| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Vignette | A decorative design or small illustration used on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter. |
| Theme | A subject or topic on which a person writes or speaks; a proposition for discussion or argument; a text. |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which an inanimate objects or abstract idea is represented as animated, or endowed with personality. |
| Allteration | The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables. |
| Style | The particular way in which a writer uses language. Style is created mainly through diction (word choice), use of figurative language, and sentence patterns. Style can be described as plain, ornate, formal, ironic, conversational, and so on. |
| Simile | Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like, as, resembles, or than. |
| Symbol | An object, person, animal, or event that stands for something more than itself—has one clear-cut association (like a wedding ring). |
| Symbolism | The practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. |
| Allegory | A narrative in which characters and settings stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities. |
| Figurative Language | Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning, speech or writing employing figures of speech. |
| Imagery | The formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively. |
| Vignette | A decorative design or small illustration used on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter. |
| Theme | A subject or topic on which a person writes or speaks; a proposition for discussion or argument; a text. |
| Personification | A figure of speech in which an inanimate objects or abstract idea is represented as animated, or endowed with personality. |
| Alliteration | The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables. |
| Hyperbole | Obvious and intentional exaggeration. |
| Allusion | A passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication. |
| 1st Person Narrative | Personal point of view of the first person, usually the author participant if the writer assumes of the view of a character. |
| 3rd Person Limited | Method of storytelling in which the narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented externally. |
| 3rd Person Omniscient | Method of storytelling in which the narrator knows the thoughts of and feelings of all of the characters in the story. |
| Onomatopoeia | Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning. |
| Irony-Situational Dramatic Verbal | Contrast between expectation and really between what is said and what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected to happen and what really does happen, or between what appears to be true and what is really true. |
| Plot | Sequence of events/rising action/conflict/Falling Action/Resolution. |
| Setting | The surrounding of the background of the story. |
| Foreshadowing | The use of clues to hint at events that will occur later on in the plot. |
| Protagonist | Main Character in fiction or drama. The protagonist is the character we focus our attention on, the person who sets the plot in motion. |
| Antagonist | The character or force that blocks the protagonist. |
| Idiom | Expression peculiar to a particular language that means something different from the literal meaning of each word. |
| Characterization | The process of revealing the personality of a character in a story. |
| Character | One of the actors or persons in the story. |
| Point of View | Vantage point from which a writer tells a story. In broad terms there are three possible points of view: Omniscient, First Person, and Third Person. |
| Archetype | The original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype. |
| Epic Hero | A main character in an epic whose legendary or heroic actions are central to his/her culture, race, or nation. |
| Epithet | Any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality. |
| Motif | A recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., esp. in a literary, artistic, or musical work. |
| Odyssey | An epic poem attributed to Homer, describing Odysseus's adventures in his ten-year attempt to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. |
| Stereotype | A simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group. |
| Epic Simile | A simile developed over several lines of verse, esp. one used in an epic poem. |
| In Medias Res | In the middle of things. |
| Narrative Poetry | Narrative poetry is poetry that tells a story. The poems may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be simple or complex. |
| Hero's Quest | A hero on a journey looking for something. |
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