1. ALLITERATION : The repetition of identical consonant sounds , usually at the beginnings of words. Notice the repeated f sounds in these lines from Beowulf:
The infamous killer fought
For his freedom , wanting no flesh but retreat.
2. ALLUSION : A short reference to a person , a place , an event , or another work of literature. The reference , which the reader is expected to know , serves as a shorthand reference to a larger picture or idea , thereby adding to the meaning of a work. For example , Shakespeare’s allusion to Mars , the Roman war god , in Sonnet 55 adds strength to the speaker’s claims of his friend’s immortality.
3. ANALOGY ; A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them. An analogy explains something unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar. For example, to explain the difference between Elizabethan poets and poets of his generation , Kears in his letter to John Hamilton Reynolds explains the difference between emperors of great lands and petty officials. According to Keats , the Elizabethans , like the Emperors , have much greater vision and scope.
4. ANAPEST : A poetic foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.
5. ANTAGONIST : A person or force that opposes the protagonist in a story or drama. In “The Guest” by Camus , Balducci , the Arab , and the customs of society are the antagonists that oppose Daru’s search for peace.
6. APHORISM : A short , pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about life. For example:
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
-Alexander Pope
7. APOSTROPHE : A figure of speech in which a poet directly addresses an inanimate object , idea , or absent person. For example , the speaker addresses the wind in Shelley’s “Dirge” :
Rough wind , that moanest loud
Grief too sad for song . . .
8.Aside : In a play a character’s comment that is heard by the audience but not by the other characters. An aside reveals what the character is thinking and feeling. The dramatist indicates an aside in the script with stage directions. For example , after King Duncan has proclaimed his son Malcolm as heir to the thorne , Macbeth reveals in an aside his reaction to the news:
MACBETH [Aside] The Prince of Cumberland!
That is a step
On which I must fall down , or else o’erleap
For in my way it lies. . .
9. ASSONANCE : The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a line of poetry. For example, the I sound is repeated in this line from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner :
‘Twas night , calm night , the moon was high. . .
10. ATMOSPHERE : The prevailing mood of a work of literature. An author creates atmosphere through his or her choice of setting and tone. For example , Conrad’s jungle setting and serious tone
work together to create a tense and suspenseful atmosphere in “The Lagoon.”
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