Lit terms

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

Simile

A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, often introduced by "like" or "as."

Personification

The attribution of human characteristics to something nonhuman.

Symbolism

The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities.

Verbal Irony

The expression of one's meaning by using language that signifies the opposite.

Situational Irony

A literary device that occurs when there is a disparity between what is expected to happen and what actually happens.

Dramatic Irony

A form of irony that occurs when the audience knows something that the characters do not.

Sarcasm

The use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

Hyperbole

Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

Alliteration

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Onomatopoeia

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.

Allegory

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically moral or political.

Allusion

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly.

Ambiguity

The quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.

Connotation

An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

Denotation

The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests.

Character Foil

A character who contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist, to highlight particular qualities.

Foreshadowing

A literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story.

Imagery

Visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work.

Motif

A distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition.

Parody

An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.

Point of View

The narrator's position in relation to the story being told.

Static Character

A character who undergoes little or no inner change.

Dynamic Character

A character who undergoes significant internal change throughout the course of a story.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which the speaker addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words.

Chiasmus

A rhetorical device in which words or concepts are repeated in reverse order.

Euphemism

A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which one thing is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it.

Litotes

An ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary.

Pun

A form of wordplay that exploits multiple meanings of a term or similarity in sound.

Understatement

A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important than it is.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.