Literary Devices

Allusion

A reference to a person. place, an event, or literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and to respond to

Antagonist

Character who opposes the protagonist

Catastrophe

Conclusion of tragedy *protagonist dies*

Characterization

The personality a character displays, also the means by which a writer reveals that personality

Direct Characterization

the author tells you how the character is

indirect characterization

When the reader figures out what the character is like by studying that character’s actions

Climax

the point of greatest emotional interest, intensity, or suspense in a narrative

Conflict

a struggle between two opposing forces

External Conflict

Man vs. Man, man vs. nature, man vs. society

Internal Conflict

Man vs. self

Exposition

Background information that is important to understanding the story; includes the introduction of characters and settings

Falling Action

All the action that occurs after the climax and leads to the resolution

Foreshadowing

The use of hints or clues to suggest that which will happen

Imagery

Words or phrases that create pictures, or images in the reader’s mind; appeals to the senses (taste, touch, sight, sound,smell)

Irony

When the opposite occurs from what is expected

Dramatic Irony

The words or actions of a character in a play carry a meaning that the character may not understand but the audience knows

Situational Irony

The unexpected occurs at the end of the story for the audience as well as the characters *surprise for everyone, rare*

Verbal Irony

To say one thing and mean another *sarcasm*

Metaphor

Figure of speech where two dissimilar things are directly compared

Mood

Feeling author portrays in his or her works (tie it to the setting)

Motif

Reoccurring symbols

Narrative

Sequence of actions woven into a plot

Personification

A figure of speech in which something non-human is given human qualities

Plot

The sequence of events or happenings in a Literacy works

1st person

main character tells the story

2nd person

Main character talks directly to the audience * when the author talks to you as the audience*

3rd person Limited

Narrator is telling the story; they only see it from one vantage point

3rd Person Omniscient

The narrator is telling the story and is all knowing * they know EVERYTHING

Protagonist

The main character around whom all the action is centered

Resolution (denouement)

The conclusion, the afterward, the answer to eh conflict

Rising Action

All the action that leads to the climax

Setting

Time and place of the narrative

Suspense

What makes the reader uncertain or tense about an upcoming event

Symbol

Something that, although it is of interest in its own right, stands for a suggest something larger or more complex… often as idea or a range or interrelated ideas, attitudes and practices

Theme

Main idea or the basic meaning of literary work (life lesson)

Tone

The attitude of the author towards the subject matter, his audience, or his characters

Simile

comparing tow unlike things a word of comparison such as “like” or

“as”

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction ex: Icy Hot

paradox

a statement, idea, or situation that appears to be self-contradictory but upon closer examination, may contain a deeper truth or reveal a more complex reality

Polysyndeton

a rhetorical device that uses multiple coordinating conjunctions (like "and," "or," "but") in close succession to connect words, phrases, or clauses

Synecdoche

a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa