APLIT&Comp - Terms/Devices

What is allegory?

The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.

What is allusion?

A reference to a canonical work of literature, usually the Bible, Shakespeare, or mythology.

What is alliteration?

Repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of successive words or phrases.

What is anachronism?

An error of chronology or timeline in a literary piece.

What is anaphora?

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines or phrases.

What is an antagonist?

The protagonist’s adversary, not always the bad guy or villain, but typically so.

What is an anti-hero?

A character who has characteristics opposite to those of a conventional hero.

What is antithesis?

Juxtaposition of two opposing elements through parallel grammatical structure.

What is apostrophe?

When a character speaks to a character or object that is not present or is unable to respond.

What is assonance?

Repetition of the same vowel sound in a phrase or line of poetry.

What is asyndeton?

Omission of conjoining conjunctions when not grammatically necessary for emphasis or to maintain meter.

What is a Bildungsroman?

A novel of coming-of-age, formation, growth, or change.

What is blank verse?

Poetic lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter.

What is a caesura?

A brief pause in a line of poetry caused by enjambment or punctuation anywhere in the line.

What is catharsis?

The emotional release of the audience by experiencing vicariously the suffering of the characters.

What is cacophony?

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.

What is chiasmus?

Words, grammatical constructions, or concepts repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form.

What is colloquialism?

Informal, conversational language; can also be phrases or sayings indicative of a specific region.

What is conceit?

A comparison between two very different concepts or objects; a specific use of extended metaphor.

What is connotation?

The idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing.

What is consonance?

Repetition of consonant sounds in a phrase or line of poetry.

What is a couplet?

Two rhyming lines in poetry.

What is denotation?

The dictionary definition of a word.

What is diction?

Specific word choice.

What is denouement?

The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot.

What is a double entendre?

A word or phrase open to two interpretations.

What is an elegy?

A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person.

What is enjambment?

Continuation of reading one line of a poem to the next with no pause.

What is an end-stopped line?

A metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break.

What is an epic?

An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language.

What is an epigraph?

An introductory quote at the beginning of a novel or play.

What is an epilogue?

A short poem or speech spoken directly to the audience following the conclusion of a song or play; in novels, a short explanation at the end of a book indicating what happens after the plot ends.

What is epistolary?

A novel that tells its story through letters written from one character to another.

What is epistrophe?

Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a sentence or clause.

What is euphemism?

Substituting a harsh, blunt, or offensive comment for a more accepted or positive one.

What is euphony?

A succession of words that are pleasing to the ear.

What is a fable?

A short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point; often employs animals as characters.

What is a feminine ending?

An unstressed extra syllable at the end of a line of poetry.

What is figurative language?

Language that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special effect or meaning.

What is a flashback?

When a character remembers a past event that is relevant to the current action of the story.

What is a flat character?

A character whose personality can be defined by one or two traits and does not change over the course of the text.

What is a foil?

A character that, by contrast, underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another.

What is foreshadowing?

Clues in the text about incidents that will occur later in the plot.

What is free verse?

Verse that contains a variety of line lengths, is unrhymed, and lacks traditional meter.

What is hamartia?

The Greek word describing the tragic flaws of a character.

What does in medias res mean?

A story that begins in the middle of things.

What is inversion?

In poetry, an intentional digression from ordinary word order, used to maintain regular meter.

What is irony?

When one thing should occur, is apparent, or follows logically, but the opposite actually occurs.

What is a masculine ending?

A stressed extra syllable at the end of a line.

What is meter?

The measured arrangement of words in poetry by accented rhythm, number of syllables grouped by stressed syllables, or the total number of syllables in a line.

What is a metaphor?

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, making an implicit comparison.

What is metonymy?

Using a word or phrase to stand in for something else that is often associated with it.

What is a motif?

A symbolic image or idea that occurs frequently.

What is a novella?

A short novel, usually under 100 pages.

What is an ode?

A lyric poem of considerable length, usually serious or meditative in nature and having an elevated style.

What is a paradox?

A statement that seems to contradict itself.

What is parody?

A work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or work for comic effect or ridicule.

What is polysyndeton?

The use of multiple joining conjunctions when they are not grammatically necessary for emphasis or to retain meter.

What is a prologue?

An introduction or preface, especially a poem recited to introduce a play.

What is prose?

Ordinary speech or writing without metrical structure, written in paragraph form.

What is a pun?

A play on words, when two words have multiple meanings or spellings and are usually used in a humorous manner.

What is rhyme scheme?

The pattern of end rhyme in a poem.

What is satire?

A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit; the goal is to change the behavior or issue.

What is a soliloquy?

A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to themselves or reveals their thoughts without addressing a listener.

What is a sonnet?

Traditionally, a poem of fourteen lines of rhyming iambic pentameter.

What is style?

The combination of distinctive features of literary expression.

What is a symbol?

Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.

What is synecdoche?

A figure of speech in which a part is referred to by the whole or the whole refers to a part.

What is tragedy?

A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw.

What is tone?

How the author feels about the subject matter or the feeling the author wants to instill in the reader through the use of specific diction.