English 12 terms and devices

Allegory

Story with hidden meaning.

Alliteration

Repeated initial consonant sounds.

Allusion

Indirect reference.

Analogy

Comparison for explanation.

Antagonist

Main character's opponent.

Antithesis

Contrasting ideas in parallel form.

Apostrophe

Direct address to an absent entity.

Archaic language

Old, unused words

Assonance

Repeated vowel sounds.

Ballad

Narrative poem/song.

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Cacophony

Harsh, clashing sounds.

Caricature

Exaggerated, humorous depiction.

Character foil

Contrasting character highlighting others.

Cliché

Overused phrase.

Colloquialism

Informal word/phrase.

Colloquial language

Everyday informal speech.

Comedy

Humorous play, happy ending.

Comic relief

Humor to lighten mood

Connotation

Implied meaning of word.

Consonance

Repeated consonant sounds (anywhere).辅音韵

Couplet

Two rhyming lines.

Denotation

Literal meaning of word

Dénouement

Story's final resolution.

Dialect

Regional language variation.

Diction

The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.

Dissonance

Unharmonious elements.

Drama

A play for theatre, radio, or television.

Dramatic irony

Audience knows more than characters.

Dynamic character

Character who changes.

Elegy

Poem mourning the dead.

Epic

Long heroic poem.

Epilogue

Concluding part of book/play.

Epiphany

Sudden realization.

Epitaph

Inscription on a tomb

Euphemism

Mild substitute for harsh word.

Exposition

Introduction of story.

Extended metaphor

Detailed, prolonged metaphor.

External conflict

Character vs. outside force.

Fable

A short story, typically with animals as characters, that conveys a moral.

Farce

Exaggerated, absurd comedy.

Figurative language

Non-literal language.

First person point of view

Narrator is "I."

Flat character

Simple, unchanging character.

Form

Structure of literary work.

Free verse

Poetry without rhyme/meter.

Genre

Category of literature.

Hero

Main admirable character.

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration.

Iambic pentameter

10-syllable line, alternating stress.

Idiom

Phrase with non-literal meaning.

Image

Word appealing to senses

Imagery

Descriptive language creating vivid pictures.

Internal rhyme

Rhyme within a line (middle of a line and another at the end of the line)

Jargon

Specialized language of a group.

Juxtaposition

Placing things side-by-side for contrast.

Limited omniscient point of view

Narrator knows one character's thoughts.

Literal language

Exact meaning.

Lyric

Short, song-like poem.

Metaphor

Direct comparison (no "like/as").

Metre

Rhythmic pattern of poem.

Mood

Emotional atmosphere.

Narrative

A story.

Objective point of view

Narrator observes, doesn't know thoughts.

Octave

Eight-line stanza.

Ode

Formal lyric poem.

Omniscient point of view

Narrator knows all thoughts.

Onomatopoeia

Words imitating sounds.

Oxymoron

Two opposite words used together.

Paradox

A statement that seems impossible but is true.

Parody

A funny copy of something

Pathos

Something that makes you feel sad or sorry.

Personification

Giving human qualities to non-human things.

Plot

The main events of a story.

Point of view

Who is telling the story

Propaganda

Information to push a certain idea.

Proverb

A short, wise saying

Pun

A joke using words with double meanings.

Quatrain

A poem stanza with four lines.

Rhetorical question

A question asked for effect, not an answer.

Rhyme

Words that sound alike at the end

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhymes in a poem.

Rhythm

The beat or flow of sounds.

Round character

A complex character who changes.

Sarcasm

Saying the opposite of what you mean to mock someone.

Satire

Using humor to criticize people or ideas

Sestet

The last six lines of a sonnet.

Setting

When and where the story happens

Simile

Comparing two unlike things using "like" or "as."

Slang

Very casual language, often specific to a group.

Soliloquy

A character speaking thoughts aloud when alone

Sonnet

A 14-line poem.

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem; a verse.

Static character

A character who does not change.

Stock / stereotyped character

A character that fits a common, simple type.

Symbol

Something that stands for another idea.

Symbolism

Using objects to represent ideas.

Theme

The main message or idea of a story.

Thesis

A main point or argument

Thesis statement

A sentence stating the main idea