, but only makes literal sense with one of them. |
Created by:
ghaven27