ApLit Common Literary Elements

Alliteration

Repitiion of initial consonant sounds in adjacent words

Allusion

Reference to something outside of a text. Often in relation to an event, a person, history, mythology, pop culture, or something else

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds in adjacent words

Caesura

A pause within a line of poetry, often indicated by punctuation

Catharsis

Cleansing/Purging of emotion in or caused by a literary work

Closed Form Poetry

Poetry that sticks to predictable patterns and structures

Connotation

Feelings/Ideas associated with what a particular word evokes

Diction

Authors choice of words.

Dramatic Irony

When the reader/audience knows something a character does not

Dynamic Character

A character that undergoes a significant change throughout the narrative

Enjambment

When a line of poetry continues onto the next line without any punctuation

Epiphany

A sudden realization/discovery of the truth or meaning of things

Flashback

Scene that interrupts the linear narrative of a text. Often introduce character backgrounds

Foil

A character who contrasts with the protagonist.

Hyperbole

Extravagant exaggeration for a figurative effect

Imagery

Sensory images contained in/evoked by a text. It can be figurative or directly described

In Medias Res

Latin for “in the midst of things.” Refers to a narrative that starts in the middle of the plot

Juxtaposition

Act of contrasting two objects or images side by side and studying the effects of this contrast

Metaphor

Subtle or implied comparison between two unlike things

Narrator

Voice or persona telling a story

Open Form Poetry

Poetry that does not follow an expected or predictable pattern

Paradox

A statement that contradicts itself

Personification

Act of giving human qualities to a non-human object, emotion, or entity

Perspective

How narrators, characters, or speaker understand circumstances. Is informed by background, personality traits, biases, and relationships

Point of View

Perspective used in a text, which affects how a story is told

Setting

Time and place of a story, but it can also include the historical and cultural background of a text.

Simile

Direct comparison of two unlike things. Typically using “like” or “as”

Situational Irony

Occurs when an expected action is turned on its head and the opposite happens

Static Character

A character that remains unchanged throughout the course of a narrative

Symbol

A tangible object that represents something intangible or abstract (green light in gatsby)

Syntax

The arrangement of words in a line of poetry or in a sentence of a prose