| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Allegory | a literary work with a literal level and a symbolic level in which the events, settling, characters and objects stand for ideas or qualities beyond themselves (ex. Little Red Riding Hood is not just a story about a girl who goes to visit her grandmother; it is an allegorical representation of the French Revolution). |
| Alliteration | repetition of initial consonant sounds in a line of poetry, used to link words as well as to create a musical sound. |
| Allusion | a reference to a well-known person, place, event or artistic/ literary work, usually Biblical or Greek Roman classical. Has the power to suggest a whole set of ideas in a concise manner. |
| Antagonist | the character or force in conflict with the main character, of a literary work. |
| Aphorism | a general truth or observation about life stated concisely, or with wit and wisdom. Can be a memorable way to sum up an argument. |
| Aside | in drama, a statement delivered by an actor to an audience in such a way that other characters on stage are presumed not to hear what is said, thus revealing the private thoughts, reactions, or motivations which would, in a noel, be revealed in narrative summary of thoughts. |
| Assonance | the repetition of vowel sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar consonant sounds. |
| Blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter Q |
| Blazon | an exaggerated and detailed list (litany) of a woman's physical features, often used in Renaissance sonnets. |
| Character | a person or animal who takes part in the action plot of a literary work. A person who plays an important role is a major character; one whose rote is not as important is a minor character. Minor characters may also be static or unchanging. Characters who undergo change are dynamic. A complex character is considered round and a simple one flat. Characters that represent common perceptions of people (i.e. the hero, the villain, the rebel) are considered archetypes or stereotypes. |
| Characterization or Character development | the act of creating and revealing the traits and humanity of a character. Direct characterization involves explicit stating of the character's traits while indirect characterization involves other methods like descriptions by other characters, actions, dialogue, thoughts. The latter calls for an audience inference. There are four Methods of Characterization physical descriptions, actions of a character, thoughts of a character, and opinions of other characters about that charter. |
| Climax | the high point of interest of suspense in a literary work. |
| Cliché | a trite phrase or expression (should not be used in formal writing) |
| Colloquialisms | used in or characteristic of informal conversation (also see vernacular,) |
| Conceit | an unusual comparison between two very different things or ideas, can often be the basis for an entire poem (elongated/exaggerated metaphor). |
| Conflict | a struggle between opposing forces; can be internal (within the protagonist of major character) or external (man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs. society). |
| Consonance | the repetition of consonant sounds in stressed syllables containing dissimilar vowel sounds within a line of poetry (i.e. hot and heat). |
| Couplet | a pair of rhyming lines written in the same meter; a heroic couplet is a rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines, also known as a closed couplet, with its meaning and grammar complete within those two lines. |
| Crisis | often the same moment as the high point, but not always; this is the moment when the protagonist experiences a change in understanding or an epiphany I revelation. |
| Denouement | anything that happens are the resolution of the plot; the central conflict is resolved and the consequences are decided, so essentially the denouement is merely a tying up of loose ends. |
| Dialect | the form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group; authors attempt to write in regional dialects in order to be authentic to setting. |
| Dialogue | a conversation between characters; used to reveal characterization, present plot I action events, add variety to narratives, increase realism, exhibit style. |
| Diction | word choice by an author or poet; can be a major determinant of style; is usually described as formal or informal, abstract or concrete, plain or ornate, ordinary or technical. |
| Drama | a story written to be performed by actors. |
| Epic | long narrative poem about the adventures of a god Igods or hero — Ancient Greek origin. |
| Epiphany | a term introduced by James Joyce to describe a moment or revelation or insight in which a character recognizes some internal rand truth. |
| Exposition | the part of the work that introduces the characters, setting, and situation. Also called the introduction; sometimes sets the tone. |
| Expository | this type of writing explains, informs, or presents information. can be analysis, classification, comparison, contrast, definition, or exemplification. |
| Fable | a brief story, usually with animal characters, which acts as an exemplum. Can be adapted to a serious time or issue, hence used as an allegory. |
| Falling Action | action that takes place after the climax but before the resolution of a literary work. Fiction: prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. |
| Figurative language | speech not meant to be interpreted literally; related closely to figures of speech such as hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox, simile. |
| Flashback | a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time in order to illuminate the present, andlor develop a character's motivation. |
| Foil | character who provides a contrast to another character, thus intensifying the impact of the first character. |
| Foreshadowing | the use of clues to suggest events that are yet to occur; creates suspense for the reader and prepares for eventual outcome of events. |
| Form | the structure, shape, pattern, and/or organization of a work. Free verse — poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern or meter. Hero I Heroine — a character whose actions are inspiring or noble, usually the product of a struggle. |
| Hyperbole | a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement |
| Image/ Imagery | a word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the senses: sight (visual imagery), hearing (audio imagery), touch (tactile imagery), taste or smell. The goal is to create, through imagery, a vivid experience for the reader and thus enhance the description. |
| In medias res | meaning "in the middle of things," story telling method used in classics and epics in which the background and initial events are introduced later and the story itself starts in the middle. |
| Irony | a surprising, interesting, or amusing contradiction. Verbal irony features words suggesting the opposite of their usual meaning; dramatic irony involves a contradiction between what a fictional character thinks and what the reader knows to be true; situational irony involves an event occurring that contradicts the expectations of the characters, ,readers, or audience. |
| Maxim | a short, concise statement that expresses a general truth or rule of conduct. Maxims condense important ideas into memorable language that gets the reader's attention. |
| Metaphor | a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are basically unlike but have something in common. Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not contain the word like or as. |
| Meter | the rhythmic pattern of poetry. By scanning using I for stress and u for unstressed, the reader can label the accents of the lines. Am iamb is unstressed and then stressed, like the name Irene. |
| Mood | also known as atmosphere, is the feeling crated in the reader by a literary work. May be suggested by diction, events, or setting. |
| Motif | recurring literary convention or element, usually a symbol, repeated within a work. |
| Motivation | reason that explains a character's actions. Effective character development reveals motivation to the reader. |
| Myth | a traditional story, usually concerning some superhuman being or unlikely event, that was once widely believed to be true. Myths were passed down from one generation to the next; the original origins are unknown. Frequently, myths attempt to explain features of the natural world , to support social customs, or to guide people through life. |
| Ode | a long, formal lyric poem with a serious theme, perhaps one commemoration or tribute. |
| Onomatopoeia | the use of words that imitate sounds; create musical effects, especially in poetry; appeals to audio imagery sensibility. |
| Oxymoron | a figure of speech that fuses two contradictory ideas, thereby suggesting a paradox of situation. |
| Paradox | statement that seems to be contradictory but actually presents a truth (i.e. "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.") |
| Parody | a humorous mocking imitation of a literary work. |
| Pathos | the quality in a literary work that arouses feelings of pity or compassion in the audience. |
| Personification | a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics; also known as anthropomorphism. |
| Point of view | the perspective from which a story is told. If a character within a story tells the story, it is told from the first person point of view. If a voice from outside the story tells it, it is told from the third person point of view. If the knowledge of the storyteller is limited to the internal states of one character, then it is limited point of view; if the storyteller's knowledge extends to the internal states of all the characters, then the narrator has an omniscient point of view. |
| Prose | ordinary form of language, one of there major genres, either nonfiction or fiction form. |
| Proverb | a short, well-known saying that expresses a widely held belief. Proverbs, which are used in every culture, serve to warm, encourage and console people. |
| Pun | a play on words; may involve a word or phrase that has two different meanings |
| Repetition | the repeated use of any literary element or grammatical form, particularly a word |
| Rhyme | repetition of sounds. End rhyme occurs when the rhyming words are repeated at the ends of lines of poetry; internal rhyme occurs when the rhyme is within the line. Exact or masculine rhyme is the use of identical rhyming sounds, like love and dove, while approximate I slant I feminine I near rhyme is the use of similar sounds like love and prove. |
| Rising Action | the part of the plotlevents that leads up to the climax I high point |
| Satire | writing that ridicules or holds up to contempt the faults of individuals or groups. |
| Setting | the time (era), time span, and location of a literary work. |
| Simile | figure of speech comparing two things using the signal words like or as |
| Soliloquy | in a play or prose work, a long speech made by a character who is alone and who thus reveals his or her private thoughts and feeling to the audience and/or reader. |
| Sonnet | fourteen line poem focusing on a single theme; the English sonnet generally rhymes ababcdcdefefgg, where there are 4 quatrains and it ends in a heroic couplet. The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet is divided into an eight-line octave abbaabba and a six line sestet cdecde. Most contain a "turn" in line 9, meaning that there is some type of a shift. |
| Stanza | a group of lines in a poem, considered as a unit. A couplet is a two line stanza, a tercet is a three line stanza; a quatrain is a four line stanza, a cinquain is a five line stanza, a sestet is a six line stanza, a heptastich is a seven line stanza; an octave is an eight line stanza. |
| Style | a writer's typical use of diction, syntax, methods of organization (structure). |
| Subplot | a second, less important plot within a story or play; may add, reflect, vary, or contrast in relation to the main plot |
| Symbol/Symbolism | anything that stands for or represents something else, usually something concrete representing something abstract. Can be conventional I traditional (flag, gross) or personal, in other words, exclusive to the work. |
| Synecdoche | a part of something is used to represent the whole, or vice versa. |
| Theme | the central idea, concept, message, purpose in a literary work. |
| Tone | writer's attitude toward the subject; may be formal or informal, personal or pompous. |
| Tragedy | type of drama or story that shows the downfall of a tragic hero due to a tragic flaw; usually occurs within a romantic or historically significant setting, and features many deaths, resulting in catharsis, or emotional release for the reader audience. |
| Transience | a theme in literature similar to carpe diem, that life is fleeting and temporary, so we must live the moment thoroughly and circumspectly. |
| Vernacular | also known as colloquial language, the ordinary language of people living in a certain place and time; as opposed to literary or formal language. |
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