Literary Elements and Figurative Language

This set of flashcards covers key literary terms, narrative perspectives, figurative language, and concepts related to storytelling.

Perspective

The way a character’s perceptions, values, and opinions affect a story.

First-person POV

Narration from a character's perspective using words like I, me, my, we.

Second-person POV

Narration that directly addresses the reader using the word 'you.'

Third-person omniscient POV

Narration from an outside perspective that knows the thoughts and feelings of all characters.

Third-person limited POV

Narration from an outside perspective that reveals only one character’s thoughts and feelings.

Third-person objective POV

Narration that only describes what can be seen and heard, with no access to characters' thoughts.

Direct characterization

When the author directly describes a character’s traits and personality.

Indirect characterization

When the author shows what a character is like through their actions, speech, thoughts, effects on others, and looks.

Protagonist

The main character in a story who faces the central conflict.

Antagonist

A character or force that opposes the protagonist, creating conflict.

Theme

The underlying message or lesson of a story, expressed as a sentence.

Plot diagram

A visual representation of the structure of a story, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Figurative Language

Language that uses figures of speech to convey meanings beyond the literal sense.

Simile

A figure of speech that makes a comparison using 'like' or 'as.'

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unrelated things.

Personification

A figure of speech where human attributes are given to non-human things.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the natural sounds of a thing.

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.

Allusion

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

Idiom

A phrase that has a figurative meaning not derived from the literal meaning.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses and helps create mental images.

Symbolism

The use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities beyond their literal sense.

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within closely placed words.

Main Idea

The primary point or message that an author wants to convey.

Detail

A small piece of information that supports the main idea.

Plagiarism

The act of copying someone else's work or ideas without giving credit.

Citation

A way to show where information was obtained, providing credit to the original source.