Literary Terms English 30-1 ALBERTA

Allegory

The representation of ideas or moral principles by means of symbolic characters, events or objects.

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A very simple story written in either prose or poetic form that is meant to teach a lesson about life.

Alliteration

The repetition of a constant sound to create rhythm and aid memory / effect

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The repetition of the initial consonant sounding in words

Allusion

A brief reference to a historical or literary person. place, object, or event

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A reference to a significant figure, event, place, or literary work that the writer expects the reader to recognize

Analogy

The comparison of two similar to suggest that if they are alike in some respects, they are probably alike in other ways.

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A comparison of ideas or objects which are essentially different but which are alike in one significant way

Anecdote

A short narrative that tells the particulars of an interesting and/ or humorous events.

Antagonist

A person of thing that opposes the protagonist of hero of a story

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The force (usually, but not always, a person) that opposes the main character (the protagonist) in his attempt to solve a problem and thus to resolve the conflict he is involved in.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech where someone (usually absent or dead), an object, some abstract quality or a non-existent person is directly addressed as though present and real.

Atmosphere

The general over-all feeling of a story conveyed in a large part by the setting and the mood.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds.

Blank Verse

Unrhymed in a spot which it should be, usually occurs in an iambic pentameter.

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poetic form written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Balled

A narrative (story) poem with many specific characteristics. A few structural considerations are rhythm, rhyme, repetition and chorus.

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a type of poem that is meant to be sung and is both lyric and narrative in nature

Caricature

A representation or limitation of a person's physical or personality traits that are so exaggerated they become comic or absurd.

Characterization

The creation of imaginary persons so that they seem alike.

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The portrayal in a story of an imaginary person by what he says or does, by what others say about him or how they react to him, and by what the author reveals directly or through a narrator.

Cliché

A word or phrase that is overused so that it is no longer effective in most writing situations.

Colloquial

Informal everyday spoken language.

Character foil

A character with a personality trait that contrasts with a trait of another character.

Climax

The high point or turning point in the story. The point in which the rising action reserves and becomes falling action.

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The point of highest interest or dramatic intensity in a story, usually it marks the turning point in the story, since the reader is no longer in doubt about the outcome.

Coherence

The parts of a composition which should be arranged in a logical and orderly manner so that the meaning and ideas are clear and well understood

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Writing, moving logically and clearly from one idea to another; the arrangement of ideas in a clear order so that one idea moves smoothly to the next

Conflict

The Problem, or struggle that the characters have to solve or come to grips with by the end of the story.

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The struggle between two opposing forces, ideas, or beliefs which form the basis of a story's plot. The conflict is resolved when one force - usually the

protagonist- succeeds or fails in overcoming the opposing force or gives up trying.

Connotation

The emotions and feeling that surround a word. They could be negative, neutral, or positive, depending on their context.

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An emotional coloration/association in addition to the explicit or denotative meaning of any specific word or phrase.

Context

The environment of a word, the words that surround a particular word and help to determine or deepen its meaning.

Couplet

In poetry , two consecutive lines that rhyme.

Critique

A critical examination of a work to determine how it measures up to current standards.

Denotation

The literal or basic meaning of a word.

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The precise, literal meaning of a word or expression (the dictionary meaning) as opposed to a possible connotative* meaning.

Denouement

The resolution and the outcome of the play.

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The unraveling of the plot of a story, following the climax, in which the writer explains how and why everything turned out as it did...falling action*.

Dialogue

The conversation between two or more characters.

Dialect

The language used in a particular region. The vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation which varies between different regions.

Diction

The writers choice of words based on their clarity and effectiveness.

Drama

A story told by actors who play characters and reveal the conflict through their actions and dialogue

Editorial

A short essay in a newspaper that expresses a writer's opinion.

Elegy

A formal poem that meditates on death or another solemn theme.

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A sad or mournful poem, especially one mourning the dead

Empathy

When you put yourself in someone else's place and imagine how that person must feel.

Epic

A log narrative poem about the deeds of a great hero that reflects the values of the society that it is produced in.

Epitaph

A short verse or poem in memory of someone. often found on tombstones.

Eulogy

A formal speech praising a person or a thing.

Enjambment

When the writer uses line breaks meaningfully and abruptly to either emphasize a point or to create dual meanings.

Euphemism

When you replace in word meaning or phrase in order to avoid being offensive

Exposition

The introductory section of a play or novel that provides background information of the setting, characters and plot.

Fable

A brief that uses animals as characters to teach a moral lesson.

Falling action

The last section of a play where the final decision has occurred after the climax.

Flashback

A device by which a writer interrupts the main action of a story to recreate a situation or incident of an earlier time as though it were occurring in the present.

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Insertion of a scene or event that took place in the past for the purpose of making something in the present, more clear.

Flat Character

A character presented in outline (one or two traits), somewhat stereotyped; easy to describe.

Farce

Writing that essential was only created to make the reader laugh. less plot and characters being involved in improbable situations.

Figurative Language

Expressive language that is written to create a special effect of feeling.

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Imagination is needed to complete meaning

Foil

The term is applied to any person who, through contrast underscores the distinctive characteristics of another.

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Two characters that highlight each other by their differences.

Foreshadowing

The suggestion or hint of events to come later in literary work.

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The dropping of important hints by the author to prepare the reader for what is to come and to help the reader anticipate the outcome.

Free Verse

A Verse, written without rhyme, meter or regular rhythm.

Genre

Type / Form of literature.

Hamartia

The error, mistaken judgement where the fortunes of the tragic hero are reversed.

Heroic Couplet

Two consecutive lines of rhymed verse written in iambic pentameter*.

Historical Fiction

Fiction in some other time other then our current one.

Hyperbole

A type of figurative language that makes an overstatement for the purpose of emphasis*.

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A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor.

Iambic Pentameter

A line of poetry that contains five iambic feet. An iambic us a foot consisting of sn unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable.

Imagery

The use of descriptive words or phrases to create vivid mental pictures in the minds of the reader. often appealing to sight, sound, taste or smell.

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A general term for any representation of a particular thing with its attendant and evocative detail. Imagery in writing can involve any of the senses: touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing. Imagery is achieved through the use of descriptive detail that often utilizes various forms of figurative language.

Idiom

An accepted phrase or expression having a meaning different from the literal.

Incident

One of the events (usually minor) that make up the total action or plot of a work of fiction.

Irony

A mode of expression in which the author says one thing and means the opposite. The term also applies to a situation, or the outcome of an event, (or series of events), that is the opposite of what might be expected or considered appropriate.

There is verbal, situational and dramatic* irony

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The contrast between what is and what is expected, a discrepancy between appearance and reality.

Dramatic Irony

When the audience knows more than the characters on the stage. creates tension.

Situation Irony

A situations or events that occurs opposite then what was expected.

Verbal Irony

The expression of an attitude of intention that is the opposite of what is actually meant

Indirect Characterization

The characters traits and nature are revealed by the author through dialogue or action; it is considered the best form of characterization.

Juxtupositon

An act or instance of placing two things close together or side by side. This is often done in order to compare/contrast the two, to show similarities

or differences, etc. It has a quality of being unexpected

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Placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast

Jargon

The specialized language used by people in a particular occupation or group

Legend

A narrative or tradition handed down from the past; distinguished from a myth by having more historical truth and perhaps less of the supernatural

Limerick

A form of light verse that follows a definite rhyme scheme where the first, second and fifth lines rhyme and the third and fourth lines rhyme

Lyric

A short poem that expresses the personal feelings and thoughts of a single speaker.

Malapropism

When two words become jumbled in the mind of the speaker becasue they resemble each other and he/she uses the wrong one.

Melodrama

An exaggerated. sensational form of drama which is intended to appeal to the emotions of the audience.

Metaphor

A comparison of two dissimilar things.

Direct Metaphor

When the writer directly states both of the things being compared in the metaphor*.

Indirect Metaphor

When the writer states one of the things and the reader must infer the metaphor*.

Meter

A pattern of stressed/unstressed syllables in poetry.

Metonymy

The substitution of an object closely associated with a word for itself.

Mood

The feeling a piece of literature arouses in the reader.

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The frame of mind or state of feeling created by a piece of writing.

Moral

The lesson taught by a literary work

Motif

Recurring ideas , images and actions that tend to unify the writing.

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A recurring object, concept, or structure in a work of literature.

Myth

A traditional story that presents supernatural beings and situations that attempt to explain and/or interpret

Narration

An account or story of an event, or series of events, whether true or imaginary.

Novel

Fictional and lengthy.

Objective

When a writer makes every attempt to simply present the facts, without opinion or bias.

Onomatopoeia

A type of figurative language in which words sound like the things the name.

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when the words sound like what they mean

Oxymoron

A self-contradicting combination of words.

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An expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined

Pathos

That quality in prose that evokes in the reader a feeling of pity and compassion.

Parable

A short story descriptive story whose purpose is to illustrate a lesson or moral.

Paradox

A statement that at first seems contradictory, but in fact, reveals a truth.

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An apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth

Parody

When a writer imitates an already existing form for the purpose of humour.

Personification

A type of figurative language that gives living characteristics to non-living things.

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Representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature.

Plot

The action of a story, all of the events that occur from the beginning to the end.

Point Of View

From whose angle the story is being told from.

First Person

When a character in the story tells the story using "I" or "WE".

Second Person

Used in nonfiction, primarily for the purpose if writing instruction or directions, using "YOU".

Third Person

When the narrator is telling the events from "outside" the story from a neutral or unemotional viewpoint, using "HE","SHE".

Omniceient

When the narrator can see into the hearts and minds of more than one of the characters in the story.

Limited Omniceient

When the narrator can see into the mind and heart of only one of the characters in the story.

Protagonist

The main characters in a piece of writing, the action revolves around this person and the antagonist (opposing force).

Pseudonym

Means "false name" and is used by some writers instead of their real name.

Pun

A word or phrase which has a "double meaning" as intended by the writer. Often these words sound the same but have different meanings.

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A play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings.

Realism

The faithful portrayal of people, scenes, and events as they are, not as the writer would like them to be.

Repetition

Repeating a word or a group of words for emphasising, and to add effect.

Resolution

The events following the climax in a work of fiction; sometimes called the falling action*.