Literary Terms and Concepts

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key literary concepts and terms essential for understanding and analyzing texts.

Author's Intent/Purpose

The purpose or aim an author intends to convey through their work, such as to persuade, inform, or entertain.

External Conflict

A type of conflict that places characters at odds with forces outside themselves, such as character vs. character, character vs. society, character vs. nature, character vs. supernatural, character vs. technology.

Internal Conflict

A type of conflict where the character struggles with themselves concerning a decision or issue/problem, typically represented as character vs. self.

Mood

The way the reader feels when reading part of the text; the overall atmosphere.

Dialect

A way of speaking specific to a particular region.

Allusion

A reference to a historically important or famous person, place, or thing.

Hyperbole

Figurative language that is an exaggeration or overstatement for the purpose of emphasis.

Simile

Figurative language that is a comparison of two different things, using the words 'like' or 'as.'

Metaphor

Figurative language that is a comparison of two different things.

Onomatopoeia

Figurative language that denotes words that sound like the things they name.

Imagery

Descriptive language that creates vivid images or pictures in the audience's mind through sensory information.

Personification

Figurative language that gives human qualities to an object or an animal.

Alliteration

The repetition of the initial consonant sound.

Assonance

The repetition of the vowel sound anywhere in the word.

Consonance

The repetition of the ending consonant sound.

Round Character

Characters that are developed multidimensionally, with many details about their personality, interactions, and an important role in the story.

Flat Character

Characters that the audience has limited information about and play a minor role in the story.

Dynamic Character

A character that changes from the beginning to the end of the story in thoughts, words, actions, and interactions with others.

Static Character

A character that remains the same throughout the story in thoughts, words, actions, and interactions with others.

Foreshadowing

The suggestion of events to come.