Lit Terms

Flat Character

A simple, one-dimensional character with few traits. Example: Mr. Filch in Harry Potter.

Round Character

A complex character with multiple traits and depth. Example: Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

Dynamic Character

A character who changes significantly throughout the story. Example: Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.

Static Character

A character who remains the same throughout the story. Example: Sherlock Holmes.

Diction

The author's choice of words. Example: Using 'childlike' vs. 'childish' changes the tone.

Denotation

The literal dictionary meaning of a word. Example: 'Snake' = a legless reptile.

Connotation

The emotional or cultural meaning of a word. Example: 'Snake' = evil or betrayal.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences. Example: 'What light through yonder window breaks?'

Prose

Ordinary written or spoken language, not poetry. Example: A novel like To Kill a Mockingbird.

Clause

A group of words with a subject and a verb. Example: 'When the sun rises' (has both subject and verb).

Dependent Clause

A clause that cannot stand alone. Example: 'Because I was late.'

Independent Clause

A clause that can stand alone as a sentence. Example: 'I missed the bus.'

Simple Sentence

A sentence with one independent clause. Example: 'The dog barked.'

Compound Sentence

Two independent clauses joined by a conjunction. Example: 'The dog barked, and the cat hissed.'

Compound-Complex Sentence

Two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. Example: 'Although I was tired, I finished my homework, and I went to bed.'

Periodic Sentence

A sentence that withholds the main idea until the end. Example: 'In the face of danger, with great courage, she stood her ground.'

Cumulative Sentence

A sentence that starts with the main idea and adds details. Example: 'She stood her ground, facing danger with courage and determination.'

Rhetorical Triangle

A diagram showing the relationship between speaker, audience, and message.

Ethos

Appeal to credibility or character. Example: 'As a doctor, I recommend this treatment.'

Pathos

Appeal to emotions. Example: 'Think of the children who are suffering!'

Logos

Appeal to logic and reason. Example: 'Studies show a 70% improvement rate.'

Rhetoric

The art of persuasion. Example: A political speech convincing people to vote.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning from a general principle to a specific case. Example: 'All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.'

Syllogism

A logical structure using two premises to reach a conclusion. Example: See above example.

Warrant

The underlying assumption that connects evidence to the claim. Example: Claim: 'She is trustworthy.' Evidence: 'She has never lied.' Warrant: Honesty builds trust.

Inductive Reasoning

Reasoning from specific examples to a general principle. Example: 'Every swan I've seen is white; therefore, all swans must be white.'

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem. Example: A 4-line section in a song.

Quatrain

A stanza with four lines. Example: 'Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all.' — Emily Dickinson

Meter

The rhythm pattern of a poem based on stressed and unstressed syllables. Example: Iambic pentameter.

Iambic Pentameter

Five iambs (unstressed-stressed) per line. Example: 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' — Shakespeare.

Foot

A basic unit of meter in poetry (a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables). Example: An 'iamb' is a type of foot.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds. Example: "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words. Example: "The lumpy, bumpy road."

Apostrophe

Addressing someone absent, dead, or non-human as if they could respond. Example: "O Death, where is thy sting?"

Internal Rhyme

Rhyme within a line of poetry. Example: "I drove myself to the lake and dove into the mist."

End Rhyme

Rhyme at the end of lines. Example: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are."

Near/Slant Rhyme

An approximate rhyme. Example: "worm" and "swarm."

Free Verse

Poetry without a regular meter or rhyme. Example: Much of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Example: Most of Shakespeare's plays.

Enjambment

When a line of poetry continues without pause into the next line. Example: "I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree."

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry. Example: "To be, or not to be — that is the question."

Chiasmus

A reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases. Example: "Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You."

Antithesis

Juxtaposition of opposing ideas in balanced phrases. Example: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. Example: "I have a dream… I have a dream… I have a dream…" — MLK.

Synecdoche

A part represents the whole. Example: "All hands on deck" (hands = sailors).

Metonymy

Substituting something closely associated. Example: "The crown" for royalty.

Tropes

Figures of speech with unexpected twists in meaning. Example: Metaphors, irony, hyperbole.

Schemes

Figures of speech dealing with word order, syntax, letters, and sounds. Example: Parallelism, chiasmus.

Juxtaposition

Placing two things side by side to highlight contrast. Example: Light and dark imagery in Romeo and Juliet.

Intercalary Chapters

Chapters that interrupt the main narrative to provide background or thematic depth. Example: The turtle chapter in The Grapes of Wrath.

Motif

A recurring element (symbol, theme, idea) in a story. Example: Blood in Macbeth.

Theme

The central message or insight into life. Example: The danger of unchecked ambition in Macbeth.

First-Person Limited

Narrator is a character, but only knows their own thoughts. Example: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

First-Person Omniscient

Rare — narrator is a character who knows all characters' thoughts.

Third-Person Limited

Narrator knows the thoughts of one character. Example: Harry Potter series (mostly through Harry).

Third-Person Omniscient

Narrator knows the thoughts of all characters. Example: Pride and Prejudice.

Third-Person Objective

Narrator reports events without inner thoughts/emotions. Example: Like a camera recording actions.

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things. Example: "The wind whispered through the trees."

Simile

Comparing two things using "like" or "as." Example: "Brave as a lion."

Metaphor

Saying one thing is another. Example: "Time is a thief."

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration. Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Allusion

A reference to another work, event, or person. Example: "He's a real Romeo with the ladies."

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but reveals a truth. Example: "Less is more."

Aphorism

A short, witty statement of truth. Example: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Idiom

A phrase with a meaning different from its literal words.

Idiom

A phrase with a meaning different from its literal words. Example: "Kick the bucket" = die.

Colloquialism

Informal words/phrases used in everyday speech. Example: "Y'all" or "gonna."

Visual Imagery

Sight — "The golden sun set behind the hills."

Auditory Imagery

Sound — "The leaves crunched underfoot."

Olfactory Imagery

Smell — "The sharp scent of pine filled the air."

Gustatory Imagery

Taste — "The bitter coffee scalded her tongue."

Tactile Imagery

Touch — "The rough bark scraped his hands."

Organic Imagery

Internal sensation (hunger, thirst, pain) — "A deep ache gnawed at his stomach."

Kinesthetic Imagery

Movement — "She sprinted, arms pumping, heart pounding."

Euphemism

A polite way to say something harsh. Example: "Passed away" for "died."

Pun

A play on words. Example: "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

Double Entendre

A phrase with two meanings, one usually risqué. Example: "Marriage is a fine institution, but who wants to live in an institution?"

Foil Characters

Characters who contrast with each other. Example: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Situational Irony

When the opposite of what's expected happens. Example: A fire station burns down.

Verbal Irony

Saying the opposite of what you mean. Example: (During a hurricane) "What lovely weather!"

Dramatic Irony

Audience knows something characters do not. Example: In Romeo and Juliet, we know Juliet is alive, but Romeo does not.

Aside

A character speaks to the audience, not heard by other characters. Example: Shakespeare's plays often have asides.

Monologue

A long speech by one character to others. Example: Marc Antony's speech in Julius Caesar.

Soliloquy

A character speaking their thoughts alone on stage. Example: "To be, or not to be…" — Hamlet.

Plastic Theater

Use of props, sound, and lighting symbolically in theater. Example: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.

Panel

A single frame of a comic or graphic novel.

Gutter

The space between panels.

Graphic Weight

How much attention an element draws in a panel.

Splash

A full-page illustration.

Bleed

When an image goes beyond the page's edge.

Emanata

Visual symbols showing emotion (like sweat drops or question marks).

Background

What's behind the main characters or actions.

Foreground

What's closest to the viewer.

Midground

Middle area between foreground and background.

Satire

Humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize. Example: The Simpsons.

Bildungsroman

A coming-of-age story. Example: Jane Eyre or The Catcher in the Rye.

Fallacy

An error in reasoning.

Ad Hominem

Attack the person, not the argument. Example: "You're wrong because you're ugly."

Argument from Authority

Using authority as proof instead of evidence. Example: "It must be true; a celebrity said it."