Allegory~A Fictional work in which the characters represent ideas or concepts Alliteration~The repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words Allusion~A reference, usually oblique or faint, to another thing, idea, or person Ambiguity~Uncertain or indefinite; subject to more than one interpretation Analogy~The correspondence or resemblance between two things that are essentially different Anecdote~A short story used to illustrate a point the author is making Antecedent~where every pronoun refers back to a previous noun or pronoun Antithesis~An opposition or contrast of ideas that is often expressed in balanced phrases or clauses Apostrophe~A figure of speech in which an absent person or personified object is addressed by a speaker Appositive~A word or phrase that follow a noun or pronoun for emphasis or clarity Assonance~A type of internal rhyming in which vowel souds are repeated Atmosphere~The emotional feeling -or mood- of a place, scene, or event Attitude~The feelings of a particular speaker or piece of writing toward a subject, person, or idea Colloquial Language~Slang or common language that is informal Connotative~The interpretive level of a word based on associated images rather than the literal meaning Deductive Argument~The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example Diction~An author's choice of words Didactic~Writing which has the purpose of teaching or instructing Elegy~A work that expresses sorrow Ellipses~Indicated by a series of three periods; shows that words have been omitted Ethos~ a reference to ethics, or values Euphemism~A mild or pleasant sounding expression that substitutes for a harsh or less pleasant idea Exposition~Writing or speech that is organized to explain Figurative Language~All uses of language that imply an imaginative comparison Foreshadowing~A purposeful hint placed in a work of literature to suggest what may occur later in the narrative Hyperbole~A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used to achieve emphasis Imagery~A mental picture that is conjured by specific words and associations Inductive Argument~Creating a case by providing specific examples and drawing a conclusion based on the evidence they provide Irony~When a situation produces and outcome that is the opposite of what is expected Juxtaposition~When two contrasting things are placed next to each other for comparison Logos~The use of reason as a controlling principle in an argument Metaphor~A figure of speech in which two unlike things are compared directly Metonymy~A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it Mood~The prevailing or dominant feeling of a work, scene, or event Onomatopoeia~An effect created by words that have sounds that reinforce their meaning Oxymoron~Two contradictory words in one expression Paradox~A seeming contradiction that in fact reveals some truth Parallelism~A literary technique that relies on the use of the same syntactical structures Parody~An effort to ridicule or make fun of a literary work or an author by writing a comic imitation of the work Pathos~A sympathetic feeling of pity or compassion evoked by an artistic work Periodic Sentence~ where the main clause is presented at the end of the sentence, for emphasis Persona~The character created by the voice and narration of the speaker of a text Personification~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 Pun~A play on words Repetition~The reiteration of a word or phrase for emphasis Rhetoric~The art and logic of a written or spoken argument to persuade, to analyze, or to expose Rhetorical Question~A question that is asked for the sake of argument Satire~To ridicule or mock ideas, persons, events, or doctrines Selection of Detail~The specific words, incidents, images, or events the author uses to create a scene or narrative Simile~A commonly used figure of speech that compares one thing with another using the words "like" or "as" Speaker~The narrator of a story, poem, or drama Syllogism~A form of deductive reasoning in which pieces of evidence are used to create a new conclusion Symbol~Something that stands for something else Synonym~A word that has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word Syntax~The way words are arranged in a sentence Tension~A feeling of excitement and expectation the reader feels because of the conflict, mood, or atmosphere of the work Theme~The central idea Understatement~When an author assigns less significance to an event or thing than it deserves Zeugma~When a word is used with two adjacent words in the same construction, but only makes literal sense with one of them