| Term | Definition |
|---|
| alliteration | the repetition of the same initial sound of two or more adjacent, or nearly adjacent, words. |
| allusion | a brief reference to something of special significance from history, current events, literature, religion, or mythology that the author expects the reader to have the special knowledge needed to understand it without explanation |
| ambiguity | a word or phrase having multiple legitimate interpretations |
| climax | the highest point in a conflict, after which the tension lessens |
| complication | a new factor introduced in the conflict that heightens tension and often gives one side in the conflict the upper hand |
| conflict | a struggle between two forces, such as man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, or man vs. himself |
| connotation | the positive or negative emotional associations a word may have beyond its dictionary definition |
| denotation | the factual dictionary definition of a word, stripped of any emotional associations |
| denoucement | the tying together of loose ends in the story after the climax; a near synonym for falling action and resolution |
| exaggeration | the magnification of certain aspects of a character, object, situation, or event in order to emphasize those aspects |
| explicit | directly and clearly stated |
| exposition | essential background information or the act of relaying such information, usually near the beginning of a literary work |
| falling action | the lessening of tension after the climax |
| figurative language | language that must be interpreted to understand its meaning; the opposite of literal |
| foil character | one who has much in common with another character but whose actions contrast sharply with that other character; thus we understand both better because we have the contrast |
| foreshadowing | hints of what is to come in a work of literature or the use of such hints |
| hyperbole | exaggeration for emphasis |
| image | a sense impression or mental picture created by vived, concrete language, or the words that create that impression or picture |
| implication | the act of suggesting indirectly rather than coming out and saying something explicitly |
| implicit | suggested indirectly, assumed to be understood; the opposite of explicit |
| infer | to conclude on the basis of indirect evidence rather that direct statement |
| irony | a broad term applied to words or action that involves opposites |
| dramatic irony | the creation of a situation in which the reader or audience knows that the real situation is the opposite of what one or more of the character thinks it is |
| situational irony | a combination of circumstances that leads to an outcome that is the opposite of what the reader is led to expect or of what is normally thought of as appropriate |
| verbal irony | the act of saying one thing and meaning the opposite |
| sarcasm | an example of heavy-handed, usually malicious, verbal irony |
| literal | narrowly factual or physical |
| metaphor | an imaginative comparison in which two things are identified with each other without using like or as |
| metonymy | the use or the name of one thing for another thing with whict it is usually associated, such as saying "The White House said..." rather than "The President said..." or "General Motors hired 100 new hands today" (GM hired the whole person, not just the hands) |
| onomatopoeia | a word or phrase that imitates the sound it describes |
| oxymoron | a combination of contridictory terms |
| paradox | an apparent contradiction of the truth |
| personification | the assigning of human characteristics to animals, objects, or ideas |
| poetry | condensed, often highly rythmic writing, usually employing more figurative language and techniques that prose |
| point of view | the perspective from which a story is told- either in the first person, telling things from his or her own perspective ("I"), or in the third person ("He" or "She"), telling things from the perspective of an onlooker. If the speaker knows everything including the actions, motives, and thoughts of all the characters, the speaker is referred to as omniscient (all-knowing). If the speaker is able to know only what is in one character's mind, this is called limited omniscience |
| prose | ordinary language, without rhyme or regular rhythm |
| resolution | the final outcome of the conflict |
| rising action | a series of events that intensify the conflict, leading to the climax |
| rhyme | the repetition of the same or similar sound or sounds at the end of words |
| rhythm | the rise and fall of sounds; a regular accent or emphasis pattern |
| simile | an imaginative comparison using like or as to link things that are not usually thought of as similar |
| soliloquy | a sustained speech in which a character, alone on stage, speaks his thoughts out loud, often to the audience |
| stage directions | the part of a script that describes the set and the physical apperence or actions of the characters |
| subtext | the unvoiced thoughts, feelings, meanings, and motives that underlie the words that are actually spoken |
| symbol | a concrete object or action that stands for something larger and abstract like an idea, emotion, or value |
| tone | the author's apparent emotional attitude toward the characters and events he creates, ranging from kind and sympathetic to cuel and mocking, and from deadly serious to playfully humorous |
Combine with other sets
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