Terms 1-20

Question 1

Absolute

Answer 1

a word free from limitations or qualifications (best, all, unique, perfect)

Question 2

Adage

Answer 2

a familiar proverb or wise saying

Question 3

ad hominem

Answer 3

an argument attacking an individual’s character rather than his or her position on an issue

Question 4

Allegory

Answer 4

a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions

Question 5

Alliteration

Answer 5

the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words

Question 6

Allusion

Answer 6

a reference to a literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize

Question 7

Analogy

Answer 7

a comparison of two things that are similar in some way

Question 8

Anaphora

Answer 8

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences

Question 9

Anecdote

Answer 9

a brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event

Question 10

Antecedent

Answer 10

the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers

Question 11

Antithesis

Answer 11

a statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced

Question 12

Aphorism

Answer 12

a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance

Question 13

Apostrophe

Answer 13

a figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction

Question 14

Archetype

Answer 14

a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response

Question 15

Argument

Answer 15

a statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work

Question 16

Asyndeton

Answer 16

a construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions

Question 17

Balanced Sentence

Answer 17

a sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast

Question 18

Bathos

Answer 18

insincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity

Question 19

Chiasmus

Answer 19

a statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed (“Susan walked in, and out rushed May”)

Question 20

Cliche

Answer 20

an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off