lit terms

allegory

a story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts.

Alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds in words that are close to one another

allusion

a reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature, history, religion, or some other field of knowledge

antagonist

the character or force that opposes or blocks the protagonist

anti-hero

a central character in a story who lacks conventional hero attributes

Byronic hero

a type of character who is a moody, brooding rebel, often haunted by a dark secret from their past

apostrophe

a figure of speech in which the speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person, deity, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding

archetype

a pattern that appears in literature across cultures and is repeated through the ages. Can be a character, a plot, an image, or a setting.

aside

private words that a character in a play speaks to another a character or to the audience that are not supposed to be overheard by others on stage

assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in words that are close together

atmosphere/mood

The mood or feeling in a literary work

audience

the listeners or spectators at a speech or performance

ballad

a song or songlike poem, often from the oral tradition, that tells a story

bildungsroman

a novel which traces the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and growth of the main character from childhood to maturity

blank verse

poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

catharsis

the purification or purgation of the emotions (especially pity and fear) primarily through art

character

an individual in a story, play, or narrative poem

dynamic character

a character who undergoes some important change in the course of the story.

static character

one that does not undergo important change in the course of the story, remaining essentially the same at the end

flat character

a simple, two-dimensional character in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work.

round character

characters that have multiple dimensions to their personalities and are often complex, solid, and multifaceted

shock

a sudden or violent mental or emotional disturbance

characterization

a way to describe or represent a character

direct

when the writer tells the reader what the character is like directly; the reader does not have to guess

indirect

when the writer does not tell the reader what the character is like; the reader has to judge and put together clues from the text.

point of view

the vantage point from which a writer tells a story

first person

the narrator is a character in the story and is telling the reader about their experiences but cannot be certain about other characters private thoughts; uses I or me pronouns

third person

the narrator is outside the story and tells the story from the vantage point of only one character; uses they, he, she pronouns

limited POV

where the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character

omniscient POV

usually third person POV; the narrator has an all-knowing perspective on the story, knows thoughts of all characters

ethos

an appeal to the speaker's authority, expertise, or knowledge; evaluates one's ethics

logos

an appeal to logic and argument; shown in the way the text is arranged and often uses logic or examples

pathos

an appeal to feeling or emotions; invokes certain values, desires, hopes, fears, or prejudice

end rhyme

a rhyme that occurs in the last syllables of verses

internal rhyme

a rhyme between a word within a line and another word either at the end of the same line or within another line

rhyme scheme

the formal arrangement of rhymes in a stanza or a poem

cliche

an expression that is so overused that is has lost the power to surprise or sound original

comedy

a literary genre or type of dramatic work that is amusing and light in its tone, mostly having cheerful ending.

connotation

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

conflict

a struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions

context

the setting within which a work of writing is situated

counterargument

an argument that goes against one's thesis

denotation

the literal, dictionary definition of a word

diction

a writer's or speaker's choice of words

didactic

a literary work that is meant to instruct, give advice, or convey a philosophy or a moral message

dissonance

a harsh, discordant combination of sounds

dramatic monologue

any speech of some duration addressed by a character to a second person.

double entendre

a literary device that has multiple senses, interpretations, or meanings that understood in two different ways.

drama

a story that is written to be acted out or in front of an audience

elegy

a poem that mourns the death of a person or laments something lost

epic

a long narrative poem that relates to the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular theory

epigram

a brief, clever, and usually memorable statement that often contains a moral

epithet

An adjective or other descriptive phrase that is regularly used to characterize a person, place, or thing

euphemism

an agreeable or inoffensive word or expression used a substitute for an offensive one

foil

a character who is used in contrast to another character

foreshadowing

the use of clues to hint at what is going to happen later in the plot

flashback

a scene in a narrative work that interrupts the present action of the plot to "flash backwards" and tell what happened at an earlier time

frame story

a narrative technique whereby an introductory story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage for another narrative which is a story within a story

free verse

poetry that has no regular meter or rhyme scheme

gothic

a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, or death as well as romantic elements, such as nature and very high emotion

hamartia

inherent defect or shortcoming in the hero of a tragedy

hubris

a character trait that is arrogance and excessive pride

hyperbole

a figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong sentiment or create a comic effect

imagery

language that appeals to the senses

in medias res

the technique of starting a story in the middle of then using a flashback to tell what happened earlier

inversion

the syntactic reversal of the normal order of the words and phrases in a sentence

dramatic irony

a type of irony where the reader is aware of something the characters aren't

situational irony

a type of irony where something happening that is very different to what was expected

verbal irony

a type of irony where the writer or speaker says one thing but means the opposite

metaphor

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things without using the connective words like, as, than, or resembles

metonymy

a figure of speech in which something closely related to a thing or suggested by it is substituted for the thing itself

meter

a generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

motif

a word, character, object, or idea that recurs in a work or several works

myth

an anonymous, traditional story that explains a belief, a custom, or a mysterious natural phenomenon

narrative

any work of literature, written or oral, that tells a story

narrator

the person or character who tells the story

onomatopoeia

the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning

oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines apparently contradictory or opposing ideas

paradox

an apparent contradiction that is actually true

parallel structure

the repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that compares and contrasts ideas

personification

a figure of speech in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human

plot

the series of related events that make up a narrative

exposition

introduces the characters, setting, and the narrative's main conflict

rising action

a related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest interest, the climax

climax

the point of greatest emotional intensity or suspense in the plot when the outcome of the conflict becomes known

falling action

what happens near the end of a story after the climax and but before resolution of the major conflict

resolution

where all the problems or mysteries of the plot are unraveled

protagonist

the main character in fiction, drama, or narrative poem

rhetoric

the use of language, particularly oratory, for persuasion

rhyme

the repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem.

satire

a kind of writing that ridicules human weakness, vices, or folly in order to bring about social reform

setting

the time and place in which the story takes place

short story

brief fictional prose narrative that is shorter than a novel

simile

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things by using a connective word such like, as, than, or resembles

soliloquy

a long speech in which a character who is usually alone onstage expresses his or her private thoughts or feelings

sonnet

a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter, that has one of several traditional rhyme schemes.

speaker

the imaginary voice, or persona, assumed by the author of a poem

stanza

a group of lines in a poem that forms a single unit

stereotype

a character that conforms to the fixed or general pattern

style

the unique manner in which writers use language to express their ideals