English Literary Terms

euphism

a nice way of saying something unpleasant

foil

two characters created to contrast each other

juxtaposition

two contrasting items that are closely put together to highlight their differences

diction

word choide

parallelism

the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound meaning, or meter

symbolism

the use of items or things to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meaning that are different from their literal sense

dynamic character

a character that changes throughout the story

static character

a character that remains the same

round character

a character with a complex personality

flat character

a one dimensional character

motif

an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work

irony

a figure of speech when words intended meaning is different from the actual meaning

foreshadowing

a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story

antihero

a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes

alliteration

the repetition of beginning consonant sounds in neighboring words

assonance

the repetition of vowel sounds

syntax

the way an author chooses to join words into phrases, clauses, sentences

style

an evaluation of the sum of the choices an author makes in blending diction and syntax

paradox

a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or opposed to common sense but upon closer inspection contains some degree of truth or validity

personification

a thing, idea, or animal that is given human attributes

allusion

a brief, indirect reference to a person, place, or thing or idea of significance

anachronism

an intentional or unintentional error in chronology or timieline

colloquialism

an informal piece of dialogue or turn of phrase used in everyday conversation

synecdoche

an instance of a part representing a whole

apostrophe

a figure of speech in which the speaker directly addresses a person who is dead or otherwise not physically present, an imaginary person or entity, something inhuman, or a place or concept

meter

a the patterned repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

metonymy

the substitution of the name or an attribute for the thing that was meant

anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of clauses or sentences

consonance

the repetition of consonant sounds within a line of verse, usually at end