Diddle me this
Adage
A folk saying with a lesson
She stared into the dog's eyes deep and menacing.
Anastrophe
Deliberate changing of normal word order for emphasis or another rhetorical effect.
Atmosphere
The emotional nod created by the entirety of a literary work, established partly by the setting and partly by the author’s choice of objects that are described. Even such elements as a description of the weather can contribute to the atmosphere.
Didactic
A term used to describe fiction, nonfiction or poetry that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.
Figurative language/figure of speech
Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid.
Allegory
A story, fictional or non-fictional, in which things, characters, and events represent concepts or qualities. The interaction of these things, characters, and events are meant to reveal an abstraction or a truth.
A watched pot never boils.
Aphorism
A brief statement that expresses a general truth or moral principle. An aphorism can be a memorable summation of the author's point.
Audience
Who the author is directing his or her message towards
Ellipsis
The deliberate omission of a word or phrase from prose done for effect by the author.
The major category into which a literary work fits.
Genre
Allusion
An indirect reference to something commonly known (usually a literary text, although it can be other things such as plays, songs, historical events) with which the reader is supposed to be familiar.
"I came. I saw. I conquered.”
Asyndeton
Where conjunctions are omitted in a series of words, phrases, or clauses. It is used to shorten a sentence and focus on its meaning.
Bildungsroman
A literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood.
Euphemism
A more agreeable or less offensive substitute for generally unpleasant words or concepts. Sometimes they are used for political correctness.
Exaggeration
Hyperbole
Anaphora
Repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect.
The literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotations.
Denotation
Colloquialism
A common or familiar type of saying.
Euphony
It can be defined as the use of words and phrases that are recognized as having a wide range of noteworthy melody in the sounds they create. It gives pleasing and soothing effects to the ear due to repeated vowels and smooth consonants.
An individual's distinctive and unique use of language, including speech
Idiolect
Appositive
A word or group of words placed beside a noun or noun substitute to supplement its meaning.
Word choice, particularly as an element of style. Different types of words have significant effects on meaning.
Diction
Connotation
The associations suggested by a word. Implied meaning rather than literal meaning.
Extended metaphor
When the metaphor is developed throughout the written work.
A common, often used expression that doesn’t make sense if you take it literally
Idiom