Terms 10 Flashcards
adage
a proverb, or familiar, wise saying
allegory
a literary form in which some or all of the characters are embodiments of abstract ideas. it is a story which carries a second meaning along with its surface story
anachronism
a device describing something placed in an inapporopriate period of time. it may be an unintentional error, or it may be used deliberately for effect
anaphora
a device of repetition in which the same expression is repeated at the beginning of two or more like clauses or sentences
anecdote
a brief, pointed, or humorous story sometimes included in a larger whole
antecedent
the noun to which the pronoun refers
anticlimax
the arrangement or details in such an order that the unimportnant suddenly appears at the point where teh cirtical or serious detail should be found
antimetabole
the repetition or words in successive clauses in reverse grammatical order
antiphrasis
irony, the satirical or humorous use of a word or phrase as to convey its opposite
antonomasia
the use of a proper noun as a common name
aphorism
a short, pithy statement of a principle or precept
apposition
the placing in immediate succeeding order of two or more coordinate elements, the latter of which is an explaination, qualification or modification of the first
aposiopesis
an abrupt breaking off in the middle of a sentence without the completion of the idea, often under the stress of emotion
apostrophe
a rhetorical device in which the author addresses a personified abstraction or a person not present
