73. Onomatopoeia the use of words that sound like what they mean, such as “hiss,” “buzz,” “slam,” and “boom”
74. Oversimplification When a writer obscures or denies the complexity of the issues in an argument
75. Oxymoron a figure of speech composed of contradictory words or phrases, such as “wise fool,” “bitter-sweet,” “pretty ugly,” “jumbo shrimp,” “cold fire”
76. Pacing the movement of a literary piece from one point or one section to another
77. Parable a short tale that teaches a moral; similar to but shorter than an allegory
78. Paradox a statement that seems to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning, as in this quotation from Henry David Thoreau; “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
79. Parallelism the technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form. Parallel structure may be as simple as listing two or three modifiers in a row to describe the same noun or verb; it may take the form of two or more of the same type of phrases (prepositional, participial, gerund, appositive) that modify the same noun or verb; it may also take the form of two or more subordinate clauses that modify the same noun or verb. Or, parallel structure may be a complex bend of singe-word, phrase, and clause parallelism all in the same sentence.
Example (from Churchill): “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields.”
80. Parody a work that ridicules the style of another work by imitating and exaggerating its elements. It can be utterly mocking or gently humorous. It depends on allusion and exaggerates and distorts the original style and content.
81. Pathos the aspects of a literary work that elicit sorrow or pity from the audience. An appeal to emotion that can be used as a means to persuade. Over-emotionalism can be the result of an excess of pathos.
82. Pedantic a term used to describe writing that borders on lecturing. It is scholarly and academic and often overly difficult and distant
83. Personification the attribution of human qualities to a nonhuman or an inanimate object
84. Persuasion a form of argumentation, one of the four modes of discourse; language intended to convince through appeals to reason or emotion.
85. Point of View the perspective from which a story is presented; common points of view include the following:
86. First person narrator
a narrator, referred to as “I,” who is a character in the story and relates the actions through his or her own perspective, also revealing his or her own thoughts

87. Stream of Consciousness
like a first person narrator, but instead placing the reader inside the character’s head, making the reader privy to the continuous, chaotic flow of disconnected, half-formed thoughts and impressions in the character’s mind

88. Omniscient narrator
third person narrator, referred to as “he,” “she,” or “they,” who is able to see into each character’s mind and understands all the action

89. Limited Omniscient narrator
a third person narrator who reports the thoughts of only one character and generally only what that one character sees

90. Objective narrator
a third person narrator who only reports what would be visible to a camera; thoughts and feelings are only revealed if a character speaks of them
91. Polysyndeton Sentence which uses and or another conjunction (with no commas) to separate the items in a series. Polysyndeton appear in the form of X and Y and Z, stressing equally each member of a series. It makes the sentence slower and the items more emphatic than in the asyndeton.
92. Protagonist the main character of a literary work
93. Red Herring When a writer raises an irrelevant issue to draw attention away from the real issue
94. Reductio ad Absurdum the Latin for “to reduce to the absurd.” This is a technique useful in creating a comic effect and is also an argumentative technique. It is considered a rhetorical fallacy because it reduces an argument to an either/or choice
95. Regionalism an element in literature that conveys a realistic portrayal of a specific geographical locale, using the locale and its influences as a major part of the plot
96. Repetition Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximity