Lit Terms I

Allegory- a story in which people, things, and happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning; allegories are used for teaching or explaining ideas, moral principles, etc ..

the presenting of ideas by means of such stories; symbolical narration or description

Alliteration- repetition of an initial sound, usually of a consonant or cluster in two or more words of a phrase, line of poetry, etc ..

Allusion- an indirect reference; casual mention 

Ambiguity- state of being ambiguous - having two or more possible meanings; not clear; indefinite; uncertain; vague 

Anachronism- the representation of something as existing or occurring at other than its proper time especially earlier; anything that is or seems to be out of its proper time in history

Analogy- similarity in some respects between things otherwise unlike; partial resemblance

the process by which new or less familiar words, constructions, or pronunciations conform to the pattern of older or more familiar (and often unrelated) ones

Analysis- a separating or breaking up of any whole into parts especially with an examination of these parts to find out their nature, proportion, function, interrelationship, etc ..

the use of word order and uninflected function words rather than inflection to express syntactic relationships

Anaphora- the rhetorical device of repeating a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences

Anecdote- a short, entertaining account of some happening, usually personal or biographical

Antagonist- a person who opposes or competes with another; adversary. opponent

Antithesis- a contrast or opposition of thoughts, usually in two phrases, clauses, or sentences

the exact opposite

Aphorism- a short concise statement of a principle

a short, pointed sentence expressing a wise or clever observation or a general truth; maxim; adage

Apologia- an apology especially a formal defense of an idea, religion, etc ..

Apostrophe- words addressed to a person or thing, whether absent or, generally in an exclamatory  digression in a speech or literary writing

to show the omission of a letter or letters from a word

Argument- a reason or reasons offered for or against something

a short statement of subject matter, or a brief synopsis of a plot; summary

Assumption- the act of assuming, a taking upon oneself, taking over, or taking for granted

supposition 

Audience- a group of persons assembled to hear or see a speaker, a play, a concert, etc ..

Characterization- the act of characterizing, description of characterics

the delineation of character or creation of characters in a play, story, etc ..

Chiasmus- rhetoric inversion of the second of two parallel clauses, phrases, etc ..