Literary Terms

An alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds.

An allusion is a reference to a well known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

An analogy is a comparison between two or more things that are similar in someways, but oterwise unalike.

An anecdote is a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event.

An antagonist is a character or force in a conflict with the main character.

Atmosphere is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.

An autobiography is the story of the writer's own life, told by the writer.

A ballad is a songlike poem that tells a story, often dealing with adventure and romance.

A biography is a form of nonfiction in which a writer tells the like story of another person.

A character is a person or animal that takes part in the action of a story.

Characterization is the act of creating and developing a character

Climax is also known as the turning point of a story, it is the high point of the action of the plot.

A comedy is a literary work which is light, often humorous or satirical, and ends happily.

A concrete poem is a poem with the shape that suggests its subject.

A conflict is a struggle between two opposing forces.

Connotations of a word are the set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning.

A couplet is two consecutive lines of a verse with end rhymes.

Denotation is the dictionary meaning of a word.

A description is a portrait, in words, of a person, place, or object. A description often includes sensory details: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

Dialect is the form of a language spoken by people in a particular region.

Dialogue is a conversation between characters in a story.

A drama is a story written to be performed by actors.

A dynamic character.... see character.

An elegy is a solemn and formal lyric poem about death.

An epic poem is a long narrative poem about the adventures of gods or heroes.

An epithet is a word or phrase that states a characteristic quality of a person or being.

An essay is a short nonfiction work about a particular subject.

An exposition is the introduction of a work that introduces the characters, setting, and the basic situation.

An expository writing explains or informs.