Lit Terms 1-3

Alliteration (def)

Alliteration (def)

the repetition of initial consonant sounds

Alliteration (ex)

The sly snake slithered slowly in the sand.

Allusion (def)

reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

Allusion (ex)

Chocolate cake is my achilles heel.

Anachronism (def)

something out of its normal time period

Anachronism (ex)

The caveman microwaved his dinner.

Analogy (def)

a comparison that explains or describes one subject by pointing out its similarities to another subject

Analogy (ex)

She is as blind as a bat.

Anecdote (def)

a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event. It is told to entertain or to make a point.

Anecdote (ex)

The fire safety instructor told a story about how fire safety was useful in her life.

Antagonist (def)

character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist

Antagonist (ex)

Mother Gothel was in conflict with Rapunzel.

Antithesis (def)

involves a direct contrast of structurally parallel word grouping

Antithesis (ex)

Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.

Aphorism (def)

a general truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely and pointedly

Aphorism (ex)

Actions speak louder than words.

Apostrophe (def)

a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality

Apostrophe (ex)

Oh nature, thou art my goddess.

Aside (def)

words spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character, that are not meant to be overheard by the other characters.

Aside (ex)

A little more than kin and less than kind.

Assonance (def)

the repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables

Assonance (ex)

She seems to beam rays of sunshine with her eyes of green.

Character (def)

a person, animal, or a natural force presented as a person appearing in a literary work

Character (ex)

Willow in Grendel's Guide to Love and War.

Dynamic (def)

undergoes change

Dynamic (ex)

Ebenezer Scrooge

Static (def)

stays the same

Static (ex)

Scar in the Lion King

Flat (def)

has only one or two personality traits

Flat (ex)

Gingy from Shrek

Round (def)

complex and multifaceted

Round (ex)

Gru from Despicable Me

Colloquialism (def)

expression used in informal conversation but not accepted universally in formal speech or writing

Colloquialism (ex)

That story is as old as the hills.

Consonance (def)

The repetition in two or more words of the final consonants in stressed syllables

Consonance (ex)

Mike likes his new bike.

Controlling Image (def)

an image or metaphor which runs throughout the work

Controlling Image (ex)

The theme of a “welfare mother” in impoverished black communities.

Couplet (def)

two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Couplet (ex)

"Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow."

Denouement (def)

all the problems or mysteries of plot are unraveled, resolution

Denouement (ex)

The explanation following Romeo and Juliet's death.

Dialect (def)

the form of a language spoken by people in a particular region or group

Dialect (ex)

A southerner saying “Howdy”.

Dialogue (def)

a conversation between characters

Dialogue (ex)

"Lisa," said Kyle, "I need help moving this box of toys for the garage sale. Will you help me?" "Sure!" Lisa put her book down and moved to lift one end of the box for her brother.

Epiphany (def)

a sudden understanding or realization which prior to this was not thought of or understood

Epiphany (ex)

In the middle of a typical argument with his wife, a man realizes he has been the one causing every single argument, and that in order to keep his marriage, he must stop being such an aggressive person.

Epithet (def)

an adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing

Epithet (ex)

The People’s Princess (Diana of Wales), The Piano Man (Billy Joel)

Euphemism (def)

a device where being indirect replaces directness to avoid unpleasantness

Euphemism (ex)

She said she had to powder her nose instead of saying she needed to use the restroom.

Falling action (def)

the action that follows the climax, leading to resolution

Falling action (ex)

This occurs in Lego Batman as the Joker escapes and Batman speaks to the lego brick lady.

Flashback (def)

a section of literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate to an event in an earlier time

Flashback (ex)

A woman is about to get married. As she puts on her veil, she remembers her fiancé three years before, swearing he would make her his wife someday. A tear comes to her eye and she prepares to walk down the aisle.

Foreshadowing (def)

the use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur

Foreshadowing (ex)

Romeo says, “My life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.”

Hyperbole (def)

deliberate exaggeration or overstatement for emphasis

Hyperbole (ex)

I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse.

Idiom (def)

a use of words, a grammatical construction peculiar to a given language or expression that cannot be translated literally into second language

Idiom (ex)

I am feeling under the weather.

Inversion (def)

a change in normal word order

Inversion (ex)

Never again will you do that.

Juxtaposition (def)

a poetic or rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are next to each other

Juxtaposition (ex)

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Metaphor (def)

figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else

Metaphor (ex)

Her eyes were diamonds.