| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Alliteration | The repetition of initial consonant or vowel sounds in two or more successive or nearby words. |
| Allusion | A reference to a well-known person, place, event, work of art, myth, or religion. |
| Antagonist | A character, institution, group, or force that is in conflict with the protagonist. |
| Archetype | Primordial images and symbols that occur in literature, myth, religion, and folklore. |
| Assonance | The repetition of vowel sounds in two or more words that do not rhyme. |
| Climax | The high poing in the plot, after which there is falling action. May coincide with crisis. |
| Consonance | The repetition of a consonant at the end of two or more words. |
| Couplet | A pair of rhyming lines in the same meter. |
| Exposition | writing or speech primarily intended to convey information or to explain. |
| Extended Metaphor | A metaphor that is elaborated on and developed in several phrases or sentences. |
| Figurative Language | The use of figures of speech to express ideas. |
| Falling Action | All action that takes place after the climax. |
| Foil | A characer who, through contrast reveals the characteristics of another character. |
| Hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses exaggeration. |
| Inciting Incident | introduces the major conflict of the play. |
| Imagery | the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively |
| Irony | The opposite of what is expected. A reality different from appearance. |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech in which one thing is said to be another thing. |
| Personification | A figure of speeh that attributes human qualities to an inanimate object. |
| Protagonist | The main character. |
| Pun | A play on words. |
| Rhyme Scheme | The pattern of rhyming words. The last word in each line is assigned a letter of the alphabe beginning with a. |
| Rising Action | The path of the plot leading to the climax. |
| Resolution | a solution, accommodation, or settling of a problem, controversy. |
| Simile | A figure of speech that compares two things that are not alike, using the words like, as, or than. |
| Theme | A central idea |
| Tragedy | any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a somber theme carried to a tragic conclusion. |
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