| Term | Definition |
|---|
| archetype | a pattern in literature |
| aside | when an actor speaks to himself briefly; the audience can hear him, but the other actors cannot |
| alliteration | the repetition of consonant sounds |
| allusion | a reference to something famous |
| antagonist | the character in conflict with the main character |
| character | a person or animal that takes part in the plot of a story |
| colloquialism | dialect and mannerisms of a given area and/or time |
| couplet | two consecutive lines in a poem or play that rhyme |
| dialogue | conversation between two characters |
| dramatic foil | a character who contrasts with another and helps to highlight this character's traits |
| epiphany | when a character experiences a major life moment |
| fiction | imaginary prose writing |
| figurative language | writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally (simile, metaphor...) |
| flashback | section of literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate to an earlier time |
| foreshadowing | the use of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur |
| hyperbole | a major exaggeration |
| irony | technique given to surprising, interesting, or amusing contradictions (verbal, dramatic, irony of situation) |
| verbal irony | words are used to suggest the opposite of their meaning |
| dramatic irony | when there is a contradiction between what the character thinks and what the audience knows to be true |
| irony of situation | an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters or audience |
| monologue | a long speech given by a character to other characters onstage |
| mood | the feeling created by a literary work |
| nonfiction | prose writing about real things |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words to imitate sounds |
| personification | when a nonhuman subject is give human characteristics |
| plot | the sequence of events in a story |
| point of view | the perspective from which a story is told (first, third limited, third omniscient) |
| prose | writing that is not drama or poetry |
| pun | a play on words; a joke based on words with several meanings, or on words, that sound alike but have different meanings |
| rhyme scheme | a regular pattern of words in a poem |
| sensory language | writing or speech that appeals to the five senses |
| setting | the time and place of the action |
| short story | a brief fictional narrative in prose |
| simile | a comparison of two unlike things using like or as |
| soliloquy | a long speech spoken by a character alone onstage |
| stanza | a formal division of lines in a poem |
| symbol | anything that represents something else |
| theme | a central message or life lesson of a literary work |
| tragedy | a play in which the main character suffers a major downfall |
| verisimilitude | occurs when the literary work is a work of fiction but reads like a work of nonfiction |
| round character | a character that shows many traits; faults as well as virtues |
| flat character | a character that that is one dimensional; we only see one trait |
| dynamic character | a character that develops and grows over the course of the story |
| static character | a character that never changes |
| exposition | introduces characters, setting, and basic situation |
| conflict | the struggle between opposing forces (man vs. self, man, nature, supernatural) |
| drama | a literary art that recreates human life and emotion |
| characterization | the creation of believable personalities/characters |
| dramatic conventions | techniques that substitute for reality; give the audience info they could not get from straightforward action |
| concealment | allows the character to be seen by the audience while remaining hidden from other characters |
| tragic flaw | a personal weakness possessed by the protagonist that leads to his/her downfall |
| blank verse | an unrhymed verse in iambic pentameter |
Combine with other sets
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