Lit #3

Plot

Exposition - Introduces characters, conflict, and setting

Alliteration

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

Analogy

A comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of of explanation or clarification

Anecdote

brief story told to entertain or to make a point

Aphorism

a short pointed statement that expresses a 

wise or clever observation about human experience.

Apostrophe

Figure of speech that directly expresses an 

absent or imaginaryperson or abstraction

Argument

Writing or speech that attempts to convince 

the reader to adopt a particular opinion or 

course of action.

Aside

a character’s comment, in a play, that is directed to the audience or another character

Assonance

repetition of same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables that end with different consonant sounds (e.g. low, tow, given, distance)

Broad Generalization

a statement mostly based on limited knowledge

 about a large group of things, places, or people

 (e.g. All women like to shop.)

Consonance

repetition of consonant sounds before and after different vowels

Fable

a short tale to tell a moral lesson often with animals 

or inanimate objects as characters (e.g. Aesop’s fables)

Fallacy

erroneous reasoning that renders arguments logically unsound

Figurative Language

a phrase that stands for something other than its literal meaning, used for descriptive effect

Foil

 a character who provides a strong contrast to another character

Juxtaposition

an act or instance of placing 

close together or side by side, especially

 for comparison or contrast

Memoir

an account of one’s personal life or experiences

Meter

Rhythmical pattern determined by the number and types of

stresses, or beats, in each line.

Monologue

A speech by one character, unlike a soliloquy, that is addressed to another character or characters.  

Mood/Atmosphere

the feeling or created by a literary work or passage

Motif

recurring subject, theme, idea, etc.

Onomatopoeia

use of words that imitate sounds

Oversimplification

Description of something in a way that does not include all

the facts or details (and that causes misunderstanding)

Oxymoron

combination of contradictory terms or words (eg. cruel kindness, jumbo shrimp

Paradox

- statement that seems to say 

two opposite things, but that 

may be true

Parallelism

two or more words, 

phrases, or clauses, that are

similar in length and grammatical form

Pun

play on words involving two words 

that sound alike or have different Meanings

Rhetoric

The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.

Sarcasm

caustic language that is meant to 

hurt or ridicule someone or something

Sonnet

line poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter

Soliloquy

A long speech delivered by a character, alone on stage

Tragedy

a work of literature that tells of a catastrophe or great misfortune

Tragic Flaw

hero’s weakness which causes 

a downfall

Tragic Hero

Main character who 

experiences a downfall