Literary Elements

A story illustrating an idea or moral principle in which objects take on symbollic meanings

repitition of the initial sounds in a group of words

a reference in one literary work to something in another literary work

a statement which can contain two or more meanings

a very short tale told by a character in a literary work

(the bad guy) a person who opposes the protagonist

a brief statement which expresses an observation on life (wise observation)

a figure of speech where the speaker speaks directly to something nonhuman

a character in drama makes a short speech heard by the audience but not the other characters in the play

repitition of vowel sounds

A story of a person's life written by himself/herself

A story in poetic form, often about tragic love and usually sung

A story of a person's life written by someone other than the subject of the work

a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

unpleasant combination of sounds

a pleasant combination of sounds

A Latin phrase meaning "seize the day"

A scene in a tragedy which includes the death/moral destruction of the protagonist

a person, or anything presented as a person (e.g. spirit, object, animal, etc.)

a method the writer uses to reveal the personality of a character

a movement to retain the characteristics found in work originating in classical Greece and Rome

the turning point of the play to which the rising action leads

a literary work which is amusing and ends happily

(resolution) the point in a drama to which the entire play has been leading

when the protagonist is opposed by some person of force in the play

the emotional content of a word

a word's dictionary definition

the repitition of consonant sounds with differing vowel sounds in a group of words

a stanza of two lines, usually rhyming

(Day-noo-ma) the part of drama which follows the climax and leads to the resolution

in drama, a conversation between characters

the author's choice of words

Literature disigned explicitly to instruct

the occurence of a single speaker saying something to a silent audience

A lyric poem lamenting death

a major work dealing with an important theme

a brief quotation which appears at the beginning of a literay work

a word or phrase preceding or following the name which serves to describe the character

a mild word or phrase which substitutes for another which would be undesirable because it is too direct, unpleasant, or offensive

in drama, the presentation of essential information reguarding what has occurred prior to the beginning of the play

a brief tale designed to illustrate a moral lesson

the series of events which take place after the climax

a way of saying one thing and meaning something else

an example of figurative language that states something that is not literally true in order to create an effect

a reference to an event which took place prior to the beginning of the story or play

a character in a play who sets off the main character or other characters by comparison

in drama, a method used to build suspense by providing hints of what is to come

unrhymed poetry with lines of varying lengths, and containing no specific metrical pattern

a literary type or form

an overstatement or exaggeration

a word or group of words which appeal to one or more of the senses (sight, taste, touch, etc.)

a judgement based on reasoning rather than on direct statment

when the opposite happens from what is expected

a comparison made between two unlike things without using "like" or "as"

a figure of speech in which a word represents someting else which it suggests

an atmosphere or feeling created by a literary work

an unverifiable story based on a religious belief

a poem which tells a story

a fictional prose work of substantial length

a poem in praise of something divine or expressing some noble idea

where the sound of the word echoes the sound it represents

a combination of contradictory terms

a brief story, told or written in order to teach a moral lesson

a situation or statement that seems to contradict itself, but does not

a repitition of sentences using the same structure

a literary work that imitates the style of another literary work

a fallacy of reason in suggesting that nonhuman phenomena act from human feelings

a figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human characteristics

the structure of a story

a piece of literature contains a speaker who is speaking either in first person (telling things from his/her own perspective), or in the third person (perspective of an onlooker)

a hero or central character

a play on words wherein a word is used to convey two meanings

A four-line stanza which may be rhymed or unrhymed

the part of the story or drama which occurs after the climax and which establishes a new norm

in poetry, a pattern of repeated sounds

recurrences of stressed and unstressed syllables at equal intervals, similar to meter

the part of a drama which begins with the exposition and sets the stage for the climax

a piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work

the time and place in which a story unfolds

a short fictional narrative

a comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as"

in drama, a moment when a character is alone a speaks his/her thoughts aloud

a lyric poem of fourteen lines whose rhyme scheme is fixed

an author's method of treating a character so that the character is immediately identified with a group

the author's use of figurative language, diction, sound effects and other literary devices

in fiction, results from two factors: the reader's identification with and concern for the welfare of a convincing and sympathetic character, and an anticipation of violence

a device where an object represents an idea

an ingredient of a literary work which gives the work unity (what the work is mainly about)

expresses the author's attitude toward his/her subject

a type of drama which is pre-eminently the story of one person, the hero

a statement which lessens or minimizes the importance of what is meant