Allegory(寓言): an extended narrative in prose or verse in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities and in which the writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface story; the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social, or satiric.
Alliteration(押头韵): the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another; for example, “beautiful blossoms blooming between the bushes”.
Allusion (引用): a reference to another work or famous figure assumed to be well known enough to be recognized by the reader.
Anachronism(时代错误): an event, object, custom, person, or thing that is out of order in time; some anachronisms are unintentional, such as when an actor performing Shakespeare forgets to take off his watch; others are deliberately used to achieve a humorous or satiric effect, such as the sustained anachronism of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.
Analogy(类比): a comparison of two similar but different things, usually to clarify an action or a relationship, such as comparing the work of a heart to that of a pump.
Anaphora(首语重复法): specific type of repetition; word, phrase, or clause repeated at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.
Anecdote(个人经历): a short, simple narrative of an incident.
Argumentation(议论): writing that attempts to prove the validity of a point of view or an idea by presenting reasoned arguments; persuasive writing is a form of argumentation.
Aside(旁白): a brief speech or comment that an actor makes to the audience, supposedly without being heard by the other actors on stage; often used for melodramatic or comedic effect.
Authority(引用权威): support for an argument that is based on recognized experts in the field.
Classicism(古典主义): the principles and styles admired in the classics of Greek and Roman literature, such as objectivity, sensibility, restraint, and formality.
Conceit(牵强附会): an elaborate figure of speech in which two seemingly dissimilar things or situations are compared.
Connotation(引申义): implied or suggested meaning of a word because of an association in the reader’s mind.
Denotation(本义): literal meaning of a word as defined
Description(描写): the picturing in words of something or someone through detailed observation of color, motion, sound, taste, smell, and touch; one of the four modes of discourse
Diction(措词): word choice