English 1 Final Literary Terms

Beginning part of the story that introduces the characters, the setting, and the basic situation.

The main conflict of the story is introduced.

All the events leading up to the climax.

No turning back point of the story; most intense

Follows the climax and leads up to the resolution.

The main conflict is resolved.

Difference between what is said and what is meant.

Difference between what you expect to happen vs. what actually happens.

When you know something the character doesn't know.

Abstract idea that runs through the whole story.

Authors attitude toward the subject.

Conflict inside you.

Conflict outside you. (ex. man vs. man, man vs. society, etc.. )

A brief reference to something outside of the literary work.

Bad character or force in the conflict.

The main character in the story.

A common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable.

The act of creating and developing a character.

The author directly states a character's traits.

The author tells what the character looks like, does, and says as well as how other characters react to him or her.

A pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter.

A characterizing word or phrase firmly associated with a person or thing and often used in place of an actual name or title.

Writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally.

Uses words in their ordinary sences.

The discriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader.

A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else.

A reason that explains why a character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in a certain way.

Speech by one character in the play, story, or poem.

A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage.

A figure of speech by which two words contradict to use effect.

A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics.

A figure of speech in which like or as is used to make a comparison between two basically unlike ideas.

The use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur.

A category or type of literature.

The repetition of initial consonant sounds.

The returning to an earlier moment in literary time, usually through a character's reminiscing.

A words dictionary meaning

The words set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning.

The undue use of exaggeration.