Literary Terms

  1. 1st Person Narration
    narrator is a character in the work who tells everything in his/her own words
  2. 3rd Person Narration
    events are related by a voice outside the action, not by one of the characters
  3. Alliteration
    repetition of initial consonant sounds in closely placed words
  4. Allusion
    an indirect reference to something an author believes the audience will be familiar
  5. Aphorism
    a brief statement that expresses a general truth or principle about life
  6. Assonance
    repetition of vowel sounds within a line of poetry
  7. Conflict
    a struggle between opposing forces that is the basis of the plot
  8. Connotation
    the implied meaning of a word; emotion it evokes
  9. Consonance
    repetition of internal consonant sounds in closely placed words
  10. Denotation
    the literal/dictionary definition of a term
  11. Dramatic Irony
    the audience is more aware than the characters
  12. End Rhyme
    rhyming which occurs at the close of a line of poetry
  13. Figurative Language
    language that communicates ideas beyond the literal meaning of words
  14. Flashback
    interrupting action of previous event for deeper understanding of current event
  15. Foreshadowing
    use of hints or clues to suggest future events
  16. Free Verse
    poetry that does not have regular patterns of rhyme scheme or meter
  17. Hyperbole
    over-exaggeration
  18. Imagery
    language that evokes any one of the 5 senses
  19. Internal Rhyme
    rhyming within a line of poetry
  20. Irony
    a contrast or discrepancy between appearance and reality
  21. Literal Language
    what is said is what is meant; there is no greater meaning implied
  22. Lyric Poem
    a short poem with a single speaker expressing thoughts/feelings intensely
  23. Metaphor
    a stated comparison of two seemingly unlike things
  24. Mood
    the feeling or atmosphere the writer creates for the reader
  25. Motif
    a word, character, or object, image, metaphor, or idea which recurs in a work
  26. Onomatopoeia
    creating or using words that imitate sounds
  27. Paradox
    contradictory truth; opposing ideas
  28. Personification
    a figure of speech when an object, animal, or idea are given human characteristics
  29. Point of View
    the narrative prospective from which events in a story or novel are told
  30. Protagonist
    the main character or hero in a narrative or drama
  31. Repetition
    the recurrence of words, phrase, or lines to achieve a desired effect
  32. Rhyme
    the occurence of a similar or identical sounds at the end of words
  33. Setting
    time and place in literature
  34. Simile
    a figure of speech comparing two things using like or as
  35. Situational Irony
    a contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually occurs
  36. Slant/Near Rhyme
    rhyme in which vowel sounds is not identical
  37. Stanza
    unified group of lines in poetry
  38. Stereotype
    an over-simplified image of a person, group, or institution
  39. Style
    the distinctive way in which literature is written; how it is said
  40. Symbol
    a person, place, or object, with concrete meaning & also meaning beyond itself
  41. Theme
    the central idea or ideas the writer wishes to share with the reader
  42. Tone
    a writer's attitude towards subject, character, or audience
  43. Tragic Hero
    a character whose basic goodness & superiority are marred by a flaw & downfall
  44. Verbal Irony
    a contrast between what someone states and what someone means
  45. Voice
    a writer's unique use of language that allows reader to hear human personality
Author
straightupdeme
ID
10639
Card Set
Literary Terms
Description
Literary Terms
Updated