lit devices test

Characterization

Direct and indirect

Cultural norms

Shared rules and expectations that members of society adhere to

Conflicts

The struggle between opposing forces (external/internal)

Protagonist

The most neutral and broadly applicable term for the main character in a work, whether heroic or not heroic

Antagonist

Character or a nonhuman force that opposes or is in a conflict with the protagonist

Foil

Character that serves as a contrast to another

Epiphany

1) usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something 2) an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking 3) an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure 4) a revealing scene or moment

Flashback

Fictional past is inserted into the fictional present

Flashfoward

Fictional future is inserted into the fictional present

In media res

refers to opening a plot in the middle of the action

Frame narrative

Narrative that recounts and thus “frames” the telling of another narrative or story

Plot structure

Exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

First person pov

Narration by a character using “I” or “we”

Third person pov

Narration outside the story using “he”, “she”, or “they”

Unreliable narrator

Narrator whose credibility is compromised

Speaker

The voice that “speaks” a poem or narrative

Frame story

A story within another story

Diction

Word choice

Irony

Contrast between expectation and reality

Syntax

Sentence structure

Selection of detail

Specific facts or descriptions that the author includes

Tone

The attitude a literary work takes toward its subject or that a character in the work conveys, especially as revealed through diction

Denotation

Word’s literal meaning

Connotation

What is suggested by a word

Alliteration

The repetition of an initial consonant sound

Hyperbole

Exaggerated language

Understatement

Language that makes a point by self-consciously downplaying its real emphasis

Symbol

Object representing something beyond itself

Motif

Repeated element with thematic significance

Setting

Time and place of a story

Theme

Central message or insight

Imagery

Descriptive language appealing to senses

Simile

Comparison using “like” or “as”

Metaphor

Direct comparison without using “like” or “as”

Personification

Giving human traits to nonhuman things

Allusion

Indirect reference to another work or idea

Juxtaposition

Placement of contrasting elements side by side

Selection of detail

Specific descriptive choices an author includes

Alliteration

The occurrence of the same consonant letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words (Also figurative language)

Anaphora

Figure of speech involving the repetition of the same word or phrase (and especially at the beginning of) successive line, clauses, or sentences, as in “We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—/We passed the Setting Sun—“ (Emily Dickenson, “Because I could not stop for Death—“

Assonance

In poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel

Caesura

Short pause within a line of poetry

Cacophony

Repetition of harsh sounds such as p,b,k, etc.

Euphony

Repetition of pleasant sounds such as l,m,r,n

Consonance

Recurrence or repetition of consonants especially at the end of stressed syllables without the similar correspondence of vowels (as in the final sounds of “stroke” and “luck”)

End-stopped line

Metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break- such as a dash or closing parentheses -or with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period

Enjambment

In poetry, the technique of running over from one line to the next without stop. Ex. Pat Mora writes: “I live in a doorway/ between two rooms”. These lines, and please take notice of the “/“ that divides them, would be described as enjambed. Another example is “I walked my doggy/ to the park” (Rauch 1-2).

Shift/volta/turn

The turn of thought or argument

Sibilance

Repetition of an s or sh sound, as in sash