| Term | Definition |
| alliteration | the repitition of initial consonant or vowel sounds in two or more successive words. |
| allusion | a reference to a well-known person, place, event, work of art, myth, or religion. |
| analogy | a comparison of two things that are somewhat alike. |
| antagonist | a character, institution, group, or force that is in conflict with the protagonist. |
| archetypes | primordial images and symbols that occur in myth, liturature, religion, and folklores. |
| assonance | the repitition of vowel sounds in two or more succesive words that do not rhyme. |
| climax | the high point in the plot, after which there is a falling action. |
| conflict | the struggle between characters, forces of nature, or outside forces beyond their control. |
| consonance | the repitition of a consonant at the end of two or more succesive words. |
| couplet | a pair of rhyming lines in the same meter. |
| ellipsis | three periods that signify the ommision of words. |
| epic | a long narrarative poem about the adventures of a god or a hero. |
| epithet | a word or phrase describing the quaility of a person, place or thing that is repeated throughout a work. |
| essay | a short nonofiction work about a specific subject. |
| falling action | all action that takes place after the climax. |
| figurative language | the use of figures of speech to express ideas. |
| foil | a character who, through contrast, reveals the characteristics of another character. |
| hyperbole | a figure of speech that uses exaggeration. |
| irony | the opposite of what is expecte. a reality different from appearence. |
| metaphore | a figure of speech in which one thing is said to be another thing. |
| myth | a fictional tale about gods or heroes. |
| onomatopoeia | a figure of speech that uses a word to imitate sound. |
| personification | a figure of speech that attributes human qualities to an inatimate object. |
| poetic devices | words with harmonious sounds. |
| protagonist | the main character. |
| pun | a play on words. |
| repitition | a poetic device that uses the repeating of words, sounds, phrases, or sentences. |
| rhyme | words with identical sounds but different spellings. |
| rhyme scheme | the pattern of rhyming words. |
| rising action | the action leading up to the climax. |
| sensory imagery | language that evokes images and triggers memories in the reader of the five senses. |
| similie | a figure of speech that compares two things taht are not alike, using the words like, as, or than. |
| resolution | the closing action of a literary work. |
| theme | a central idea. |
| tragedy | a story in which most of the main characters or those close to them are dead at the resolution. |
| rhapsode | a poet professionaly trained to recite poetry. |
| arete | striving for excelence in a certain area of human behavior. |
| ate | a rash action as a result of hubris. |
| hubris | arrogance or excessive pride. |
| nemisis | the punishment for ate and hubris. |
| introduction | must have thesis proceeded by necessary info: title, author, plot summary. |
| thesis | manin focus of essay boiled down to one argumentative sentnce. |
| topic sentence | tells info about paragraph w/ opinion |
| quotation | any word, sentence, or passage taken from text; it can be dialouge; between quotations and verbatem. |
| citation | where quote came from |
| quote sandwich | citation, quote, explanation |
| t.i.e. | tag, introduce, embed. |
| naked quote | a quote that is not tied into the rest of the paragraph |
| elipsis | a ... showing that information is omitted. |
| brakets | [] that signify that the writer added information that was not in the origional quote. |
| absolute | a noun + an "ing" verb at the beginning of the sentence. |
| appositive | a noun in between two commas. |
| participle | an "ing" verb at the beginning of the sentence. |
| adjecties out of order | two or more adjectives inside commas in the middle of a sentence. |