Antithesis

Theme

A fundamental and universal idea explored in a literary work. i.e. a major theme of John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" is the perpetual contest between good and evil.

tone

A manner of expression.

Antithesis

A person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else.

Motif

A recurring structure, contrast, or other device that develops or informs a work's major themes. A motif may relate to concrete objects, like eastern vs. Western architecture in E.M. Forster's A Passage to India, or may be a recurrent idea, phrase, or emotion, like Lily Bart's constant desire to move up in the world in Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth".

Verbal Irony

An expression or statement where the meaning of the words used id the opposite of their sense.

Symbol

An object, character, figure, or color that is used to represent an abstract idea or concept. i.e. the two roads in Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" symbolize the choice between two paths in life. Unlike an emblem, a symbol may have different meanings in different contexts.

Imagery

Language that brings to mind sense-impressions, esp. via figures of speech. Sometimes, certain imagery is characteristic of a particular writer or work. i.e. many of Shakes- plays contain nautical imagery.

Thesis

The central argument tha an author makes in a work. Although the term is primarily associated with nonfiction, it can apply to fiction. i.e. the thesis of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" is that Chicago meatpacking plants subject poor immigrants to horrible and unjust working conditions, and that the government must do something to address the problem.

irony

The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically to be humorous.

Foreshadowing

Warning/Indication of a future event

Allusion

a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. It does not describe in detail the person or thing to which it refers.

Dramatic Irony

the audience of a play knows something that the main character does not. Dramatic irony is a big bundle of miscommunication, manufactured by a character or circumstance clandestine to another character, and revealed to the audience.

Situational Irony

where an action done by a character is the opposite of what was meant to be expected.