Acronym
• A word formed from the first
letters in a word or phrase
Examples: NATO, laser, NASA
Alliteration
• The repetition of initial
consonant sounds in words
Allusion
• A literary reference to a familiar
person, place, thing or event.
Analogy
• A comparison of two or more
similar objects suggesting that
if they are alike in certain
respects they will probably be
alike in other ways.
Antonym
• Pairs of words that are
opposite in meaning
Connotation
• Meaning or feeling of a word it
suggests beyond the dictionary
definition
Couplet
• A pair of lines of verse of the
same length that usually rhyme
Denotation
• Direct dictionary meaning of a
word
Drama
• The form of literature known as
plays. Also refers to the type of
serious play that is often
concerned with the leading
characters’ relationship to
society
Empathy
• Putting your self in someone
else’s place and imagining how
that person must feel
Epic
• A long narrative poem that tells
the deeds and adventures of a
hero
Epithet
• Word or phrase used in place
of a person’s name; it is a
characteristic of that person
Figurative Meaning
• Language that goes beyond
the normal meaning of the
words used
Foil
• Someone who serves as a
contrast or a challenge to
another character
Idiom
• Phrase or expression that
means something different
from what the words actually
say
Illusion
• A false picture or idea
Literal Meaning
• The actual meaning of a word;
language that means what it
appears to mean
Onomatopoeia
• The use of a word whose
sound suggests its meaning
Oxymoron
• Combination of contradictory
words
Paradox
• A statement that seems
contrary to common sense, yet
may, in fact, be true
Pun
• A phrase that uses words that
the sound the same in a way
that gives them a funny effect.
Rhetoric
• The art of using language
effectively and persuasively.
Satire
• A literary tone used to make
fun of human vice or
weakness, often with the intent
of correcting or changing the
subject of attack.
Soliloquy
• A speech that is delivered by a
character when he/she is alone
on stage. It is as though the
character is thinking out loud.
Sonnet
• A poem of 14 lines of iambic
pentameter.
Synonym
• A pair of words with the same
meaning.
Tragedy
• A literary work in which the
hero is destroyed by some
character flaw. That struggle
ends in the defeat of the hero.