Literary Terms Review
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73 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 alliteration | repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close together (Ex. "Open here I flung the shutter, when with/many a flirt and flutter," Poe) |
| allusion | a reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture (Ex. "Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone" Taylor Swift |
| anecdote | very brief account of an incident |
| aside | a line spoken by an actor to the audience but not intended for others on the stage |
| autobiography | an account of the writer's own life (nonfiction) |
| biography | an account of a person's life written or told by another person (nonfiction) |
| diction | a writer's or speaker's choice of words |
| drama | a story that is written to be acted by an audience |
| epic | long story told in elevated language (usually poetry), which relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society (Ex. The Odyssey by Homer) |
| exposition | the beginning of the plot of a story that gives information about the character(s), setting, and conflict |
| fable | very brief story that teaches a moral, or a practical lesson about how to get along in life and told through animals that behave like humans (Ex. Aesop's The Tortoise and the Hare) |
| flashback | a scene that interrupts the action of a work to show a previous event or earlier time |
| foil | a character who acts as a contrast to another character |
| foreshadowing | the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot |
| hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor (an overstatement) |
| idiom | An expression that cannot be understood if taken literally (Ex. "Get your head out of the clouds.") |
| imagery | vivid language that appeals to one or more of the five senses |
| irony | a contrast between expectation and reality (Three types: situational, verbal, and dramatic) |
| situational irony | an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected (Ex. "Meeting the man of your dreams then meeting his beautiful wife" Alanis Morrisette's "Ironic") |
| verbal irony | a writer or speaker says one thing but means something complete different (Ex. "Way to go slugger" to someone who strikes out - sarcasm) |
| dramatic irony | This occurs when the audience or reader knows more than the characters know (Ex. In Titanic, the audience knows that the ship will hit an iceberg and sink.) |
| climax | the point of highest interest in a literary work; the turning point |
| falling action | results of the climax and the events leading to the resolution/conclusion |
| metaphor | a figure of speech comparing two unlike things without using "like" or "as" (Ex. The rain was a gift to the parched earth.) |
| narrative | a story or narrated account |
| myth | traditional story that is rooted in a particular culture, is basically religious, and serves to explain a belief or natural phenomena |
| nonfiction | prose writing that deals with real people, things, events, and places |
| novel | fictional prose narrative usually consisting of more than 50,000 words |
| onomatopoeia | use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning (Ex. crackle, pop, fizz, click, etc.) It is a very important element/sound device in poetry. |
| paradox | an apparently contradictory statement or situation that actually contains some truth (Ex. In "The Gift of the Magi," the impoverished Della and Jim are referred to "as one of the richest couples on earth.") |
| personification | a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics; a kind of metaphor (Ex. "The raindrops danced softly to the notes of whistling wind.") |
| plot | sequence of events in a story (consisting of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution/denouement) |
| poetry | A kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery designed to appeal to our emotions and imagination. |
| prose | writing in ordinary language that most closely resembles everyday speech - writing that is not poetry |
| genre | a major category or type of literature (or music, art, etc.) |
| point of view | vantage point/perspective from which a writer tells a story (1st person, 3rd person limited, and omniscient) |
| 1st person point of view | one of the characters is actually the narrator telling the story using the pronoun "I" |
| 3rd person limited point of view | the narrator, who plays no part in the story, zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of just one character |
| omniscient point of view | "all knowing" - The person telling the story knows everything there is to know about the characters and their problems. |
| protagonist | main character in fiction or drama |
| pun | "play on words" that sound alike but have different meanings; mostly used for humorous effects (Ex. In Romeo and Juliet the dying Mercutio says, "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.") |
| satire | type of writing that ridicules something in order to reveal a weakness |
| setting | the time and place of a story or play |
| mood | the overall emotion created by a work of literature |
| tone | the writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject of a story, a character or audience (i.e. the readers) (Examples: serious, humorous, sarcastic, etc.) |
| short story | short, concentrated, fictional prose narrative |
| simile | a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between unlike things usually formed with "like" or "as" (Ex. The lighting was like a flashlight in the darkness.) |
| soliloquy | an unusually long speech in which a character who is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud (Ex. "To be or not to be" speech in Shakespeare's Hamlet) |
| suspense | uncertainty or anxiety the reader feels about what is going to happen next in a story usually adding to the rising action of the plot |
| symbol | person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself and for something beyond itself as well (symbol of heart for love) |
| theme | the message that the author conveys through a work of literature ( also - moral, main idea, lesson, or universal truth) A theme is NOT the same as the subject of a work. |
| tragedy | Play, novel, or other narrative that depicts serious and important events in which the main character comes to an unhappy ending |
| connotation | refers to the implied or suggested meanings associated with a word beyond its dictionary definition |
| denotation | The dictionary definition of a word |
| inference | a guess based on evidence; educated guess. |
| author's purpose | the reason the author has for writing (PIES: Persuade, Inform, Entertain, and Share feelings) |
| organizational patterns | the pattern in which the writer chooses to organize his writing (Ex. spatial, order of importance, chronological order, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, problem and solution) |
| antagonist | a character or force in conflict with the main character |
| conflict | struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces |
| internal conflict | takes place entirely within a character's own mind; a struggle within oneself over jealousy, hate, etc. (man v. self) |
| external conflict | a character struggles with an outside force (man v. man, man v. nature, man v. society, society v. society) |
| character | person in a story, poem, or play |
| static character | one who does not change much in the course of a story |
| dynamic character | the character changes as a result of the story's events; the protagonist is always a dynamic character |
| flat character | a character who has only one or two traits and can be simply described |
| round character | This character, much like a real person, has many different traits and qualities. |
| characterization | the writer's process of revealing the personality of a character in a story to the reader |
| direct characterization | The writer tells us directly what a character is like. |
| indirect characterization | The reader has to use his or her own judgement as to what a character is like based on the evidence that the writer gives us. (STEAL: Speech, Thoughts, Effects on others, Actions, and Looks) |
| dialect | way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or a particular group of people |
| resolution | The ending to the story that states the final outcome of the conflict and/or what might lie ahead for the characters in the story. (a/k/a denouement) |
| denouement | the final resolution of the main conflict of a literary or dramatic work |
| complications | more problems that come up during a story as characters try to resolve the central conflict |
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