EOC 11th Grade American Literature Review Terms 1-24

Alliteration

Repeating identical beginning consonant sounds

Flashback

The author interrupts the scene of a narrative to tell about earlier events

Foreshadowing

An author gives hints or clues as to what will happen in a story

Hyperbole

Exaggeration for emphasis or humorous effect

Situational Irony

When things happen that are in direct contrast to what we expect (or would like to happen)

Verbal Irony

When people say one thing but mean the opposite

Dramatic Irony

When the reader knows something the character doesn't

Metaphor

Compares two things directly, without using the words "like" or "as"

Extended Metaphor

A continued comparison throughout a work

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate specific sounds

Paradox

A statement that at first seems self-contradictory but that upon reflection makes sense

Personification

Gives human characteristics to animals, objects, or ideas

Pun

A play on words that have similar meanings

Refrain

A word, phrase, or series of lines that is repeated, adding rhythm and emphasis to a song or poem

Repetition

The act of repeating words and phrases throughout a work (usually for emphasis), or repeating literary devices such as metaphors, symbols, or types of imagery

Simile

A comparison using "like" or "as"

Symbol

Using one thing to represent another

Tone

The emotion created by the author's use of language or by a character's words and actions

Fiction

A literary genre based on imagination and not necessarily on fact

Non-fiction

A literary genre based on fact

Drama

A literary genre intended to be performed by actors on a stage

Chronological

The story is arranged in order of time from the beginning to the end

End Rhyme

Rhymes that occur at the end of a line of poetry; the most common type of rhyme

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme occurring within a line of poetry