Literary Terms starting with "A"

Question 1

associations devoted to the advancement of special fields of interest

Accepted Answer

academies

Question 2

the state of having more than one meaning

Accepted Answer

ambiguity

Question 3

vision or trance in which something from the past or unconscious mind is restored to vivid life

Accepted Answer

analepsis

Question 4

a concise statement of a principle or precept given in pointed words (i.e. "life is short")

Accepted Answer

aphorism

Question 5

a form of irony, a pretended refusal that is insincere or hypocritical

Accepted Answer

accismus

Question 6

a maxim or aphorism whose truth is held to be self-evident

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axiom

Question 7

a short narrative detailing particulars of an interesting episode or event

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anecdote

Question 8

speech characterized by strongly contrasting words, sentences, or ideas (opposites attract)

Accepted Answer

antithesis

Question 9

a grotesque, usually humorous dance interspersed among beautiful or serious action in a masque

Accepted Answer

antimasque

Question 10

a word or phrase made by transposing the letters of another as "cask" is to "sack"

Accepted Answer

anagram

Question 11

a shortened version of a work, but one that attempts to preserve essential elements

Accepted Answer

abridgement

Question 12

the character directly opposed to the protagonist

Accepted Answer

antagonist

Question 13

the omission of one or more sounds from a word ("even" for "evening", "bod" for "body")

Accepted Answer

apocope

Question 14

the sense that human beings...live in meaningless isolation in an alien universe

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absurd

Question 15

a comparison of two things, alike in certain aspects

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analogy

Question 16

the existence of mutually conflicting feelings or attitudes

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ambivalence

Question 17

something that is analogous to or like another given thing

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analogue

Question 18

books appearing in successive numbers at intervals of one year and usually in review of year

Accepted Answer

annuals

Question 19

a prose nonfiction composition, usually brief, that deals with a single topic

Accepted Answer

article

Question 20

figure of speech where some usually absent person or entity is addressed as though present

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apostrophe

Question 21

the rewriting of a work from its original form to fit it for another medium

Accepted Answer

adaptation

Question 22

the failure to complete a sentence according to the structural plan if was started

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anacoluthon

Question 23

narratives of historical events recorded year by year

Accepted Answer

annals

Question 24

the ascription of human characteristics to nonhuman objects

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anthropomorphism

Question 25

form of circumlocution in which the truth is spoken in a way that tends to deceive or mislead

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ambages

Question 26

a stage direction meaning "both"; Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, includes "exeunt ambo"

Accepted Answer

ambo

Question 27

metrically complete; applied to lines that carry out the metrical, rhythmic pattern of a poem

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acatalectic

Question 28

arrangement of details such that the lesser appears when something greater is expected

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anticlimax

Question 29

a term applied to anything totally independent of influences, limitations, or modifiers

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absolute

Question 30

inversion of the usual, normal, or logical order of the parts of a sentence

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anastrophe

Question 31

In metrics, the emphasis given a syllable in articulation

Accepted Answer

accent

Question 32

permanent table showing the movements of heavenly bodies so yearly calculations could be made

Accepted Answer

almanac

Question 33

the story of a person's life as told by that person

Accepted Answer

autobiography

Question 34

miscellaneous sayings, anecdotes, gossip, about a particular person, place, event.

Accepted Answer

ana

Question 35

term designates a collection of writing, either prose or poetry, usually by various authors

Accepted Answer

anthologoy

Question 36

a lengthy and formal curse or malediction (Psalm 109 is a classic example)

Accepted Answer

ara

Question 37

dramatic convention where an actor directly addresses the audience while unheard by the actors

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aside

Question 38

people living in an agricultural society, or espousing the merits of such a society

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agrarians

Question 39

literary device where the same expression is repeated at the beginning of two or more lines

Accepted Answer

anaphora

Question 40

a moral fable (i.e. "A Country Comet" by C. Day Lewis)

Accepted Answer

apologue

Question 41

literary gleanings, fragments, or passages from the writings of an author or authors

Accepted Answer

analecta

Question 42

a 19th century literary movement that rested on the credo of "Art for Art's Sake"

Accepted Answer

aestheticism

Question 43

meteorological term meaning unequal weight or atmospheric pressure(related to rhyme and accent)

Accepted Answer

anisobaric

Question 44

a severe abridgment that summarizes the principal ideas or arguments in a much longer work

Accepted Answer

abstract

Question 45

asking a question as though to seek the opinion of one's hearer, reader, opponent, or judge

Accepted Answer

anacoenesis

Question 46

a metaphor applied to new writing that shows striking innovations in style, form, and subject

Accepted Answer

avant-garde

Question 47

a word formed by combining the initial letters or syllables of a series to form a name

Accepted Answer

acronym

Question 48

literature that predicts the ultimate destiny, usually the destruction, of the world

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apocalyptic

Question 49

repetition of initial identical consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in successive syllables

Accepted Answer

alliteration

Question 50

a protagonist in a play or novel who has the converse of most traditional heroic attributes

Accepted Answer

antihero

Question 51

assignment of something to a time when it was not in existence

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anachronism

Question 52

the means by which a document is presented for textual study

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apparatus

Question 53

extended metaphor where objects, persons, or actions in narratives have deeper, broader meaning

Accepted Answer

allegory

Question 54

figure of speech that makes brief reference to a historical/literary figure, event, or object

Accepted Answer

allusion

Question 55

a method by which a thing is separated into parts, and those parts are given detailed scrutiny

Accepted Answer

analysis

Literary Terms starting with "A"

Questions 55

Literary Terms starting with "A"

Questions 55