Lit Terms 6-30

6. Analogy: a comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them

 

7. Analysis: a method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts given rigorous and detailed scrutiny

8. Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences

 

9. Anecdote: a very short story used to illustrate a point

 

10. Antagonist: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative

 

11. Antithesis: a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness

 

12. Aphorism: a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life

 

13. Apologia: a defense or justification for some doctrine, piece of writing, cause, or action; also apology

 

14. Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly

 

15. Argument(ation): the process of convincing a reader by proving either the truth or the falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself

 

16. Assumption: the act of supposing, or taking for granted that a thing is true

 

17. Audience: the intended listener or listeners

 

18. Characterization: the means by which a writer reveals a character’s personality

 

19. Chiasmus: a reversal in the order off words so that the second half of a statement balances the first half in inverted word order

 

20. Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served

 

21. Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance

 

22. Cliché: a phrase or situation overused within society

 

23. Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved

 

24. Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation

 

25. Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter

 

26. Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension

 

27. Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition

 

28.Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity

29. Denotation: plain dictionary definition(same image shown under #27)

30. Denouement (pronounced day-new-mahn): loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion