English Literary Terms Vocab Test

Thomas IB/AP English 2024

Verbal Irony

When what is said is the opposite of what is meant. “Oh great.”

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows something a character in the story does not. Romeo and Julliet

Situational Irony

When what happens is the opposite of what was expected. “The fire station burning down.”

Mood

The emotional atmosphere developed by a number of factors like tone and setting. “Gloomy or joyful.”

Tone

The emotional attitude the speaker has, that’s developed through diction, imagery, figurative language, and syntax. “Agitated, calm, pensive, sarcastic”

Voice

The distinct combination of style, personality, and tone by which the narrator addresses the reader described in terms of the spoken word. How the author talks to you. “Conversational, whimsical, authoritative.”

Theme

An overarching message or idea touched on throughout the work. A topic discussed by the work. “Patriarchy, gender roles, virtue, family, freedom, suppression of speech.”

Imagery

Language that evokes some sort of sensory response in the reader. “the stench of rotting garbage overpowered my nostrils as I opened the bin.”

Metaphor

A comparison of two objects by stating that one thing is another. “She’s a peach” “We live on a placid island of ignorance in a black sea of infinity.”

Symbol

When a thing, ideal, or emotion is represented by different thing. A concrete object that stands in place of an abstract concept. An object that has meaning beyond its literal significance due to the ideas associated with it. “Water, spring, flowers.”

Contrast

When two subjects are very different from one another, typically opposites. Highlights a binary of two traits. Strikingly different, Juxtaposition. “Tall vs short, short vs long, bright vs dark.”

Syntax

How a sentence is constructed. Refers to the intentional choices regarding length, structure, and punctuation used by the author for some effect.

Exaggeration

When a trait, feature, or situation is made out to be a bigger deal than it is for dramatic affect or to really hit hard on a point. Hyperbole. “I was so hungry before lunch I thought I was going to die.” “The cookie made me the happiest guy at school.”

Speaker

The “person” dictating what is on the page. It can be an omniscient narrator, a character within the story, an outside observer, the author themself etc. The storyteller.