Lit Terms

allegory

A story in which characters, settings, and events represent larger political, moral, religious or philosophical ideas. (A story about animals overthrowing a farmer may represent a political revolution)

allusion

An indirect reference to another literary work, historical event, myth, person, religion, or cultural idea. (Describing someone as having an 'Achilles heel' alludes to Greek mythology)

ambiguity

Deliberate uncertainty that allows a word, event, character, or passage to have multiple interpretations. (A character's final smile may suggest either forgiveness or revenge)

anachronism

Something placed in a historical period where it does not belong. (A character in ancient Rome checking a wristwatch)

anecdote

A brief story used to illustrate a character, idea, or theme. (A narrator recalls a childhood argument to explain his fear of confrontation)

archetype

A recurring character type, image, situation, or pattern found across literature and cultures. (The hero who leaves home, faces trials, and returns transformed)

bildungsroman

A coming-of-age narrative tracing a character's psychological, moral, or intellectual development. (A novel follows a child from innocence into mature adulthood)

characterization

The techniques an author uses to develop a character's personality, values, motives, and complexity. (Repeated acts of generosity establish a character as compassionate)

direct characterization

The narrator explicitly tells the reader what a character is like. ('Marcus was intensely jealous of his older brother')

indirect characterization

Character traits are revealed through actions, dialogue, thoughts, appearance, or other characters' reactions. (Marcus hides his brother's trophy rather than admitting his jealousy)

conflict

The struggle between opposing forces that drives a literary work. (A young woman must choose between family expectations and personal freedom)

external conflict

Conflict between a character and an outside force. (A farmer struggles to survive a destructive drought)

internal conflict

A psychological struggle within a character. (A soldier wants to flee battle but feels obligated to remain)

diction

An author's deliberate choice of words and their connotations. (Calling a house a 'mansion' rather than a 'home' creates different associations)

epigraph

A quotation or brief passage placed at the beginning of a work or section to suggest its themes. (A novel about revenge begins with a quotation concerning justice)

epiphany

A sudden realization or insight that changes a character's understanding. (After seeing his father's loneliness, a son suddenly understands his father's harshness)

euphemism

A mild or indirect expression substituted for something unpleasant or harsh. ('Passed away' instead of 'died')

exposition

Background information necessary to understand the characters, setting, or conflict. (The opening chapter explains why two families have hated each other for generations)

flashback

A shift backward in time to reveal earlier events. (An adult narrator suddenly recalls her first day of school)

flash-forward/prolepsis

A narrative shift to events that will occur later. (The narrator briefly describes the hero's future funeral before returning to childhood)

foreshadowing

Hints or clues that suggest future events. (A character repeatedly notices that the brakes on his car feel unreliable)

frame narrative

A story that contains another story or stories within it. (Travelers tell individual tales during a journey)

genre

A category of literature defined by shared conventions or characteristics. (Tragedy, satire, romance, epic, and Gothic fiction are genres)

imagery

Language appealing to the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell). ('The sharp scent of lemons filled the warm kitchen')

in medias res

Beginning a narrative in the middle of the action rather than at its chronological beginning. (A novel begins during a battle and explains the causes later)

irony

A discrepancy between appearance and reality, expectation and outcome, or words and intended meaning. (A fire station burns to the ground)

verbal irony

A speaker says something different from or opposite to what is actually meant. (During a hurricane, someone remarks, 'Beautiful weather')

situational irony

The outcome of a situation contradicts what is logically expected. (A professional thief has his own wallet stolen)

juxtaposition

Placing contrasting characters, images, ideas, or situations beside one another to emphasize differences or relationships. (A lavish banquet is described immediately after a scene of extreme poverty)

motif

A recurring image, object, phrase, situation, or idea that develops a larger theme. (Repeated references to locked doors reinforce a theme of confinement)

mood

The emotional atmosphere experienced by the reader. (An abandoned house, approaching storm, and distant footsteps create an ominous mood)

narrator

The voice or character through whom a story is told. (An elderly man recounts events that happened during his youth)

unreliable narrator

A narrator whose interpretation of events cannot be completely trusted. (A jealous narrator insists everyone else is plotting against him)

point of view

The perspective from which a narrative is presented. (The same argument would appear differently when narrated by the mother or daughter)

first-person point of view

A narrator participates in the story and uses pronouns such as I and we. ('I knew immediately that I should not have opened the letter')

third-person limited point of view

A third-person narrator primarily reveals the thoughts and experiences of one character. (The reader knows Elena's fears but not what her brother is secretly thinking)

third-person omniscient point of view

A narrator has access to the thoughts and experiences of multiple characters. (The narrator reveals both the husband's suspicion and the wife's hidden intentions)

stream of consciousness

A narrative technique representing the continuous, often fragmented flow of a character's thoughts and perceptions. (A character's thoughts move rapidly from breakfast to childhood to mortality)

interior monologue

Direct presentation of a character's private thoughts. (A character silently rehearses what she will say when confronting her mother)

nonlinear narrative

A narrative that does not present events in chronological order. (A novel alternates between childhood, adulthood, and the narrator's final days)

pacing

The speed at which a narrative moves. (Short sentences accelerate an escape scene, while lengthy descriptions slow its pace)

parallel plot

Two or more storylines develop simultaneously and often illuminate one another. (The struggles of two families are narrated in alternating chapters)

plot

The organized sequence of events and conflicts within a narrative. (A character's ambition produces a decision, crisis, reversal, and eventual downfall)

setting

The time, place, social environments, and historical context of a work. (A story set during wartime may make ordinary family conflicts more urgent)

symbol

A person, object, place, action, or image that represents an idea beyond its literal meaning. (A broken watch may symbolize a character's inability to escape the past)

theme

A complex central idea or insight about human experience explored by a literary work. (The destructive consequences of pursuing power without moral restraint)

tone

The speaker's or author's attitude toward the subject, audience, or characters. (Mocking descriptions can establish a satirical tone)

verisimilitude

The appearance of truth or realism within a fictional work. (Detailed descriptions of ordinary household routines make a fictional family seem believable)

vignette

A brief descriptive episode or scene that captures a particular moment, character, or impression. (A two-page scene describes a grandmother preparing tea in silence)

free indirect discourse

Third-person narration that temporarily adopts the vocabulary and thought patterns of a character without quotation marks or dialogue tags. (He stared at the test. Impossible. How could anyone expect him to know this?)

alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words. ('Wild winds whipped the water')

assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words. ('The low moan rolled over the road')

consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds, especially within or at the ends of words. ('The stroke of luck struck quickly')

cacophony

Deliberately harsh, jarring, or discordant sounds. ('Cracked bricks crashed beneath the truck')

euphony

Pleasant, smooth, harmonious sound produced by language. ('The moonlight floated over the quiet lake')

rhyme

Repetition of similar sounds in two or more words. (light/night)

end rhyme

Rhyme occurring at the ends of poetic lines. (One line ends in sky and the next in high)

internal rhyme

Rhyme occurring within the same line of poetry. ('I drove through the rain toward the train')

slant rhyme

An approximate or imperfect rhyme. (shape/keep)

eye rhyme

Words that look as though they should rhyme but are pronounced differently. (love/move)

rhyme scheme

The pattern of end rhymes in a poem, represented with letters. (ABAB CDCD)

meter

A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. (A poem consistently alternating unstressed and stressed syllables uses an iambic rhythm)

iamb

A metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. (re-LAX)

trochee

A metrical foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. (TA-ble)

anapest

A metrical foot containing two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. (in-the-DARK)

dactyl

A metrical foot containing one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. (WON-der-ful)

spondee

A metrical foot containing two stressed syllables. ('STOP THAT!')

pyrrhic

A metrical foot containing two relatively unstressed syllables. (Often appears as a rhythmic substitution within otherwise regular meter)

foot

The basic rhythmic unit of meter. (Five iambic feet produce iambic pentameter)

iambic pentameter

A line consisting generally of five iambic feet, usually totaling ten syllables. (Much of Shakespeare's dramatic verse uses this technique)

scansion

The process of analyzing the meter and stresses of a poetic line. (A reader marks stressed and unstressed syllables to identify iambic pentameter)

caesura

A strong pause occurring within a line of poetry. ('I loved him once -- but that was long ago')

enjambment

Continuation of a sentence or phrase beyond the end of a poetic line without a major pause. ('She walked across the field / searching for the road')

end-stopped line

A poetic line ending with grammatical punctuation or a natural pause. ('The journey ended here')

stanza

A grouped set of poetic lines separated from other groups, comparable to a paragraph in prose. (A poem containing four groups of four lines has four quatrain [this])

couplet

Two consecutive lines of poetry functioning as a unit, often rhymed. (AA)

heroic couplet

Two rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter. (Many eighteenth-century English poems use [this])

tercet

A three-line poetic stanza or unit. (Dante's Divine Comedy famously uses linked tercets)

quatrain

A four-line poetic stanza. (Many ballads are constructed from [this])

sestet

A six-line stanza or the final six lines of a Petrarchan sonnet. (The [this] often responds to an idea established by the octave)

octave

An eight-line stanza or the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet. (The octave often establishes a problem or situation)

sonnet

A fourteen-line poetic form traditionally employing a structured rhyme scheme and argument. (A poet uses fourteen lines to explore the conflict between love and mortality)

Shakespearean sonnet

A sonnet generally organized into three quatrains and a concluding couplet with an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme. (The final couplet may provide a conclusion or reversal)

Petrarchan sonnet

A sonnet generally divided into an octave and sestet. (The octave introduces a problem and the sestet considers its implications)

volta

A significant turn or shift in thought, argument, emotion, or perspective within a poem. (A sonnet moves from despair to hope after line eight)

blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter. (Much of Hamlet is written in this)

free verse

Poetry without a fixed meter or regular rhyme scheme. (A poem varies line length and rhythm according to the speaker's thoughts)

refrain

A line or phrase repeated at intervals throughout a poem. (Every stanza ends with 'I remember')

repetition

Reuse of words, phrases, sounds, structures, or ideas for emphasis. ('Gone, gone, gone')

anaphora

Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginnings of successive clauses or lines. ('We waited for dawn. We waited for help. We waited for hope')

epistrophe

Repetition of a word or phrase at the ends of successive clauses or lines. ('They wanted freedom, fought for freedom, and died for freedom')

apostrophe

Direct address to an absent person, dead person, abstract concept, or nonhuman thing. ('O Time, slow your relentless march')

speaker

The voice speaking within a poem, who should not automatically be identified with the poet. (A poet may create a bitter [this] even though the poet does not personally hold those views)

persona

A deliberately constructed identity or character assumed by a speaker. (An adult poet writes from the perspective of an impatient child)

conceit

An elaborate or intellectually surprising comparison developed over several lines or throughout a work. (A poem develops an extended comparison between love and a mathematical compass)

metaphor

A direct comparison between unlike things without using like or as. ('Grief is an ocean')

simile

An explicit comparison using like, as, or a similar comparative expression. ('Her anger spread like fire')

extended metaphor

A metaphor developed through multiple details over several lines, paragraphs, or sections. (An entire poem compares a relationship to a ship caught in a storm)

personification

Giving human qualities to nonhuman objects, animals, or abstract concepts. ('The wind whispered through the doorway')

pathetic fallacy

Attributing human emotions to nature, often so weather or landscape reflects a character's emotional condition. (A violent storm erupts as the protagonist loses control of his anger)