Literary Terms and Devices Flashcards

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering key literary terms, concepts, points of view, forms of irony, and figurative language devices compiled from the lecture sources.

Inference

A conclusion or opinion that is formed because of known facts or evidence, or the act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

Dialogue

The conversation between characters in a novel, drama, etc., which reveals characterization.

Narrator

The person who tells the story, who can be reliable or unreliable.

Point of View

The vantage point from which the writer has chosen to tell the story.

First Person POV

Point of view where the narrator tells the story using "I".

Third Person Limited POV

Point of view where the narrator focuses on the thoughts and feelings of one of the characters.

Third Person Omniscient POV

Point of view where the narrator knows everything about the character and various situations.

Tone

The author's attitude toward his or her subject, character, or audience.

Mood

The feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage, or the atmosphere.

Symbol

A person, place, thing, or event that stands for itself.

Simile

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between 2 unlike things using words such as like, as, than, or resembles.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that compares two unlike things without the use of words like, as, than, or resembles.

Extended Metaphor

A metaphor that is extended or developed over several lines of writing or throughout an entire work.

Personification

A metaphor where non-human things are talked about as human.

Irony

A contrast between expectation and reality.

Verbal Irony

Irony where words imply the opposite of what is literally meant, such as sarcasm.

Situational Irony

Irony where the outcome of events is opposite of what is expected.

Dramatic Irony

Irony where the reader perceives something significant that the character misses.

Allusion

When an author references something external to his or her work in a passing manner.

Suspense

A feeling of growing uncertainty about the outcome of events in a story or play that heightens interest.

Hubris

Excessive pride or self-confidence, or arrogance that can lead to a downfall.

Paradox

A statement that appears contradictory but may contain a truth.

Foreshadowing

Hinting at the outcome with clues which hint at events to come in a play or story.

Flashback

A scene in a play, movie, short story, novel, or narrative that interrupts present action to flash backward.

Satire

Writing which ridicules society, a group, a social institution, etc., in order to reveal a weakness.

Imagery

Descriptive writing that appeals to any of our senses using simile, metaphor, or personification.