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50 Lit terms
Read the title
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Rhetoric | The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively |
| Understatement | Irony which deliberately represents something as much less than it really is (opposite of hyperbole) Overstatement – making to seem more important than it really is |
| Extended Metaphor | A comparison between two things that is carried through a stanza or entire poem, often by multiple comparisons of unlike objects or ideas |
| Simile | Figure of speech in which an explicit comparison is made between two things essentially unlike using words: like, as, than… |
| Allusion | Reference to something in history or literature |
| Anecdote | Short account of an incident |
| Qualify | To describe by specifying the characteristics or qualities of; characterize |
| Onomatopoeia | Words that sound like what it is describing |
| Antithesis | Direct contrast; opposition |
| Personification | To assign human characteristics to inanimate objects or abstract ideas |
| Alliteration | Beginning several words with the same sound. Alliterative – having the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable |
| Paradox | A statement which contradicts itself but is in fact true |
| Modes of Discourse | The four traditional modes of discourse are narration, description, exposition, and argument. |
| Mode: Narration | It involves relating a series of events, usually in a chronological order. It usually reserves the title "story" for fiction. |
| Mode: Description | Tells what things are like according to the five senses. |
| Mode: Exposition | Is the kind of writing that is used to inform. |
| Mode: Argument | The purpose of argument is to convince through logic. |
| Analogy | Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar |
| Parallelism | The use of identical or equivalent syntactic constructions in corresponding clauses or phrases |
| Parallel Structure | Using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance |
| Allegory | The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form |
| Apostrophe | Address to an absent or imaginary person or object |
| Subordinate/Dependent Clause | A clause that cannot stand alone as a full sentence and functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb within a sentence |
| Syllogism | A form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion |
| Metonymy | A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power. |
| Appeal to Authority | By using an authority, the argument is relying upon testimony, not facts. A testimony is not an argument, and it is not a fact. |
| Declarative Sentence | A sentence in the indicative mood that makes a pronouncement |
| Sentence type: Simple | Simple: a sentence having no coordinate or subordinate clauses, as The cat purred. |
| Sentence type: Complex | Complex: a sentence composed of at least one main clause and one subordinate clause. |
| Sentence type: Compound | Compound: a sentence of two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by a conjunction or conjunctions, as The problem was difficult, but I finally found the answer. |
| Sentence type: Compound-Complex | Compound-complex : a sentence consisting of at least two coordinate independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses. |
| Elegy | A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person |
| Periodic Sentence | A sentence in which the main clause or its predicate is withheld until the end; for example, Despite heavy winds and nearly impenetrable ground fog, the plane landed safely. |
| Euphemism | The act or an example of substituting a mild, indirect, or vague term for one considered harsh, blunt, or offensive |
| Passive Voice | A verb, or form of a verb, which expresses the effect of the action by the agent. The picture is admired by all. |
| Antecedent | The word, phrase, or clause that determines what a pronoun refers to, as the children in, The teacher asked the children where they were going. |
| Oxymoron | A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist. |
| Ambiguity | Doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation |
| Ellipses | Omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction but not necessary for understanding. A mark or series of marks (... or * * *, for example) used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words |
| Prepositional Phrase | A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object and has adjectival or adverbial value, such as in the house in the people in the house or by him in The book was written by him. |
| Satire | A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object and has adjectival or adverbial value, such as in the house in the people in the house or by him in The book was written by him. |
| Colloquial | Pertaining to words or expressions more suitable for speech than writing; in informal, conversational style |
| Litotes | A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite, as in This is no small problem. |
| Straw Man | An argument (usually weak) or opponent set up so as to be easily refuted or defeated |
| Synechdoche | A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole |
| Denotation | Most specific or direct meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meanings |
| Inversion | An interchange of position of adjacent objects in a sequence, especially a change in normal word order, such as the placement of a verb before its subject |
| Ad Hominem | Appealing to personal considerations rather than to logic or reason: Debaters should avoid ad hominem arguments that question their opponents' motives. |
| Ad Hoc | Used for the particular end or case at hand without consideration of wider application (done by specialists…dentists…) |
| Pronoun | A function word that is used in place of a noun or noun phrase |
| Parody | A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule |
| Participial Phrase | Includes the participle and the object of the participle or any words modified by or related to the participle. The car sliding out of control toward the building is going to hit the window. SLIDING modifies CAR. The verb is IS GOING. |
| Hyperbole | 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 |
| Didactic | Intended to instruct; morally instructive |
| Circular Reasoning | A use of reason in which the premises depends on or is equivalent to the conclusion, a method of false logic by which "this is used to prove that, and that is used to prove this"; also called circular logic |
| Begging the Question | To assume an answer to an unstated question or premise |
| Juxtaposition | The state of being placed or situated side by side |
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