***Important Note - After most definitions, you will see a link that will take you to notes that offer more information about that term.
ALLITERATION - the repetition of the same consonant sound at the start of a series of words
ALLUSION - a reference to an historical or literary work, which, in most cases should be well known by the writer's audience; this reference creates a connection between the well known work and the current work that the audience is reading. (notes)
ANALOGY - a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification
ANTONYM - a word that has the opposite meaning when compared to another word
CHARACTER - a person in a literary work; also, the combination of traits and qualities that make a person who they are (notes)
CITE - to quote (repeat exact words from a text) a passage, book, author, etc... as evidence for or justification of an argument or statement
CONFLICT - a fight, battle, or struggle - especially a prolonged one (notes)
CONNOTATION - the feeling that is associated with a word beyond its literal meaning, or DENOTATION (notes)
GENRE - a category, or label, for a certain type of writing that shares basic characteristics with similar writings (notes)
IDIOM - a phrase in which the collective meaning cannot be determined using the individual meanings of the words in the phrase (notes)
INFERENCE - a conclusion based on available evidence about something not directly stated
IRONY - an outcome of events contrary to what was, or what might have been expected (notes)
METAPHOR - a comparison between two things (usually unlike) in which one thing is said to be the other (i.e. the war was a bad dream) (notes)
MOOD - the feeling created in the reader by the words he is reading (notes)
OBJECTIVE SUMMARY - a summary that stays factual and does not inject any opinion statements (opposite of SUBJECTIVE)
OXYMORON - the combination of two words that seem to be opposites and/or contradict each other
PART OF SPEECH - the function of a word in a sentence (notes)
PERSONIFICATION - describing non-living things as if they were people
PERSPECTIVE OF NARRATION - the point of view of the narrator of a story (notes)
SARCASM - a form of verbal irony in which the speaker means the opposite of what he says (notes)
SIMILE - a comparison between two things using the words "like" or "as" (notes)
SYMBOL - an item that represents something else - usually an abstract idea (i.e. the flag symbolizes freedom) (notes)
SYNONYM - a word that is similar or almost exactly the same in meaning to another word (notes)
THEME - the message or central idea of a work of literature (notes)
TONE - the attitude the writer/speaker takes toward his subject/audience (notes)