A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Aesthetics ~ Things that appeal to the senses.
Alliteration ~ The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a line of text.
Ambiguous ~ Something having more than one meaning
Antagonist ~ The cause of the conflict (usually opposing character).
Antonym ~ A word that means the opposite of another.
Apostrophe ~ When a speaker addresses someone/something is not present; An exclamatory speech to a person or thing whether it is present of not.
Aphorism ~ A short, catchy statement of belief (maxim).
Archetype ~ The best example of a type of thing.
Assonance ~ The repetition of vowel sounds in a line of text.
Atmosphere ~ The overall mood of a story (series, comedic, mysterious, etc.)
Antonym ~ Words that have opposite meanings (eg. black and white)
Author ~ The person(s) who create a work or text.
Cacophony ~ Harsh or vile sound. Literally translated from Greek it means "bad sound"
Colloquialism ~ The use of a "colloquial" or informal word or phrase -- not suited to formal writing.
Connotation ~ The implied meaning of a word in content.
Consonance ~ The repetition of consonant sounds (not at the beginning of the word) in a line of text.
Denotation ~ The precise dictionary meaning of a word.
Diction ~ Authors choice of words, it is not accidental.
Dramatic Irony ~ When the audience of a play is aware of something that all or some of the characters are not aware of (particularly used in Comedy).
Figurative Language ~ The use of words or phrases to bring meaning to the reader that goes beyond the literal (what is actually written) using tropes (words that are used in a figurative sense).
Flashback ~ When the order of events in a story does not follow basic chronology -- when the plot literally flashes-back to some point in the past.
Foreshadowing ~ A literacy device used to give the reader/audience some insight into the events to come
Hyperbole ~ An over-exaggeration used for emphasis, effect, etc.
Irony ~ A method of sarcastic or subtly sarcastic expression where the intended meaning of a word is the exact opposite of its usual or expected sense.
Juxtaposition ~ The placement of two "things" in such a way that they appear side-by-side.
Malapropism ~ The incorrect usage of a word.
Metonymy ~ The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant (a kind of Synecdoche)
Mood ~ The attitude of the narrator towards the action of a story.
Motif ~ The smallest meaning element of a story; recurring in a single story and/or a number of stories.
Narrator ~ The voice of the teller of a particular story.
Onomatopoeia ~ Where the sound of a word is the same as its meaning (splash, buzz, whoosh...)
Oxymoron ~ The juxtaposition of two antonyms (used for emphasis and often humour).
Palindrome ~ a word , phrase, or sentence that reads the same backward as forward (eg. Bob; Madam, I'm Adam; Rats live on no evil star; etc.)
Paradox ~ An apparent contradiction that is actually true (Alone in the crowd). This applies to English only.
Parody ~ A humourous, exaggerated or copy designed to ridicule or satirize.
Point of Viewing ~ The perspective the author establishes to tell a story (narration).
Protagonist ~ The main character in a story.
Pun ~ Play on words using the literary device known as homonym. (Guys-guise)
Refrain ~ A phrase, line, or group of lines repeated from stanza to stanza, usually at the end (in a poem or song).
Satire ~ A mode of writing, that exposes the failings for individuals, institutions, or societies to ridicule or scorn.
Setting ~ Where and when the action of a story takes place.
Soliloquy ~ A speech given by a character in a play where he/she thinks she/he is alone on the stage.
Speaker ~ The voice of the person talking in a text that does not tell a story (i.e. poem, speech, etc.)
Subtext ~ The implied or figurative meaning of a literary or non-literary text.
Symbol ~ An object that represents something larger (in figurative sense) and more abstract than itself. Symbols represent both what they resemble and at the same time, something entirely different.
Synecdoche ~ A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.
Synectics ~ A method of understanding abstract concepts through the stimulation of divergent "out of the box" thinking. It brings together diverse, seemingly unrelated elements and requires one tho think in analogous or metaphorical terms.
Synonym ~ A word that has the same general meaning as another word.
Text ~ Anything that can be read. No longer does text simply refer to a book or item of literature, it refers to everything that can in any way be interpreted, from a simple gesture of the hand to what one is wearing, to an Epic poem.
Tone ~ The writers/author attitude towards a work and/or audience.
Trope ~ a figurative use of a word.
Understatement ~ Making less of something; under-estimating something on purpose (opposite of hyperbole).
Verbal Irony ~ When what is said is the opposite of what is meant.
Vernacular ~ Related to Colloquialism, this word describes language and/or ideas that exist in everyday (usually regional) circumstances.