| Term | Definition |
| smilie | comparing two things and using the words |
| metaphor | a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity |
| personification | representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature |
| repetition | the repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device |
| imagery | is used in literature to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experience. Such images can be created by using figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, personification, and assonance. Imagery can also involve the use of relatable action words or onomatopoeias that trigger images in the reader's mind. |
| rhyme scheme | is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes |
| assonance | repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the "oo" (ou/ue) sound is repeated within the sentence and is assonant. |
| alliteration | is the repetition of the first consonant sound in a phrase. A common example in English is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" or "Tigers took Title Today". |
| internal rhyme | or middle rhyme, is rhyme which occurs in a single line of verse |
| hyperbole | exaggeration and is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, and is not meant to be taken literally. |
| enjambment | is the breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses. It is to be contrasted with end-stopping, where each linguistic unit corresponds with a single line, and caesura, in which the linguistic unit ends mid-line. |
| free verse | is a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using strict meter or rhyme, but that still are recognizable as poetry by virtue of complex patterns of one sort or another that readers will perceive to be part of a coherent whole.[1 |
| irony | is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is an incongruity or discordance between what a speaker or writer says and what he or she means, or what is generally understood |
| point of view | is the related experience of the narrator — not that of the author. |
| foreshadowing | a literary device in which an author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story |
| setting | is the time, location and circumstances in which it takes place |
| conflict | is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests |
| rising action | basic conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach their goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story's antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves. |
| falling action | the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt |
| climax | is a point of greatest intensity or force in an ascending series; i.e., a culmination. The term "climax" has many specific connotations and uses in English: |
| resolution | The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative |
| Onomatopoeia | is a word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, suggesting its source object, such as "click," "clang," "buzz," or animal noises such as "oink |