Literary Terms

Allegory

a story in which characters, events, and symbols represent abstract ideas or moral truths

Ex) Pandora’s Box

Allusion

a reference to a well known story, person, or event

Ex) calling someone “a real Hercules” is an allusion to his strength

Archetype

a universal pattern of character or situation

Ex) Odysseus is the archetype of the clever hero

Characterization

the method of revealing a character’s traits and motives

Ex) Achilles’ rage reveals his pride

Connotation

the emotional or cultural association a word carries

Ex) “serpent” has a negative connotation of deceit

Denotation

the dictionary meaning of a word

Ex) “serpent” means snake

Diction

the author’s deliberate word choice and phrasing

Ex) the formal diction of Oedipus Rex gives it grandeur

Exposition

the part of a story that introduces characters, setting, and conflict

Ex) the exposition of The Iliad introduces Achilles’ quarrel with Agamemnon

Extended Metaphor

a comparison developed through several lines or an entire work

Ex) in The Odyssey, Odysseus’ voyage is an extended metaphor for the human struggle to return “home” to wisdom and identity

Figurative Language 

words used non literally to convey emotion or meaning. Figurative language refers to words or phrases that are meaningful, but not literally true. If you say “that news hit me like a ton of bricks,” you’re using figurative language; listeners understand the pounds of bricks. (Merriam Webster) 

Ex) “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear,” comparing emotions rather than objects. (Katniss, The Hunger Games)

Hyperbole

deliberate exaggeration for emphasis

Ex) Percy Jackson complains he’s “died a thousands times” during training

Imagery

language appealing to the senses to create vivid mental pictures

Ex) in Circe by Madeline Miller, “black waves frothed like spitting beasts.”

Situational Irony

when the opposite of what' expected occurs

Ex) King Midas’ wish for gold becomes his curse

Dramatic Irony

when the audience knows something a character doesn’t

Ex) readers know Oedipus has fulfilled the prophecy long before he realizes it

Verbal Irony

when a speaker says the opposite of what they mean

Ex) in The Lightning Thief, Percy mutters, “Great, another monster,” meaning the opposite

Juxtaposition

placing two contrasting elements side by side for effect

Ex) in The Book Thief, bombing scenes alternate with children reading, highlighting innocence vs. destruction

Metaphor

Ex) in The Fault in Our Starts, Augustus calls pain “a grenade”

a direct comparison between two unlike things (not using like or as)

Imagery (fig. lang.)

Ex) The golden sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with streaks of orange and pink

visually descriptive or figurative language, especially, in a literary work

Mood

the emotional atmosphere or feeling evoked in the reader by the text

Ex) The night was dark and full of whispers

Satire

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues 

Ex) Website The Onion publishes fake news stories that are clearly not serious, mimicking the style of legitimate news outlets to make a humorous and critical commentary on society. 

Setting

refers to the time and place where something happens, but it can also mean the physical surroundings, or options to configure a device or software

Ex) the world of Narnia

Simile

a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid

Ex) ‘as brave as a lion’ or ‘as busy as a bee’

Oxymoron

a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction

Ex) ‘big baby’ or ‘walking dead’ or ‘bittersweet’

Sarcasm

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt

Ex) After being inconvenienced: ‘take your time crossing the road, it’s not like I have somewhere to be’

Parable

a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels

Ex) The Story of the Rich Fool: a story about a man who stores up riches but dies that night, teaching that material wealth doesn’t guarantee spiritual health or long life

Paradox

a statement or concept that appears self-contradictory but may contain an underlying truth upon closer examination

Ex) Grandfather Anomaly: the idea that if you go back in time and kill your grandfather, you would never have been born to go back in the first place

Style

the unique way an author uses language, including word choice (diction), sentence structure (syntax), tone, and figurative language, to create a specific effect on the reader

Ex) different types of writing styles: narrative, expository, persuasive, descriptive, technical, creative, and informational

Understatement

a figure of speech that intentionally makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is

Ex) In The Great Gatsby, Nick says Gatsby’s parties are “rather interesting,” an understatement for their extravagance.

Rhetoric

the art of effective or persuative speaking and writing

Ex) Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech uses powerful rhetoric to inspire social change.

Rhetorical Question

a question asked to make a point rather than to elicit an answer

Ex) “What’s in a name?” from Romeo and Juliet — Juliet isn’t seeking an answer but expressing an idea

Analogy

a comparison between two things that are alike in some way, used for explanation or clarification

Ex) In The Odyssey, Odysseus’ journey is an anaology for life’s trails and perserverance.

Antithesis

a contrast of ideas expressed in a balanced or parallel structure

Ex) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” — A Tale of Two Cities 

Pun

a play on words that exploits multiple meanings for humorous or rhetorical effect

Ex) In Hamlet, when the gravedigger says, “I am a grave man,” it’s a pun on seriousness and death.

Anticlimax

a shift from a serious or impressive idea to something trivial or disappointing

Ex) After pages of heroic buildup, the villian slips on a banana peel — an anticlimax

Parallel Strucutre

the reptition of a chose grammatical form within a sentence to show that two or more ideas have the same importance

Ex) “She likes reading, writing, and running.”