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Analysis: a method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts given rigorous and detailed scrutiny
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Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences
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Anecdote: a very short story used to illustrate a point
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Antagonist: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative
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Antithesis: a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness
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Aphorism: a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life
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Apologia: a defense or justification for some doctrine, piece of writing, cause, or action; also apology
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Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly
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Argument(ation): the process of convincing a reader by proving either the truth or the falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself
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Assumption: the act of supposing, or taking for granted that a thing is true
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Audience: the intended listener or listeners
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Characterization: the means by which a writer reveals a character’s personality
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Chiasmus: a reversal in the order off words so that the second half of a statement balances the first half in inverted word order
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Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served
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Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance
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Cliché: a phrase or situation overused within society
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Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved
Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation
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Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter
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Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension
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Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition
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Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity
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Denotation: plain dictionary definition
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Denouement (pronounced day-new-mahn): loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion
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