Literary Terms Master List

Vocabulary flashcards of literary terms for exam preparation.

Allegory

A narrative in which characters, action, and sometimes setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the story.

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Allusion

A brief reference to a person, event, or place in history, or to a work of art/literature.

Analogy

A comparison made between two items, situations, or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects.

Anaphora

A figure of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words is repeated at or very near the beginning of successive sentences.

Antagonist

A character in a story or play who opposes the chief character or protagonist.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea.

Archetype

A character, action, or situation that represents common patterns of human life.

Aside

A short passage spoken by one character to the audience while others cannot hear.

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in stressed syllables.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used.

Atmosphere (mood)

The mood or feeling of a literary work created for the reader by the writer.

Ballad

A narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain.

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter, a line of five feet.

Cacophony

The use of words in poetry that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds.

Caesura

A pause or break within a line of poetry.

Carpe diem

Latin for 'seize the day'; a theme in lyric poetry to enjoy life's pleasures.

Catharsis

Purification or purging of emotions (pity or fear).

Character

An imaginary person represented in a work of fiction.

Characterization

The method an author uses to acquaint the reader with characters.

Chiasmus

A scheme in which the author introduces terms in a particular order and then repeats them in reverse order.

Cliché

An expression or phrase that is over-used to the point of becoming trite.

Climax

The decisive or turning point in a story or play.

Conceit

An elaborate figure of speech combining metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or oxymoron.

Conflict

The struggle between two opposing forces.

Connotation

The emotional associations surrounding a word, as opposed to its literal meaning.

Couplet

A pair of rhyming lines with identical meter.

Denotation

The strict, literal meaning of a word.

Denouement

The resolution of the plot.

Dialogue

The conversation between two or more people in a literary work.

Diction

The author’s choice of words or phrases in a literary work.

Dramatic irony

A situation in which facts are known to the audience but not to a character.

Dramatic monologue

A lyric poem in which the speaker addresses someone whose replies are not recorded.

Elegy

A mourning poem of lament for an individual or tragic event.

Enjambment

The continuation of a complete idea from one line of poetry to another without pause.

Epiphany

A revealing scene where a character experiences a deep realization.

Epistrophe

Repetition of a concluding word or word endings.

Euphemism

Using a mild or gentle phrase instead of a blunt one.

Euphony

Grouping words together harmoniously for a pleasing flow of sound.

Exposition

The opening section revealing characters, setting, theme, and conflict.

Flashback

Interruption of the narrative to show an episode that happened before a particular point.

Foot

A group of syllables in verse usually consisting of one accented syllable.

Foreshadowing

A hint given to the reader of what is to come.

Free verse

A type of poetry that is free from a fixed pattern of meter and rhyme.

Hamartia

A tragic flaw, especially a misperception resulting from one's own strengths.

Hubris

Excessive self-pride or self-confidence in a hero.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech involving great exaggeration.

Iambic pentameter

A line of verse having five metrical feet.

Imagery

Sensory details that provide vividness and evoke emotions.

In medias res

Latin for 'in the middle of things'; a plot that begins in the middle of events.

Irony

A contrast between what appears to be and what really is.

Juxtaposition

Placing two ideas, words, or images side by side for effect.

Litotes

A figure of speech stating a positive by negating its opposite.

Metaphor

A figure of speech involving an implied comparison.

Meter (rhythm)

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line.

Metonymy

Substituting a specific term for another closely associated word.

Motif

A recurrent word, image, theme, or object that unifies a literary work.

Narrator (persona/point of view)

The teller of the story.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate the sound of the thing being spoken of.

Paradox

A self-contradictory statement that has valid meaning.

Parallelism

Establishing similar patterns of grammatical structure.

Parody

A humorous imitation of serious writing.

Persona

The speaker or narrator of a text, not to be assumed as the author.

Personification

Representing abstractions as human beings.

Plot

The series of happenings in a literary work.

Point of view

The relationship between the teller of the story and its characters.

Polysyndeton

Using many conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect.

Prosody

The mechanics of verse poetry, including sounds, rhythms, and meter.

Protagonist

The leading character in a literary work.

Pun

A humorous play on words with different meanings.

Rhyme

Exact repetition of sounds in final accented syllables.

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhyme marked by assigning letters to rhyming sounds.

Satire

The technique employing wit to ridicule a subject to inspire reform.

Setting

The time, place, and societal situation of a narrative's action.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Situational irony

An occurrence contrary to what is expected or intended.

Soliloquy

A dramatic convention allowing a character alone on stage to speak thoughts aloud.

Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter.

Stereotype

A conventional pattern with little individuality used for a purpose.

Stream of consciousness

The recording of a character’s flow of thought.

Style

The distinctive handling of language by an author.

Symbol

A person, place, or object representing something beyond itself.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.

Synesthesia

Describing one sense using another.

Syntax

The arrangement of words within a sentence.

Theme

The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.

Tone

The author’s attitude toward the subject matter and audience.

Understatement

A figure of speech that says less than one means.

Verbal irony

The intended meaning differs from the literal statement.

Villanelle

A poetic form of five tercets and a final quatrain.