Lit Terms

Syllable

A unit of spoken language that is next bigger than a speech sound and consists of one or more vowel sounds alone or of a syllabic consonant alone.

Stanza

A group of lines or "paragraph" in a poem.

Protagonist

The leading character in a story.

Antagonist

A character or force in conflict with the protagonist in a story.

Characterization methods

Actions, thoughts, what they say, what others say, environment, physical appearance.

Plot Arc

Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Denouement

Tone

The author's voice or attitude.

Conflict

An opposing desire in a story.

Mood

The emotions that a text evokes from the reader.

Absolute

A word free from limitations or qualifications (best, unique, all, perfect).

Adage

A familiar proverb or wise saying.

Ex: don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Allegory

A literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions.

Ex: Animal Farm is a __ for the events of the Russian Revolution.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words.

Ex: the big ball bounced by Bob's bakery.

Juxtaposition

Placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast.

Ex: a big guy on a small bike.

Allusion

A reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize.

Analogy

A comparison of two things that are similar in some way.

Anaphora

The repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences.

Ex: Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

Anecdote

A brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event.

Ex: in All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul tells the story of Kemmerich's mother crying at the train station as her son is leaving for war.

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers.

Ex: he=boy, she=girl, them=people/person

Assonance

The repetition of identical or similar vowels—especially in stressed syllables—in a sequence of nearby words. (ex: early bird gets the worm)

Euphony

A term applied to language that strikes the ear as smooth, pleasant, and musical.

Ex: In the eagle-winged palace of the queen chinee.

Rhythm

A recognizable though varying pattern in the beat of stresses or accents, in the stream of speech sounds

Ex: I grow old ... I grow old ... / I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled

Cacophony

Language which is perceived as harsh, rough, and unmusical.

Note: the discordancy/harshness is the effect of not only the sound of the words but also of their significance.

Repetition

Recurring/repeated language which deliberately used in order to achieve a specific emphasis or certain effect.

Personification

Where either an inanimate object or abstract concept is spoken of as though it were endowed with life or human attributes or feelings.

Aphorism

A concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea, often using rhyme or balance.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or some abstraction.

Archetype

A detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response.

Argument

A statement of the meaning or main point of a literary work.

Asyndeton

A construction in which elements are presented in a series without conjunctions.

Ex: She ran, jumped, swung, flew.

Connotation

The implied or associative meaning of a word.

Denotation

The literal meaning of a word.

Didactic

Having the primary purpose of teaching or instructing.

Cliche

An expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off.

Elegy

A formal poem presenting a meditation on death or another solemn theme.

Eulogy

A literary device that is a laudatory expression in a speech, or a written tribute to a person recently deceased. One can say, it is a commendation or high praise intended to give honor, generally to a dead family member or loved one, or it is a tribute given to a dead person at their funeral.

Ellipsis

The omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context.

Ex: "Some people prefer cats; others, dogs"

Epic

A long narrative poem written in elevated style which presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation.

Epigram

A brief, pithy, and often paradoxical saying.

Epigraph

A saying or statement on the title page of a work, or used as a heading for a chapter or other section of a work.

Setting

The place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.

Theme

The unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work.

Character types

Round, flat, static, dynamic.

Colloquialism

Informal words or expressions that are usually not accepted in formal writing.

Ex: dude, man, y'all, cool.

Conceit

A fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor.

Ex: O' Captain my Captain...

...this whole poem uses the image of a lost ship captain, with a boat drifting out at sea for the entire poem...in reality, it's a metaphor for the death of Abraham Lincoln.

Epitaph

An inscription on a tombstone or burial place.

Epithet

A term or nickname used to point out a characteristic of a person.

Ex: Huge-headed Leslie sat next to weepy-eyed Malone.

Prose

The most typical form of language. Both non-fiction writing and fictional writing are considered _.

Pretty much any writing that is not verse.

Verse

All writing that is considered poetry can also be called _.

Writing that is not prose.

Euphemism

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant.

Ex: "passed away" in place of "died".

Expletive

An interjection to lend emphasis; sometimes (often), a profanity.

Figurative Language

Any language employing one or more figures of speech (simile, metaphor, imagery, etc.).

Flat Character

A character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story.

Frame Device

A story within a story.

Genre

A major category or type of literature.

Hubris

Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy.

Inference

A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning.

Implication

A suggestion an author or speaker makes (implies) without stating it directly.

Hyperbole

Intentional exaggeration to create an effect.

Idiom

An expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression; or, a regional speech or dialect.

Ex: It’s raining cats and dogs

Anachronism

Something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time.

Rhetoric

The art of using language effectively and persuasively - logos, ethos, pathos.

Logos

An appeal based on logic or reason.

Pathos

Appeal to emotion.

Ethos

Ethical appeal.

Invective

An emotionally violent, verbal denunciation or attack using strong, abusive language.

Jargon

Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.

Legend

A narrative handed down from the past, containing historical elements and usually supernatural elements.

Limited Narrator

A narrator who presents the story as it is seen and understood by a single character and restricts information to what is seen, heard, thought, or felt by that one character.

Literary License

An author deviating from normal rules or methods in order to achieve a certain effect.

Maxim

A concise statement, often offering advice; an adage.

Mood

The emotional atmosphere of a work.

Malapropism

The mistaken substitution of one word for another word that sounds similar.

Motif

A standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works.

Narrative

A story or narrated account.

Non Sequitur

A statement that does not follow logically from evidence.

Oxymoron

Conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'jumbo shrimp').

Parable

A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.

Paradox

A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

Ad Hominem Argument

An argument attacking an individual's character rather than his or her position on an issue.

Parody

A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect and/or ridicule.

Philippic

A bitter verbal attack.

Polysyndeton

Deliberate use of many conjunctions.

Situational Irony

An outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Dramatic Irony

When the reader is aware of something that a character isn't.

Verbal Irony

A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant; sarcasm.

Metonymy

A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it.

Deus ex Machina

A plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new character, ability, or object.

Pedantic

An adjective that describes words, phrases, or general tone that is overly scholarly, academic, or bookish.

Romantic

A term describing a character or literary work that reflects the characteristics of Romanticism, the literary movement beginning in the late 18th century that stressed emotion, imagination, and individualism.

Surreal

Beyond what is real or believable; bizarre.

Tautology

Needless repetition of an idea by using different but equivalent words; a redundancy.

Syllepsis

A construction in which one word is used in two different senses ("After he threw the ball, he threw a fit.")

Foreshadowing

A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader.

Stream of consciousness

A style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character's mind.

Synecdoche

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