Expository
Briefly and suddenly recall a previous time or incident.
Flashback
Visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work
Imagery
The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing
Diction
The general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader
Mood
A very typical example of a certain person or thing
Archetype
A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one
Allegory
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable
Metaphor
The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect
Irony
The attitude that a character or narrator or author takes towards a given subject
Tone
In idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art or literature
Theme
A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction
Oxymoron
The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form
Personification
The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect
Juxtaposition
An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning
Connotation
The arrangement of words and phrases in a sentence to create meaning and impact
Syntax
In poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible
Assonance
The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named
Onomatopoeia
The use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a sentence to avoid repetition
Anaphora
The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words
Alliteration
A distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition
Motif
A narrative work opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning
In medias res
A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa
Synecdoche
An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play
Soliloquy
A figure of speech that uses understatement to emphasize a point by stating a negative to affirm a positive
Litote
The recurrence of similar sounds, especially consonants, in close proximity
Consonance