Literary devices

Oxymoron

Two contrasting terms paired together

Genere

Category of literary work

Tone

Authors attitude toward the subject

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration

Dialogue

Conversation in a text is indicated by quotation marks

Similie

A comparison using “like” or “as”

Imagery

Descriptive language used by the author to appeal to the reader’s senses

Allusion

Reference to another story or work, the author expects the reader to recognize

Flashback

When the author interrupts the logical sequence of events to discuss something that happened previously

Situational Irony

The difference between what is expected to happen and what actually happens

Foil

A character who is the opposite of another character; each character emphasizes the traits of the other

Climax

High point of action in a story

Foreshadowing

Hints or clues of what’s to come

Motif

Recurring image or idea in a story that ties it together

Alliteration

Repetition of constant sounds at the beginnings of words

Protagonist

The main character

Antagionist

The character or force that opposes the main character

Metaphor

Comparison not using “like” or “as”

Onomatopeia

Words that imitate sounds

Symbol

An object that represents a larger idea

Personification

Giving human like qualities to nonhuman objects

Conflicts

The problem in the story

Theme

The central idea/universal lesson of a text

Characterization

Techniques used by an author to develop a character

Setting

Where and when the story takes place

Verbal irony

Difference between what is said and what is meant

Stanza

A collection of lines (like a paragraph) of a poem

First person POV

Narrator uses “I/we”

Omniscent third person POV third-person

The narrator uses "he/she/they” and knows all of the thoughts and feelings of all the characters

Second person POV

Narrator uses “you”

Third person POV

Narrator uses “he/she/they”

POV

Perspective from which the story is told