language

• Alliteration


  The repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words
• Allusion


  A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art
• Analogy


  A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them
• Anaphora


  Repetition of a certain word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines of writing or speech
• Asyndeton


  Commas used (with no conjunction) to separate a series of words
• Balanced sentence


  Construction in which both halves of the sentence are about the same length and importance
• Colloquial/colloquialism


  The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing
• Connotation


  The non-literal, associative meaning of a word; the implied, suggested meaning
• Denotation


  The strict, literal, dictionary definition of a word
• Extended metaphor


  A metaphor developed at length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work
• Flashback


  Returning to an earlier time in a narrative for the purpose of making something in the present clearer
• Figurative language


  Writing or speech not intended to convey literal meaning, usually imaginative and vivid
• Figure of speech


  A device used to produce figurative language. Example: apostrophe, metaphor, personification, simile, etc.
• Hyperbole


  Figure of speech using deliberate exaggeration or overstatement. Not intended
• Imagery


  Sensory details or figurative language used to describe, arouse emotion, or represent abstractions. May use terms related to the five senses: visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory, or olfactory imagery
• Irony/ironic


  The contrast between what is stated explicitly and what is really meant; the difference between what appears to be and what is actually true
• Metaphor


  A figure of speech using an implied comparison of seemingly unlike things or the substitution or one for the other, suggesting some similarity
• Personification


  A figure of speech in which the author presents or describes concepts, animals, or inanimate objects by endowing them with human attributes
• Polysyndeton


  Sentence that uses and or another conjunction (with no commas) to separate the items in a series
• Symbol/ symbolism


  Generally, anything that represents or stands for something else
• Verisimilitude


  The quality of realism in a work that persuades the reader that he/she is getting a vision of life as it really is