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Terms & Definitions
All definitions come from:
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, edited by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries, Houghton Mifflin, 6th edition, 2016. Credo Reference. Accessed 19 Nov. 2020.
Click on the entry word for pronunciation, etymology, and more information.
a) The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. b) A story, picture, or play employing such representation.
The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in “on scrolls of silver snowy sentences.” Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate using vowel sounds.
An instance of indirect reference.A word or phrase formed by reordering the letters of another word or phrase, such as "satin" to "stain."
A comparison based on a similarity between things that are otherwise dissimilar. Example: "Her hair was like spun gold."
The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs; for example, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills.” - Winston S. Churchill.
Inversion of the normal syntactic order of words; for example, “Matter too soft a lasting mark to bear” - Alexander Pope
A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure, as in “Hee for God only, shee for God in him” - John Milton.
a) A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage. See Synonyms at saying. b) A brief statement of a principle.
The direct address of an absent or imaginary person or of a personified abstraction, especially as a digression in the course of a speech or composition.
a) Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: “that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea” - William Butler Yeats. b) The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase "tilting at windmills."
A novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of a usually youthful main character.
A pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm rather than by metrics.Representation of a character or characters on the stage or in writing, especially by imitating or describing actions, gestures, or speeches.
A rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures, as in “Each throat/Was parched, and glazed each eye” Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
a) The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language. b) Evasion in speech or writing. c) A roundabout expression.
a) An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing: "Hollywood holds connotations of romance and glittering success." b) The set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning.
The repetition of consonants or of a consonant pattern, especially at the ends of words, as in blank and think or strong and string.
The most specific or direct meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings.a) In Greek and Roman drama, a god lowered by stage machinery to resolve a plot or extricate the protagonist from a difficult situation. b) An unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot.
a) Choice and use of words in speech or writing. b) Degree of clarity and distinctness of pronunciation in speech or singing; enunciation.
A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its fleshly counterpart.a) A short poem or speech spoken directly to the audience following the conclusion of a play. b) A short addition or concluding section at the end of a literary work, often dealing with the future of its characters. Also called an afterword.
a) A term used to characterize a person or thing, such as "rosy-fingered" in "rosy-fingered dawn" or "the Great" in "Catherine the Great." b) A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person, such as "The Great Emancipator" for Abraham Lincoln.
The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive: "Euphemisms such as ‘slumber room’ … abound in the funeral business." - Jessica Mitford.
Agreeable sound, especially in the phonetic quality of words.a) A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans. b) A story about legendary persons and exploits.
A literary or cinematic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological order of a narrative.
One that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another: "I am resolved my husband shall not be a rival, but a foil to me." - Charlotte Brontë.
An indication or a suggestion of what will come in the future, given beforehand; a hint.A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in "I could sleep for a year" or "This book weighs a ton."
The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.a) The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning. b) An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning. c) A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect.
To place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. Ludicrous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound.a) A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare). b) One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.
A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work.The formation or use of words such as "buzz" or "murmur" that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in "a deafening silence" and "a mournful optimist."
A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson. A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true.The attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature; for example, "angry clouds" or "cruel wind."
A figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form, as in "Hunger sat shivering on the road" or "Flowers danced about the lawn." Also called prosopopeia.
The attitude or outlook of a narrator or character in a piece of literature, a movie, or another art form.
The pattern of events or main story in a narrative or drama.A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words, as chortle, from chuckle and snort.
a) An introduction or preface, especially a poem recited to introduce a play. b) An introduction or introductory chapter, as to a novel.
A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.
The arrangement of rhymes in a poem or stanza. A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. The time, place, and circumstances in which a narrative, drama, or film takes place.A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by "like" or "as," as in "How like the winter hath my absence been." - Shakespeare
A transposition of sounds of two or more words, especially a ludicrous one, such as "Let me sew you to your sheet" for "Let me show you to your seat."
One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines.
A literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur.Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as "hand" for sailor), the whole for a part (as "the law" for police officer), the specific for the general (as "cutthroat" for assassin), the general for the specific (as "thief" for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as "steel" for sword).
The description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another.a) The pattern of formation of sentences or phrases in a language. b) Such a pattern in a particular sentence or discourse.
a) A subject of artistic representation. b) An implicit or recurrent idea; a motif: "a theme of powerlessness runs through the diary."
a) Manner of expression in speech or writing: "took an angry tone with the reporters." b) A general quality, effect, or atmosphere.
A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.
a) A single metrical line in a poetic composition; one line of poetry. b) Metrical or rhymed composition as distinct from prose; poetry.
