Terms 1-20 Flashcards
Absolute
a word free from limitations or qualifications (best, all, unique, perfect)
Adage
a familiar proverb or wise saying
ad hominem
an argument attacking an individual’s character rather than his or her position on an issue
Allegory
a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions
Alliteration
the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words
Allusion
a reference to a literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize
Analogy
a comparison of two things that are similar in some way
Anaphora
the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences
Anecdote
a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event
Antecedent
the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers
Antithesis
a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced
Aphorism
a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance
Apostrophe
a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction
Archetype
a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response
Argument
a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work
Asyndeton
a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions
Balanced Sentence
a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast
Bathos
insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity
Chiasmus
a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed (“Susan walked in, and out rushed May”)
Cliche
an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off
