Abstract Laguage
Language describing ideas and qualities rather than observable or specific things, people or places. The observable or “physical” is usually described in concrete language.
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Allegory
A narrative or description having a second meaning beaneth the surface.
Alliteration
The repetition at close intervals of initial identical consonant sounds. Or, vowel sounds in successive words or syllables that repeat.
Allusion
An indirect reference to something. Sometimes Biblical, historical, mythological
Ambiguity
An event or situation that may be interpreted in more way than one.
Anachronism
Assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence, like a Merlyn’s watch in “The Once and Future King”
Analogy
A parallel
Anaphora
Repitition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences.
Angst
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Annotation
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Antithesis
A balancing of two opposite or contrasting words or phrases
Apostrophe
Addressing the dead as if alive or the unborn as if born
Archetype
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Aside
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Assonance
Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity
Asyndeton
A series of words seperated by commas “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Balance
Construction in which both halves of the sentence are about the same length and importance, sometimes used to emphasize contrast
Bandwagon
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Catharsis
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Characterization
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Chiasmus
Arrangement of repeated thoughts in the pattern of X Y Y . “ask not what your country can….
“
Chronological Ordering
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Comedy of Manners
wit and humour of the dialogue in the violations of social conduct
Comic Relief
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Conceit
Unusual or surprising comparisio between two very different things(special kind of metaphor or complicated analogy).
Concrete Language
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Connotation
implied meaning rather than literal
Consonance
Repetition of a consoant sound within two or more words in close proximity.
Conventional
Relying on set conventions in writing. (five paragraph essay)
Cumulative
Sentence which begins with the main idea and then expands on that idea with a series of details or other particulars.
Deduction
Generalization to application
Diction
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Didactic
Describes fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral
Digression
Temporary departure from the subject
Dramactic Irony
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Elegy
A formal sustained poem lamenting the death of a particular person
Emotional Appeal
When an author uses emotion to envoke the audience.
Ennui
A persistent feeling of tiredness or weariness which often afflicts existential man, often manifesting as boredom.
