The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure. Emphasizes dissimilarities and contraries.

Example: Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing."
(Goethe)

A short account of a hypothetical or actual experience which serves to better illustrate a point or set of evidence.

The epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign. Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history.

Figurative language that presents the facts in a way that makes them appear much less significant than they really are; almost always used for comic effect.

Example: "I have to have this operation. It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on

Ex: Five firefighters foolishly forgot they were flammable.

The insertion of some verbal unit in a position that interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence.

The repetition or use of another person’s expression in one’s own work, indicated by marks surrounding the statement.

A movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual.

A concise, pithy statement of an opinion or a general truth.

Ex: "Don't go near the water until you've learned to swim."

The repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive clauses.

Example: "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength i

A figure of speech that involves a direct or indirect reference to, or a representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myth, etc.

The period of British history when Queen Victoria ruled; it includes the entire second half of the nineteenth century, a time when Britain was the most powerful nation in the world. Known for a rather stern morality.

When one term is substituted for another term with which it is closely related.

Ex: Deafening silence.

The deliberate omission of conjunctions between a series of related clauses to produce a hurried rhythm in the sentence.

A comparison between two words (or sets of words) to highlight some form of similarity between them, or to better convey a thought or idea.

A style or movement in the arts that aims to break with classical and traditional forms.

Talking around a subject/ talking around a word.

Ex: "Better late than never." "Ripe old age." "Fit as a fiddle."

The reversal of grammatical structure in successive phrases or clauses.

Example: Fair is foul, and foul is fair."
(William Shakespeare, Macbeth I.i)

A writer’s use of vivid description to create a more realistic world or situation. This method appeals to human senses and allows the reader to get a better understanding of the writing.

Ex: "At the next table a woman stuck her nose in a novel; a college

The European philosophical and artistic movement, between roughly 1660 and 1770, developing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the nineteenth century. An optimistic belief that humanity could improve itself by applying logic and reason to all thi

The omission of a syllable from the beginning of a word.

An act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, esp. by a character in a play.