Literary Terms:1

1. allegory-a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
2. alliteration-the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
3. allusion-
   an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.
   "an allusion to Shakespeare"
4. ambiguity-
   uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language.
   "we can detect no ambiguity in this section of the Act"
5. anachronism-a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.
   "everything was as it would have appeared in centuries past apart from one anachronism, a bright yellow construction crane"
6. analogy-a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
   "an analogy between the workings of nature and those of human societies"
7. analysis-
   detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation.
   "statistical analysis"
8. anaphora-the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.
9. anecdote-
   a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person.
   "told anecdotes about his job"
10. antagonist-
    a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.
    "he turned to confront his antagonist"
11. antithesis-
    a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.
    "love is the antithesis of selfishness"
12. aphorism-a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.”.
13. apologia-
    a formal written defense of one's opinions or conduct.
    "an apologia for book banning"
14. apostrophe- apostrophe is the act of addressing some abstraction or personification that is not physically present: For instance, John Donne commands, "Oh, Death, be not proud." King Lear proclaims, "Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend, / More hideous when thou show'st thee in a child / Than the sea-monster."
15. argument-: A statement of a poem's major point--usually appearing in the introduction of the poem. Spenser presents such an argument in the introduction to his eclogues, Coleridge presents such in his marginalia to The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, and Milton most famously presents such in Book One of Paradise Lost, where he proclaims he will "assert eternal providence / And justify the ways of God to man." Cf. thesis.
16. assumption
17. audience-The person(s) reading a text, listening to a speaker, or observing a performance.
18. characterization-An author or poet's use of description, dialogue, dialect, and action to create in the reader an emotional or intellectual reaction to a character or to make the character more vivid and realistic. Careful readers note each character's attitude and thoughts, actions and reaction, as well as any language that reveals geographic, social, or cultural background.
19. chiasmus-
    (from Greek, "cross" or "x"): A literary scheme in which the author introduces words or concepts in a particular order, then later repeats those terms or similar ones in reversed or backwards order. It involves taking parallelism and deliberately turning it inside out, creating a "crisscross" pattern. For example, consider the chiasmus that follows: "By day the frolic, and the dance by night." If we draw the words as a chart, the words form an "x" (hence the word's Greek etymology, from chi meaning "x"):
    
    The sequence is typically a b b a or a b c c b a. "I lead the life I love; I love the life I lead." "Naked I rose from the earth; to the grave I fall clothed." Biblical examples in the Greek can be found in Philippians 1:15-17 and Colossians 3:11, though the artistry is often lost in English translation. Chiasmus often overlaps with antimetabole.