Literary Terms Master List

A comprehensive list of literary terms with definitions to aid in understanding and studying literary concepts.

Allegory

A narrative in which characters, action, and sometimes setting represent abstract concepts apart from the literal meaning of the story.

Alliteration

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Allusion

A brief reference to a person, event, or place in history, or to a work of art/literature.

Analogy

A comparison made between two items, situations, or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects.

Anaphora

Figure of repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is/are repeated at or near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases.

Antagonist

A character in a story or play who opposes the chief character or protagonist.

Apostrophe

A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea.

Archetype

A character, action, or situation that seems to represent common patterns of human life; often includes a symbol, theme, or setting.

Aside

A few words or a short passage spoken by one character to the audience while other actors pretend they cannot hear.

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in stressed syllables.

Asyndeton

The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used.

Atmosphere (mood)

The mood/feeling of the literary work created for the reader by the writer.

Ballad

A narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain.

Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter, a line of five feet.

Cacophony

The use of harsh, discordant sounds in poetry.

Caesura

A pause or break within a line of poetry.

Carpe diem

Latin for 'seize the day,' referring to enjoying life's pleasures.

Catharsis

Purification or purging of emotions (pity or fear).

Character

An imaginary person represented in a work of fiction.

Characterization

The method an author uses to acquaint the reader with characters.

Chiasmus

A scheme in which words or concepts are introduced in order and then repeated in reverse order.

Cliché

An expression or phrase that is over-used to the point of becoming trite.

Climax

The decisive turn in a story when the action changes course.

Conceit

An elaborate figure of speech combining metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or oxymoron.

Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces (man v. man, man v. nature, etc.).

Connotation

The emotional associations surrounding a word.

Couplet

A pair of rhyming lines with identical meter.

Denotation

The strict, literal meaning of a word.

Denouement

The resolution of the plot.

Dialogue

The conversation between two or more people in a literary work.

Diction

The author's choice of words or phrases.

Dramatic irony

A situation where facts known to the audience are unknown to a character.

Dramatic monologue

A lyric poem in which the speaker addresses someone whose replies are not recorded.

Elegy

A mourning poem of lament for an individual or event.

Enjambment

The continuation of a complete idea from one line of poetry to another without pause.

Epiphany

A moment of deep realization for a character.

Epistrophe

Repetition of a concluding word or phrase.

Euphemism

Using a mild phrase instead of a blunt or painful one.

Euphony

A harmonious grouping of words that permits a pleasing flow of sound.

Exposition

The opening section of a narrative revealing characters, setting, theme, and conflict.

Flashback

An interruption of the narrative to show an episode that happened before a certain point in the story.

Foot

A group of syllables in verse, usually one accented and unaccented.

Foreshadowing

A hint given to the reader of what is to come.

Free verse

A type of poetry that is free from fixed patterns of meter and rhyme.

Hamartia

A tragic flaw or misperception leading to a character's downfall.

Hubris

Arrogant pride in a hero that often leads to downfall.

Hyperbole

An exaggerated figure of speech.

Iambic pentameter

A line of verse having five metrical feet, often used by Shakespeare.

Imagery

Sensory details that create vividness in a literary work.

In medias res

Latin for 'in the middle of things'; a narrative that begins mid-action.

Irony

A contrast between what appears to be and what really is.

Juxtaposition

Placing two ideas or images side by side for effect.

Litotes

A figure of speech that states a positive by negating its opposite.

Metaphor

An implied comparison between two unlike things.

Meter (rhythm)

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Metonymy

Substituting a closely associated term for the actual object.

Motif

A recurrent element that unifies a literary work.

Narrator (persona/point of view)

The teller of the story.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate the sounds they describe.

Paradox

A statement that seems self-contradictory but has valid meaning.

Parallelism

Establishing similar grammatical structures for effect.

Parody

A humorous imitation of serious writing.

Persona

The speaker or narrator of a text or poem.

Personification

Endowing ideas or objects with human-like qualities.

Plot

The series of events in a literary work.

Point of view

The relation between the storyteller and the characters.

Polysyndeton

Using multiple conjunctions to achieve an overwhelming effect.

Prosody

The mechanics of verse poetry, including sounds and rhythms.

Protagonist

The leading character in a literary work.

Pun

A humorous play on words with different meanings.

Rhyme

Exact repetition of sounds in accented syllables.

Rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhymes in a poem.

Satire

A technique that employs wit to ridicule a subject.

Setting

The time and place of the action in a narrative.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using 'like' or 'as'.

Situational irony

An occurrence contrary to what is expected or intended.

Soliloquy

A dramatic convention where a character speaks thoughts aloud while alone.

Sonnet

A fourteen-line poem, usually in iambic pentameter.

Stereotype

A conventional pattern with little individuality used for a purpose.

Stream of consciousness

The recording of a character's flow of thought.

Style

The distinctive handling of language by an author.

Symbol

A person, place, or object that represents something beyond itself.

Synecdoche

A figure of speech in which a part represents the whole.

Synesthesia

Describing one sense using another sense.

Syntax

The arrangement of words within a sentence.

Theme

The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.

Tone

The author's attitude toward the subject matter and audience.

Understatement

A figure of speech that says less than one means.

Verbal irony

When the intended meaning differs from the literal statement.

Villanelle

A poetic form of five tercets followed by a quatrain.