Literary Terminology

Adventure novel

is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement

Age of Reason

a movement in Europe from about 1650 until 1800 that advocated the use of reason and individualism instead of tradition and established doctrine.

Alliteration

the repetition of beginning consonant sounds in multiple words in a single line, sentence, or phrase

Allusion

a reference to another work or famous figure assumed to be well known enough to be recognized by the reader

Anadiplosis

a word or phrase at or near the end of a clause is repeated at or near the beginning of the next clause

Anapest

a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed syllable

Anaphora

the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each line of a poem, speech, or sermon

Anecdote

a brief narrative involving presumably real people and events.

Anglo-Saxon poetry

poetic works in the Old English language, which was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxon people

Antagonist

the opposing force that the main character, also known as the protagonist, faces

Antimetabole

a figure of speech in which a phrase is repeated, but with the order of words reversed

Antithesis

a literary device that positions opposite ideas parallel to each other

Aphorism

a short phrase that expresses an important truth about life

Apostrophe

refers to a speech or address to a person who is not present or to a personified object,

Archetype

a primordial image, character, or pattern of circumstances that recurs throughout literature

Aside

a speech or short comment that a character delivers directly to an audience

Assonance

a literary device where vowel sounds are repeated. It is a sound-based device that creates rhythm and mood.

Asyndeton

a literary device in which conjunctions—such as and, but, and or—between words, phrases, or clauses are intentionally omitted while maintaining proper grammar

Attitude

how an author or character feels about something in the novel

Author’s purpose

his reason for or intent in writing

Autobiography

are books that people write about their own lives

Ballad

a poem with a musical quality. It is sometimes set to music.

Ballad stanza

consists of a total of four lines, with the first and third lines written in the iambic tetrameter and the second and fourth lines written in the iambic trimeter with a rhyme scheme of ABCB

Biography

the subject of which is the life of an individual.

Blank verse

that refers to poetry written in unrhymed but metered lines, almost always iambic pentameter

Burlesque

in literature and drama that mocks or imitates a subject by representing it in an ironic or ludicrous way;

Caesura

a break or pause in the middle of a line of verse in an Angelo Saxon poetry

Canon

a set of texts that serve as a recognized standard of stylistic quality, cultural

Caricature

a device used in writing and visual arts that exaggerates someone's distinguishing personality or physical features

Character

any person, animal, or figure represented in a literary work

Chiasmus

a literary device in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order

Climax

the central turning point of the story when the protagonist confronts the opposing force (conflict), thus making it the most intense aspect of the plot

Colloquial

a literary device often used by authors as a way to convey personality and authenticity to characters

Comedy

a type of dramatic work that is amusing and satirical in its tone, mostly having a cheerful ending

Coming of age

the protagonist's journey from being a child to being an adult.

Conceit

a type of figurative language in which the writer establishes a comparison between two very different concepts or object in an exaggerated way

Conflict

thwarted, endangered, or opposing desire

Connotation

the use of a word to suggest a different association than its literal meaning

Consonance

a literary device that repeats the same consonant sounds in adjacent or nearby words

Contrast

a method to compare, show the difference, or emphasize meaning by providing the opposite

Couplet

a literary device consisting of a pair of consecutive lines of poetry, describing a complete thought or idea

Dactyl

a three-syllable metrical pattern in poetry in which a stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables

Denotation

the literal dictionary definition of a word, without any emotional and/or implied meaning hidden beyond the literal

Denouement

the ending. It is the point where all conflicts have been resolved and leave the reader with closure

Description

a text that explains the features of something

Diacope

figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated with a small number of intervening words

Dialect

the use by characters in a narrative of distinct varieties of language to indicate a person's social or geographical status

Dialogue

a stylized written or spoken exchange between two or more people

Diary

form of autobiographical writing, a regularly kept record of the diarist's activities and reflections

Diction

the linguistic choices a writer makes to effectively convey an idea, a point of view, or tell a story

Drama

the portrayal of fictional or non-fictional events through the performance of written dialog (either prose or poetry)

Dramatic irony

when the audience understands more about a situation than some of the characters do

Dramatic monologue

long speeches given by a single character in a literary work

Dynamic character

a character who undergoes significant internal change throughout the course of a story

Elegy

a poem, and it has a particular kind of emotion driving it

Elizabethan sonnet

a sonnet consisting three quatrains and a concluding couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern

End rhyme

when the last syllables within a verse rhyme

End-stopped

A metrical line ending at a grammatical boundary or break—such as a dash or closing parenthesis—or with punctuation such as a colon, a semicolon, or a period

English sonnet

a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, employing one of several rhyme schemes, and adhering to a tightly structured thematic organization

Enjambment

a poetic term for the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next with no punctuation

Epic

a long, often book-length, narrative in verse form that retells the heroic journey of a single person or group of persons

Epigram

a concise poem dealing pointedly and often satirically with a single thought or event and often ending with an ingenious turn of thought

Epistrophe

the repetition of word or phase at the final element of a structure

Epitaph

a short statement about a deceased person, often carved on his/her tombstone

Epithet

a literary device that describes a person, place, or object by accompanying or replacing it with a descriptive word or phrase

Epizeuxis

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated in immediate succession, with no intervening word

Essay

a piece of writing in which the author identifies a theme, or big idea, from a text by generating a thesis statement

Euphemism

a word or phrase that softens an uncomfortable topic

Exaggeration

a literary technique which involves over emphasising something to cause a more effective response in the reader

Exposition

an element of literature that introduces the key background information of a narrative.

Extended metaphor

a version of metaphor that extends over the course of multiple lines, paragraphs, or stanzas of prose or poetry

External conflict

a type of literary conflict in which the protagonist has to struggle against other characters (called antagonists), nature, or society

Fable

a brief, simplistic tale told to convey a moral, or lesson to the reader about how to behave in the world

Falling action

the period of time in a story that follows the climax and leads to the resolution

Fantasy

a type of story or literature that is set in a magical world, often involving traditional myths and magical creatures, etc

Farce

a comedy in which everything is absolutely absurd

Fiction

literature created from the imagination, not presented as fact, though it may be based on a true story or situation

Figurative language

the use of words in a way that deviates from the conventional order and meaning in order to convey a complicated meaning, colorful writing, clarity, or evocative comparison

First person point of view

the narrator is a person in the story, telling the story from their own point of view

Flashback

an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point in the story

Flat character

the lack of an arc, either positive or negative

Foil

a character who contrasts with the protagonist, highlighting the protagonist's attributes

Folk ballad

a song that is traditionally sung by the common people of a region and forms part of their culture.

Folk tale

a traditional story or legend that's common to a specific culture and often passed along orally

Foot

an unit of measurement in poetry, comprised of patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables

Foreshadowing

a narrative device in which suggestions or warnings about events to come are dropped or planted

Formal diction

the use of sophisticated language, without slang or colloquialisms

Frame

a narrative that the beginning and the ending is tied together

Free verse

a poetic style that does not feature a set meter or rhyme scheme

Genre

a specific type of music, film, or writing

Hero

a person who is admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great

Heroic code

Possession of courage and strength, pride, individualism and dislike of humiliation, and a taste for revenge

Heroic couplet

a rhyming couplet, or pair of lines with end rhymes in iambic pentameter

Heroic quest

usually featuring one protagonist who goes on a dangerous mission against all odds to save a group of people or society

Historical writing

a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events

Humanism

a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings

Humor

a literary tool that makes audiences laugh

Humours

a genre of dramatic comedy that focuses on a character or range of characters

Hyperbole

an extreme exaggeration specifically for literary or rhetorical effect

iamb

a unit of two syllables, the first unstressed and the second stressed