A more acceptable and usually more pleasant way of saying something that might be inappropriate or uncomfortable. "He went to his final reward" is a common euphemis for "he died." These phrases are also often used to obscure the reality of a situation. The military uses "collateral damage" to indicate civil deaths in a military operation.
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Cacophony
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Harsh or discordant sounds in a line or passage in a literary work.
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Hyperbole
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Extreme exaggeration, often humorous, it can also be ironic; the opposite of an understatement.
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Attitude
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The relationship an author has toward his or her subject, and/or his or her audience.
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Inference
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A conclusion one can draw from the presented details.
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Extended Metaphor
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A sustained comparison, often referred to as a conceit. The extended metaphor is developed throughout a piece of writing.
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Antithesis
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The presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by words, phrase, clause or paragraph. "To be or not to be..." "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for you country..."
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Conflict
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A clash between opposing forces in a literary work, such as man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. god, man vs. self.
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Monologue
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A speech given by a one character
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Anecdote
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A story or brief example told by the writer or character to illustrate a point.
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Figurative Language
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The body of devices that enables the writer to operate on levels other than the literal one. It includes metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, etc.
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Ad Hominem
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In an argument, an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning "against man."
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Invective
Front
Verbally abusive attack
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Didactic
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Writing whose purpose is to instruct or to teach. A didactic work is usually formal and focuses on moral or ethical concerns.
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Argument
Front
A single assertion or a series of assertions presented and defended by the writer.
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Onomatopoeia
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Words that sound like the sound they represent (gurgle, hiss, pop).
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Balance
Front
A situation in which all parts of the presentation are equal, whether in sentences or paragraphs or sections of a longer work.
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Metaphor
Front
A direct comparison between dissimilar things (Your eyes are stars).
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Metonymy
Front
A figure of speech in which a representative term is used for a larger idea ("The pen is mightier than the sword")
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Pacing
Front
The movement of a literary piece from one point or section to another.
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Logic
Front
The process of reasoning
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Alliteration
Front
The repetition of initial consonant sounds, such as the "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers"
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Flashback
Front
A device that enables a writer to refer to past thoughts, events, or episodes.
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Antecedant
Front
The word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers (he, it, she, them, they, etc). The AP English Language and Composition exam often expects you to identify the antecedent in a passage.
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Euphony
Front
The pleasant, mellifluous presentation of sounds in a literary work.
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Imagery
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A verbal approximation of a sensory impression, concept, or emotion (description using any of the 5 senses).
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Exposition
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Background information presented in a literary work.
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Epigraph
Front
The use of a quotation at the beginning of a work that hints at its theme. Hemingway begins The Sun Also Rises with two epigraphs. One of them is "You are all a lost generation" by Gertude Stein.
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Colloquial
Front
The use of slang in writing, often to create local color and to provide an informal tone.
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Analogy
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A literary device employed to serve as a basis for comparison. It is assumed that what applies to the parallel situation also applies to the original circumstance. In other words, it is the comparison between two different items.
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Alagory
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a work that functions on a symbolic level
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Comic Relief
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The inclusion of a humorous character or scene to contrast with the tragic elements of a work, thereby intensifying the next tragic event.
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Deduction
Front
The process of moving from a general rule to a specific example.
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Connotation
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The interpretive level of a word based on its associated images rather than its literal meaning.
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Dialect
Front
The re-creation of regional spoken language, such as a Souther dialect. Zora Neal Hurston uses this in such works as Their Eyes Were Watching God.
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Denotation
Front
The literal or dictionary meaning of a word.
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Parable
Front
A story that operates on more than one level and usually teaches a moral lesson.
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Oxymoron
Front
An image of contradictory terms (bitter-sweet, pretty ugly, jumbo shrimp).
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Irony
Front
An unexpected twist or contract between what happens and what was intended or expected to happen. It involves dialog and situation and can be intentional or unplanned. Dramatic irony centers around the ignorance of those involved; whereas, the audience is aware of the circumstances.
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Character
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Those who carry out the action of the plot in literature. Major, minor, static (unchanging), and dynamic (changing) are types of characters.
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Induction
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The process that moves from a given series of specifics to a broad generalization.
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Narrator
Front
The speaker of a literary work.
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Abstract
Front
Refers to language that describes concepts (ideas) rather than concrete images
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Ellipsis
Front
An indication by a series of three periods that some material has been omitted from a given text. It could be a word, a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph, or a whole section. Be wary of the ellipsis; it could obscure the real meaning of the piece of writing.
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Pathos
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Allusion
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A reference to another literary work.
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Logical Fallacy
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A mistake in reasoning
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Parody
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A comic situation of a work that ridicules the original It can be utterly mocking or gently humorous. It depends on allusion and exaggerates and distorts the original style and content.