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allusion
reference to a person, place, event, or other source meant to create an effect or enrich the meaning of an idea
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analogy
a comparison that points out similarities between two dissimilar things
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conceit
a figure of speech in which a striking association is made between two seemingly dissimilar things; an extended metaphor
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connotation
the suggested or implied meaning of a word or phrase (contrast with denotation)
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denotation
the dictionary definition of a word or phrase (contrast with connotation)
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figurative language
figures of speech, among them metaphor, simile, personification, synecdoche, metonymy, allusion, and symbol
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imagery
the use of words to represent what can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted, or felt—sensory language
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metaphor
a figure of speech that compares unlike objects
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personification
a figure of speech in which objects and animals are given human qualities.
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simile
a figurative comparison using the words like or as
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aesthetic distance
refers to a total objectivity of a writer wherein his/her view and judgments are withheld in his/her account of human experience; also, the distance between a work of art and its perceiver
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anastrophe
inversion of the normal syntactic order of words
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authorial intrusion
discussions directed to the reader and constituting a substantial break in the narrative illusion of reality
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diction
the selection of words in oral or written discourse
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explication
the interpretation or analysis of text
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genre
a term used to describe literary forms such as tragedy, comedy, novel, and essay
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interior monologue
a narrative technique in which characters' thoughts are revealed in a way that appears to be uncontrolled by the author; typically aims to reveal the inner self of a character. It portrays emotional experiences as they occur at both a conscious and unconscious level.
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limited narrator
a narrator who observes from only one point of view, lacking omniscience
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mood
the emotional response that a piece of literature stimulates in the reader
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omniscient narrator
a narrator with unlimited awareness, understanding, and insight of character, setting, background, and all other elements of the story
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persona
the role or façade that a character assumes or depicts to a reader, a viewer, or the world at large
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point of view
the view, whether limited or omniscient, the reader gets of the action and characters in the story
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rhetoric
the language of a work and its style; similar to diction
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stream-of-consciousness
refers to an attempt on the part of an author to reproduce the unembellished flow of thoughts in the human mind with its feelings, judgments, associations, and memories
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stlye
the manner in which an author uses words, shapes ideas, forms sentences, and creates a structure
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syntax
the arrangement of words in a sentence; sentence pattern
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theme
the main idea or meaning, often an abstract idea upon which a work of literature is built
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tone
the author’s attitude toward the subject being written about; the characteristic emotion that pervades a work or part of a work—the spirit or character that is a work’s emotional essence
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voice
the real or assumed personality used by a writer or speaker
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alliteration
repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginnings of words
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apostrophe
a locution that addresses a person or personified thing not present
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assonance
the repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or a line of poetry
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cacophony
the use of inharmonious sounds in close conjunction to create an effect (contrast with euphony)
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consonance
the repetition of two or more consonant sounds in a group of words or a line of poetry
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euphony
the use of pleasant, harmonious words to create an effect (contrast with cacophony)
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metonymy
a figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated.
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onomatopoeia
the use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning
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symbolism
the use of one object to suggest another, hidden, object or idea
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synecdoche
a figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part
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