| Term | Definition |
| Allegory | a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning |
| Analogy | the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship |
| Archetype | the usage of any object or situation as it was originally made |
| Conflict | struggle found in fiction |
| Connotation | an implied meaning of a word |
| Denotation | literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning |
| Diction | A writer's or speaker's choice of words |
| Euphemism | substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener |
| Point of view | grammatical person's perspective the story is perceived |
| Plot | Plot may be internal or external and is best seen in (1) Man in conflict with another Man: (2) Man in conflict in Nature; (3) Man in conflict with self, a series of events in a literary work |
| Flashback | action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time which is necessary to better understanding |
| Foil | character that contrasts another character |
| Foreshadowing | use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature |
| Hyperbole | exaggeration or overstatement |
| Imagery | language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching |
| Irony | implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant |
| Metaphor | comparison of two unlike things using the verb "to be" and not using like or as as in a simile |
| Motif | A recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work; A dominant theme or central idea. |
| Oxymoron | putting two contradictory words together |
| Paradox | reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory. Two opposing ideas. |
| Satire | a literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting, or changing, the subject of the satiric attack |
| Setting | determining Time and Place in fiction |
| Simile | the comparison of two unlike things using like or as |
| Symbol | using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning |
| Theme | general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express |
| Syntax | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences |
| Tone | attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character |
| Tragedy | incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions |
| Understatement | device is used to understate the obvious |