Words to know

Abstract refers to language that describes concepts rather than concrete images ( ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people, or places). The observable or “physical” is usually described in concrete language.

Ad Hominem In an argument, this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent’s ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning “against the man.”

Allegory an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface of the story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric. Examples: John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (Temptations of Christians) , Orwell’s Animal Farm (Russian Revolution), and Arthur Miller’s Crucible (“Red Scare&#8221

Alliteration repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another: Mickey Mouse; Donald Duck; Daffy Duck; Suzy Sells Seashells …

Allusion a reference to a well-known person, place, or thing from literature, history, etc. Example: Eden, Scrooge, Prodigal Son, Catch-22, Judas, Don Quixote, Mother Theresa

Analogy Comparison of two similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship, such as comparing the work of a heart to that of a pump. An analogy is a comparison to a directly parallel case. Examples:
Shells were to ancient cultures as dollar bills are to modern American culture.
Running a business is like managing an orchestra.
The heart is like a pump.


Anaphora Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent. Examples:

“There was the delight I caught in seeing long straight rows. There was the faint, cool kiss of sensuality. There was the vague sense of the infinite….”

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, 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. We shall never surrender. “ Churchill.

“So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado….” Martin Luther King, Jr.


Anecdote a short, simple narrative of an incident; often used for humorous effect or to make a point.

Annotation Explanatory notes added to a text to explain, cite sources, or give bibliographical data.

Antithesis the presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs. Examples:

“To be or not to be…” Shakespeare’s Hamlet
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country….” Kennedy
“The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” Lincoln


Aphorism a short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life. Examples:
“Early bird gets the worm.”
“What goes around, comes around..”
“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Apostrophe usually in poetry but sometimes in prose; the device of calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person or to a place, thing, or personified abstraction
“For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him.” Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar

Argumentation writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments; persuasive writing is a form of argumentation

Assonance repetition of vowel sounds between different consonants, such as in neigh/fade,

Asyndeton Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words. The parts are emphasized equally when the conjunction is omitted; in addition, the use of commas with no intervening conjunction speeds up the flow of the sentence. Asyndeton takes the form of X, Y, Z as opposed to X, Y, and Z.

"Be one of the few, the proud, the Marines.” Marine Corps

“We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardships, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” John F. Kennedy

“. . . and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." Abraham Lincoln

Cacophony harsh, awkward, or dissonant sounds used deliberately in poetry or prose; the opposite of euphony.

Caricature descriptive writing that greatly exaggerates a specific feature of a person’s appearance or a facet of personality.

Colloquialism a word or phrase (including slang) used in everyday conversation and informal writing but that is often inappropriate in formal writing (y’all, ain’t)

Coherence quality of a piece of writing in which all the parts contribute to the development of the central idea, theme, or organizing principle

Concrete Language Language that describes specific, observable things, people, or places, rather than ideas or qualities.

Connotation implied or suggested meaning of a word because of its association in the reader’s mind.

Consonance repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximity, as in boost/best; it can also be seen within several compound words, such as fulfill and ping-pong

Conundrum a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; it may also be a paradox or difficult problem

Deduction the process of moving from a general rule to a specific example

Denotation literal meaning of a word as defined

Description the picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch; one of the four modes of discourse

Diction word choice, an element of style; it creates tone, attitude, and style, as well as meaning. Different types and arrangements of words have significant effects on meaning. An essay written in academic ______ would be much less colorful, but perhaps more precise than street slang.

Didactic writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. The work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns. This type of writing may be fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Discourse spoken or written language, including literary works; the four traditionally classified modes of ____________ are description, exposition, narration, and persuasion.

Dissonance harsh or grating sounds that do not go together

Dramatic Irony When the reader is aware of an inconsistency between a fictional or nonfictional character’s perception of a situation and the truth of that situation.

Emotional Appeal When a writer appeals to readers’ emotions (often through pathos) to excite and involve them in the argument.

Epigraph the use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme. Hemingway begins The Sun Also Rises with two quotations. One of them is “You are all a lost generation” by Gertrude Stein.

Epistrophe repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect (as Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, for the people") Compare to anaphora.

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child." (Corinthians)

I'll have my bond!/ Speak not against my bond!/ I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.---The Merchant of Venice

Ethical Appeal When a writer tries to persuade the audience to respect and believe him or her based on a presentation of image of self through the text. Reputation is sometimes a factor in this type of appeal, but in all cases the aim is to gain the audience’s confidence. (Ethos)

Euphemism a more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. “He went to his final reward” is a common saying for “he died.” These are also often used to obscure the reality of a situation. The military uses “collateral damage” to indicate civilian deaths in a military operation.

Euphony a succession of harmonious sounds used in poetry or prose; the opposite of cacophony

Example An individual instance taken to be representative of a general pattern. Arguing through this process is considered reliable if _______________ are demonstrable true or factual as well as relevant.

Explication The art of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text. It usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.

Exposition the immediate revelation to the audience of the setting and other background information necessary for understanding the plot; also, explanation; one of the four modes of discourse

Extended Metaphor a sustained comparison, often referred to as a conceit. The extended metaphor is developed throughout a piece of writing

Fallacy An error in reasoning

False Analogy When two cases are not sufficiently parallel to lead readers to accept a claim of connection between them.

Figurative Language language that contains figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors, in order to create associations that are imaginative rather than literal.

Figures of Speech expressions, such as similes, metaphors, and personifications, that make imaginative, rather than literal, comparisons or associations.

Foreshadowing the use of a hint or clue to suggest a larger event that occurs late in the work

Freight-Train Sentence consisting of three or more very short independent clauses joined by conjunctions.

Generalization When a writer bases a claim upon an isolated example or asserts that a claim is certain rather than probable. Sweeping generalizations occur when a writer asserts that a claim applies to all instances instead of some.

Genre a type of literary work, such as a novel or poem; there are also subgenres, such as science fiction or sonnet, within the larger genres

Hubris the excessive pride of ambition that leads a tragic hero to disregard warnings of impending doom, eventually causing his or her downfall.

Humor anything that causes laughter or amusement; up until the end of the Renaissance, humor meant a person’s temperament

Hyperbole deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis (Example: He was so hungry he could have eaten a horse.)

Image A word or words, either figurative or literal, used to describe a sensory experience or an object perceived by the sense. An image is always a concrete representation.

Imagery words or phrases that use a collection of images to appeal to one or more of the five senses in order to create a mental picture

Induction the process that moves from a given series of specifics to a generalization

Inference a conclusion one can draw from the presented details

Interior Monologue writing that records the conversation that occurs inside a character’s head

Invective a verbally abusive attack

Inversion reversing the customary (subject first, then verb, then complement) order of elements in a sentence or phrase; it is used effectively in many cases, such as posing a question: “Are you going to the store?” Usually, the element that appears first is emphasized more than the subject.

Irony a situation or statement in which the actual outcome or meaning is opposite to what was expected.

Jargon The special language of a profession or group. The term usually has pejorative associations, with the implication that jargon is evasive, tedious, and unintelligible to outsiders. The writings of the lawyer and the literary critic are both susceptible to jargon.

Logic the process of reasoning

Logical Fallacy a mistake in reasoning

Lyrical Songlike; characterized by emotions, subjectivity, and imagination.

Metaphor a figure of speech in which one thing is referred to as another; for example, “my love is a fragile flower”

Metonymy a figure of speech that uses the name of an object, person, or idea to represent something with which it is associated, such as using “the crown” to refer to a monarch ; Also, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

Mode the method or form of a literary work; the manner in which a work of literature is written

Mood similar to tone, it is the primary emotional attitude of a work (the feeling of the work; the atmosphere). Syntax is also a determiner of this term because sentence strength, length, and complexity affect pacing.

Moral The lesson drawn from a fictional or nonfictional story. It can also mean a heavily didactic story.

Motif main theme or subject of a work that is elaborated on in the development of the piece; a repeated pattern or idea

Narration the telling of a story in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama; one of the four modes of discourse

Negative-Positive Sentence that begins by stating what is NOT true, then ending by stating what is true.

Non-sequitur Latin for “it does not follow.” When one statement isn’t logically connected to another

Objectivity an impersonal presentation of events and characters. It is a writer’s attempt to remove himself or herself from any subjective, personal involvement in a story. Hard news journalism is frequently prized for its objectivity, although even fictional stories can be told without a writer rendering personal judgment.

Onomatopoeia the use of words that sound like what they mean, such as “hiss,” “buzz,” “slam,” and “boom”

Oversimplification When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument

Oxymoron a figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases, such as “wise fool,” bitter-sweet,” “pretty ugly,” “jumbo shrimp,” “cold fire”

Pacing the movement of a literary piece from one point or one section to another

Parable a short tale that teaches a moral; similar to but shorter than an allegory

Paradox a statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning, as in this quotation from Henry David Thoreau; “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

Parallelism the technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form. Parallel structure may be as simple as listing two or three modifiers in a row to describe the same noun or verb; it may take the form of two or more of the same type of phrases (prepositional, participial, gerund, appositive) that modify the same noun or verb; it may also take the form of two or more subordinate clauses that modify the same noun or verb. Or, parallel structure may be a complex bend of singe-word, phrase, and clause parallelism all in the same sentence.

Example (from Churchill): “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields.”

Parody a work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating its elements. . It can be utterly mocking or gently humorous. It depends on allusion and exaggerates and distorts the original style and content.

Pathos an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion.

. Over-emotionalism can be the result of an excess of pathos.

Pedantic a term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic and often overly difficult and distant

Personification the attribution of human qualities to a nonhuman or an inanimate object

Persuasion a form of argumentation, one of the four modes of discourse; language intended to convince through appeals to reason or emotion.

Point of View the perspective from which a story is presented; common points of view include the following:

First person narrator a narrator, referred to as “I,” who is a character in the story and relates the actions through his or her own perspective, also revealing his or her own thoughts

Stream of Consciousness like a first person narrator, but instead placing the reader inside the character’s head, making the reader privy to the continuous, chaotic flow of disconnected, half-formed thoughts and impressions in the character’s mind

Omniscient third person narrator, referred to as “he,” “she,” or “they,” who is able to see into each character’s mind and understands all the action

Limited Omniscient a third person narrator who reports the thoughts of only one character and generally only what that one character sees

Objective a third person narrator who only reports what would be visible to a camera; thoughts and feelings are only revealed if a character speaks of them
Polysyndeton Sentence which uses and or another conjunction (with no commas) to separate the items in a series. Polysyndeton appear in the form of X and Y and Z, stressing equally each member of a series. It makes the sentence slower and the items more emphatic than in the asyndeton.

Protagonist the main character of a literary work

Red Herring When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue
Reductio ad Absurdum the Latin for “to reduce to the absurd.” This is a technique useful in creating a comic effect and is also an argumentative technique. It is considered a rhetorical fallacy because it reduces an argument to an either/or choice

Regionalism an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale, using the locale and its influences as a major part of the plot

Repetition Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity

Rhetoric the art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse; Rhetoric focuses on the interrelationship of invention, arrangement, and style in order to create felicitous and appropriate discourse.

Rhetorical modes exposition, description, narration, argumentation

Rhetorical Question one that does not expect an explicit answer. It is used to pose an idea to be considered by the speaker or audience.

Sarcasm harsh, caustic personal remarks to or about someone; less subtle than irony

Satire A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of human behavior by portraying it in an extreme way. It doesn’t simply abuse (as in invective) or get personal (as in sarcasm). It targets groups or large concepts rather than individuals.

Setting Time and place of a literary work

Simile a figure of speech that uses like, as, or as if to make a direct comparison between two essentially different objects, actions, or qualities; for example, “The sky looked like an artist’s canvas.”

Speaker the voice of a work; an author may speak as himself or herself or as a fictitious persona

Stereotype a character who represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group and who lacks individuality; a conventional patter, expression or idea.

Straw Man When a writer argues against a claim that nobody actually holds or is universally considered weak. Setting up a straw man diverts attention from the real issues.

Style an author’s characteristic manner of expression – his or her diction, syntax, imagery, structure, and content all contribute to style

Subjectivity a personal presentation of evens and characters, influenced by the author’s feelings and opinions

Syllogism A form of reasoning in which two statements are made and a conclusion is drawn from them. A syllogism is the format of a formal argument that consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Example:
Major Premise: All tragedies end unhappily.
Minor Premise: Hamlet is a tragedy.
Conclusion: Therefore, Hamlet ends unhappily.

Symbolism the use of symbols or anything that is meant to be taken both literally and as representative of a higher and more complex significance

Synecdoche a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent a whole, such as using “boards” to mean a stage or “wheels” to mean a car – or “All hands on deck.”

Syntactic Fluency Ability to create a variety of sentence structures, appropriately complex and/or simple and varied in length.

Syntactic Permutation Sentence structures that are extraordinarily complex and involved. They are often difficult for a reader to follow.

Syntax the grammatical structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in a sentence. It includes length of sentence, kinds of sentences (questions, exclamations, declarative sentences, rhetorical questions, simple, complex, or compound).

Theme the central idea or “message” or a literary work

Thesis the main idea of a piece of writing. It presents the author’s assertion or claim. The effectiveness of a presentation is often based on how well the writer presents, develops, and supports this.

Tone the characteristic emotion or attitude of an author toward the characters, subject, and audience (anger, sarcastic, loving, didactic, emotional, etc.)

Transition a word or phrase that links one idea to the next and carries the reader from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph.

Tricolon Sentence consisting of three parts of equal importance and length, usually three independent clauses.

Understatement the opposite of exaggeration. It is a technique for developing irony and/or humor where one writes or says less than intended.

Unity quality of a piece of writing (also see coherence)

Voice refers to two different areas of writing. One refers to the relationship between a sentence’s subject and verb (active and passive voice). The second refers to the total “sound” of a writer’s style.