US Senate Page School English Final Literary Terms

Alliteration

the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity to one another

Allusion

reference to another work

Antagonist

the person or thing working against the protagonist

Blank Verse

unrhymed iambic pentameter. Each line consists of 10 syllables, with every other syllable, beginning with the second, stressed. Shakespeare’s plays are written in this form

Climax

the turning point, and usually the most intense point in a story

Conflict

the struggle in a story that triggers the action

Person v Person

Conflict between characters

Person v society

conflict between a character and some element of society, such as the law or societal standards

Person v self

conflict between urges, desires, instincts, or other feelings within a single character

Person v nature

conflict between a character or characters and a force of nature (cold, storms, etc.)

Person v fate

conflict between a character and an external force that he/she cannot control but that controls his/her life

deus ex machina

a person or thing that suddenly appears to deliver characters from an impossible situation. The term means “god out of the machine” and originated in ancient Greek dramas where it referred to gods and goddesses being lowered to the stage in a crane disguised as a flying chariot to rescue characters in an impossible predicament

Dialogue

the conversation between characters

Diction

the type of words a writer uses

Dramatic irony

the reader sees a character’s mistakes or misunderstandings, but the character does not

Dynamic character

a character who undergoes a change in the course of a story

Flashback

a narrative device that takes the reader back to an earlier time than the events of the story

Foreshadowing

the use of subtle hints to prepare the reader for something that will come later in the story

Free verse

poetry without a regular meter or rhyme scheme

Genre

refers to a category or type of literature based on its style, form, or content. Examples are the gothic novel and the American western

Imagery

refers to words or phrases based on sensory details, used by writers to create a concrete picture in the reader’s mind

in media res

a narrative technique which begins in the middle of a story, then takes the reader back to events that led up to that point, and concludes after the point where the story began. The term means “in the middle of things”

Metaphor

a comparison of two unlike things in which no word of comparison is used

Meter

the patterned repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry

Narrator

the person telling the story

Onomatopoeia

the use of a word whose sound suggests its meaning

Paradox

a statement that appears to be contradictory but actually contains a germ of truth

Parody

a form of satire that imitates a particular work and its style

Personification

attributing human characteristics to something non-human

Plot

the action or sequence of events in a story

Omniscient POV

the narrator relates what all the characters think

Third-person limited POV

the narrator relates what some of the characters think

Third-person objective POV

the narrator relates only what the characters say and do; he does not interpret their behavior

First person POV

the narrator is someone involved in the story, so the events are related using the first-person pronouns

Satire

describes both a tone and type of literature that ridicules or mocks something with the intent of pointing out its weaknesses or failings and of correcting it

Setting

the time and place in which the action of a work occurs

Simile

a comparison of two unlike things using like or as to make the comparison

Static character

a character who does not change in the course of the story

Stanza

segments of a poem

Stream of consciousness

a narrative technique which follows the thoughts and feelings of the narrator as they occur

Style

the particular qualities and characteristics of form that distinguish a writer’s work from others’ works

Symbol

something concrete used to represent something abstract

Theme

general idea conveyed by a work (not a moral or lesson) expressed as a universal idea, with no direct reference to the details of the story

Tone

the emotional coloring of the work (belongs to the work, not the author)

Verbal irony

the reader sees a twist between what a character says and what actually is