Key terms

• Allusion


  An indirect reference to a concept or theme without explicit mention
• Antithesis


  Rhetorical device where contrasting concepts are placed together in a text, typically a sentence, to highlight how opposite they are
• Conjecture


  Formulating a conclusion based on incomplete information
• Connotation


  Using text to create implied meaning without explicitly referring to said meaning
• Euphemism


  Replacement of a crude or offensive expression with a vague / mild one
• Interjection


  Sudden remark, used often as an interruption or aside in the text
• Hyperbole


  Use of exaggerated statements
• Mythopoetic


  Reference to myths; the use of storytelling to lead to self-understanding for a group or individual
• Semantic Field


  A writer uses words which are linked by a theme or topic throughout a text or passage
• Pathetic Fallacy


  Attributing human qualities to nonhuman things
• Metonymy


  A figure of speech used to refer to an object, concept or person
• Foreshadowing


  An indication that an event will occur later in the narrative
• Symbolism


  Using one object or character to represent a wider concept running throughout the novel
• Epitome


  The perfect / ultimate embodiment of a quality
• Irony


  Embedding a meaning by using language typically implying the opposite of what the writer is intending to express, often for a humorous effect
• Satire


  Criticizing people through the use of humour or irony
• Sibilance


  Repetition of 's' sounds
• Juxtaposition


  Comparing two concepts, characters, or clauses, in close proximity in a passage for the effect of contrast
• Foreboding


  Apprehension that a bad event will occur
• Tricolon


  Three parallel phrases / words are placed in succession within a text, without interruption
• Biblical


  Relating to the bible; religious connotations
• Syntactic


  Relating to the arrangement of words within a sentence within a text
• Auditory imagery


  Language which appeals to the reader's hearing
• Temporal deixis


  Language which references or manipulates time
• Olfactory imagery


  Appeals to the reader's sense of smell
• Oxymoron


  Two opposing terms are placed next to each other
• Alliteration


  Repetition of the same sound, usually letter in close succession
• Archetype


  A common character type who possesses traits typical of their role
• Colloquialism


  An informal phrase common at its time of utterance
• Anaphora


  A word which refers to a previously used word
• Unreliable narrator


  A biased narrator character who provides information which is not necessarily correct
• Epistolary


  A narrative told through letters and diary entries
• Parallelism


  The use of grammatically identical / similar components repeated in a sentence or multiple sentences
• Dichotomy


  Contrast of two beings that are opposed or distinctly different
• Novella


  Short novel, roughly 20,000 - 40,000 words
• Foil


  A character which serves to contrast another, to emphasise certain characteristics of the other character
• Fin de siècle


  End of a century
• Conventional Detective Novel


  Subgenre of mystery & crime fiction, typically featuring a hero who is the investigator of the case and who eventually uncovers the truth
• Expository tool


  Providing all the background information required to understand the forthcoming plot and the characters involved
• Inverse iconic word order

  This is basically an inverted sentence, for example having the subject placed before the verb, normally used to structure a question