McGrath lit terms

Allegory

A narrative in which characters, events, and settings symbolically represent abstract ideas or moral qualities, often conveying a deeper meaning beneath the surface story.

Alliteration

The repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of closely placed words, used to create rhythm, mood, or emphasis.

Allusion

A brief, indirect reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art, allowing the writer to convey complex ideas efficiently.

Ambiguity

The presence of two or more possible meanings in a word, phrase, or passage, often used deliberately to create complexity or uncertainty.

Anecdote

A short, personal story used to illustrate a point or add interest and insight to a broader topic or argument.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words, especially in stressed syllables, used to create internal rhyming and musicality in writing.

Author's Purpose

The reason an author writes a text—whether to inform, persuade, entertain, or express emotions—shaping the tone and structure of the work.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed poetry written in iambic pentameter, often used in dramatic literature for its natural speech rhythm.

Characterization

The technique a writer uses to develop a character's traits through descriptions, actions, thoughts, and dialogue.

Chorus

A group of characters in Greek drama who comment on the action, or a recurring element in modern literature that reflects on the plot or theme.

Climax

The moment of highest intensity or turning point in a story, often determining the outcome of the conflict.

Comedy

A genre that emphasizes humor and typically ends on a happy note, often involving misunderstandings and resolution of conflict.

Compound Words

A compound word is formed when two or more words are combined to create a new meaning.

Conflict

A struggle between opposing forces that drives the plot.

Connotation

The emotional or cultural meaning associated with a word.

Couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry that usually rhyme and have the same meter.

Denotation

The literal, dictionary definition of a word.

Dialogue

Conversation between two or more characters in a story or play.

Diction

The author's choice of words, which affects tone and meaning.

Flashback

A narrative technique where an author interrupts the chronological sequence of a story to present events from the past.

First Person

A story is told from the perspective of a character within the story, using pronouns like 'I' or 'we.'

Figurative Language

Descriptive words or phrases that are used to convey a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation.

Form

The structural and organizational elements of a text, encompassing its shape, structure, and overall presentation.

Free Verse

Poetry that doesn't follow a prescribed rhyme scheme or meter, allowing for more flexibility in rhythm and structure.

Genre

A category of literature characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

Hyperbole

An extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect.

Iambic Pentameter

A line of poetry with ten syllables in five pairs, each with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one.

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses.

Irony - Verbal

When someone says the opposite of what they mean.

Irony - Dramatic

When the audience knows something the characters do not.

Irony - Situational

When the opposite of what's expected happens.

Juxtaposition

The fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect.

Literal Language

The straightforward, dictionary definition of words and phrases.

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.

Meter

The rhythm of a piece of poetry, determined by the number and length of feet in a line.

Mood

(Especially of music) inducing or suggestive of a particular feeling or state of mind.

Motif

a recurring element, like an image, symbol, or idea, that reinforces a theme or adds depth to a story.

Narrative

a spoken or written account of connected events; a story, tale, recollection.

Narrator 1st person

a character in a story who tells the story from their own point of view, using pronouns like 'I,' 'me,' 'my,' and 'we.'

Onomatopoeia

the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle).

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.

Paradox

a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

Parody

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

Personification

the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Prose

written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.

Protagonist

the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

Pun

make a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word.

Quatrain

A stanza or poem of four lines, often with a specific rhyme scheme.

Rhyme Scheme

The pattern of end rhymes in a poem, usually labeled with letters (A, B, C, etc.).

Rhythm

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.

Satire

A literary technique that uses humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize or expose flaws in society, individuals, or institutions.

Setting

The time and place in which a story takes place.

Simile

a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things, using words like 'like' or 'as' to show their similarity.

Sonnet

a 14-line poem with a specific structure and rhyme scheme.

Stanza

a group of lines in a poem, often separated by a blank line or indentation, that are treated as a unit of thought or feeling.

Symbolism

a literary device where symbols are used to represent ideas or concepts beyond their literal meaning.

Theme

the central idea or underlying message in a piece of writing, art, or music.

Tone

the author's attitude or feeling towards a subject, conveyed through their word choice and style.

Tragedy

a dramatic work, typically a play, that portrays the downfall of a protagonist due to a tragic flaw, fate, or a combination of both.

Tragic Hero

a character in a tragedy who experiences a downfall, often due to a fatal flaw or circumstance, and whose fate evokes pity and fear in the audience.