| Allegory | | Seems to contradict itself, but on close inpsection does not |
| Alliteration | | A history of a persons life told by that person |
| Analogy | | Writer's attitude towards the material |
| Aphorism | | Statement that minimized the importance of what is meant |
| Archetype | | Words that appeal to the senses |
| Assonance | | Ingredient that gives the work unity, what the work is about |
| Autobiography | | Original model or pattern on which same things are based |
| Biography | | Something nonhuman is given human or animal traits |
| Cliche | | Atmosphere or feeling created by a work |
| connotation | | A story illustrating an idea or moral principle |
| Diary | | The associated or secondary meaning of a word |
| Diction | | Sentence structure |
| Essay | | Word choice, the words used in a piece of writing |
| Euphemism | | A trite or overused expression or idea (fit as a fiddle) |
| Hyperbole | | A comparison of two unlike things using like or as |
| Idiom | | The primary or strict meaning of a word |
| Imagery | | The sound of a word echoes the sound it represents |
| Irony | | Comparison of two unlike things using like or as |
| Verbal irony | | A play on words; a word used to convey two meanings |
| Dramatic irony | | Word choice; words used in a piece of writing |
| Literal | | Substitution of a mild expression for a harsh one |
| Metaphor | | A literary work that immitates the style of another work |
| Oxymoron | | Dramatic irony |
| Onomatopoeia | | A figure of speech in which an exaggeration occurs |
| Paradox | | Not literal |
| Parody | | A combination of contradictory terms |
| Personification | | A written account of another person's life |
| Prose | | A brief statement expressing an observation on life |
| Pun | | The reader knows something that the characters do not |
| Satire | | A short composition on a particular theme or subject |
| Sermon | | The ordinary form of spoken or written language, not poetic |
| Similie | | A daily record, usually private |
| Stream of Consciousness | | A repetition of the initial sounds of several words |
| Style | | A distinctive, particular mode of construction in any work |
| Syntax | | A similarity between two things for comparison |
| Figurative | | Apprehension due to an uncertain or mysterious situation |
| Theme | | Repetition of a vowel sound, especially in a poem |
| Tone | | Atmosphere or feeling created by a work |
| Understatement | | Conveys a meaning that is the opposite the literal meaning |
| Suspense | | Sarcasm |
| Mood | | an expression, kick the bucket or hang one's head |
