Literary Terms Definitions

Allusion

Direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art

(blank) can be historical, literary, religious, or classical (from Greek and Roman mythology).

(blank) add context and richness, allowing the reader or audience to make thematic connections and generate deeper understanding.

Archetype

Any recurring image, character type, plot formula, or pattern of action

An (blank), then, is a kind of supertype, or model, different versions of which recur throughout the history of human production: in our myths, literature, dreams, religions, and rituals of social behavior.

(blank) represent universal symbols of bigger ideas, just like a baby represents youth and innocence.

There are character, symbolic, setting, and situational (blank).

Authorial Choice

Deliberate decisions authors make when crafting a text

Specific decisions made by an author, such as the choice of words, the structure of the text, the point of view, and the overall style.

These choices are not haphazard but rather purposeful and strategic.

Characterization

The process by which the writer reveals and develops a character

Direct (blank) explicitly tells the audience what the personality of the character is. The reader only has to take note of what s/he is told by the narrator.

Indirect (blank) shows things that reveal the personality of a character; therefore, the reader must make inferences.

Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces, usually stemming from an antagonist or antagonistic force

Many critics would argue that plot cannot exist in the absence of (blank) as it is the element from which the action emanates and around which it revolves.

In short, if there is no (blank), there is no story.

Epigraph

A passage printed on the title page or at the beginning of a literary work, which may set the tone or establish a theme

An (blank) can serve different purposes: it can be used as a summary, introduction, an example, or an association with some famous literary works, so as to draw comparison or to generate a specific context to be presented in the piece.

Foreshadowing

The hints or clues that a writer provides that suggest future events in a story or novel

(blank) can help to build suspense and allows the reader to make logical predictions about the way in which a narrative may unfold.

Imagery

Vivid details that entice and activate the senses

(blank) helps the writer to convey a specific emotion and establish a particular mood.

It is through the use of (blank) that a writer is able to recreate an experience, incident, or encounter on a sensual level.

The most common types of (blank) include visual (sight), olfactory (smell), auditory (sound), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), kinesthetic (movement), thermal (temperature), and organic (internal).

Irony

Takes many forms, and is notoriously difficult to define, but it virtually always involves some sort of contrast between two layers of something: between a surface layer and an underlying layer

(blank) occurs when there is a contrast between what is expected and what actually happens.

(blank) exists when the outcome is different from what a person would normally expect.

The most common forms of (blank) are situational, dramatic, cosmic, and verbal.

Juxtaposition

Literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of encouraging comparisons and highlighting contrasts

The comparison drawn adds vividness to a given image, controls pacing of poem or a narrative and provides a logical connection between two various vague concepts.

Metaphor

Comparison of two things that share a certain quality

I. A. Richards describes a (blank) as having two parts: the tenor and the vehicle.The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed, and the vehicle is the object whose attributes are borrowed.

The word “(blank)” comes from the Greek word meaning “transfer”or “carry across.”

There are varieties of (blank), including explicit/direct, implied, and extended.

Mood

Refers to the feeling or emotion created within the reader by the words on the page

(blank) is the atmosphere or overall feeling created by a passage or text.

Ask yourself, What does it feel like to step (imaginatively) into the world of this book?

* Do not confuse (blank) with (blank)! (blank) refers to the attitude that the author expresses in the writing of the work, and (blank) refers to the kinds of emotions the work stirs up within the reader.

Motif

Recurring something in a text; that something could be an image, a detail, a character trait, a color, an allusion, an action, a word or phrase, an idea, a structural element, a sound—anything, really.

Very often, (blank) develop, reinforce, and illuminate the underlying messages—or themes—that the writer seeks to convey.

The Bedford Glossary of Literary Terms explains that “a (blank) is a thematic element, an element that informs and casts a revealing light on the theme.”

Narration

The voice that brings life to a story, guiding the audience through the plot, introducing them to characters, and offering insights that might otherwise go unnoticed

Readers should recognize that how a (blank) is conveyed is just as important as what is being conveyed.

Keep in mind that the author and the (blank) are NOT the same thing: “it’s like the relationship between a puppeteer and a puppet. They might sometimes raise their hands at the same time...but they are not the same. The author controls the (blank)...” (LaPlante).

Personification

Unique type of implicit metaphor where human qualities or attributes are lent to things that are not human

(blank) works similar to anthropomorphism (non-human things acting like humans) and occurs when the writer allows a non-human entity to fully embody human traits.

Setting

The background against which action takes place

(blank), however, is much more comprehensive than that.

(blank) is anything about a place that can influence or shape the people who live there, and includes information about any and all of the following: time and era, geography and weather, physical locations, and social environments.

Simile

A unique type of metaphor that uses the words “like,” “as,” “than,” or “resembles” to construct a comparison

Some (blank) have become such a common part of everyday speech that we barely notice them, for instance, when we say "I slept like a log" or "The news hit me like a ton of bricks."

Symbolism

Something which exists literally within the world of the story—a rose, a bird, a rainbow, a scarlet letter—but which comes to have an abstract meaning beyond itself

(blank) comes from the Greek word “symballein” meaning “to throw together.”

A detail or image can transcend its literal meaning depending on how a writer treats or utilizes it. This happens when something tangible (a person, place, an object, or an action) is used to stand for or represent something that is abstract (an idea, an emotion, a virtue).

Theme

Generalized, fundamental and often universal insights conveyed in a literary work regarding human experience, human relationships, and human nature

(blank) is what remains when you look beyond plot; it is, therefore, what a work is really about on a deeper, more interpretive level.

If you ask yourself after reading this text, what does the author want me to understand about life? you are actually searching for and investigating (blank).

Tone

Refers to the implied attitude or mindset of a writer toward his subject and audience at a particular moment within a text

(blank) is important because it establishes a relationship between reader and writer, conveys the general mindset and outlook of a writer, and contributes to the meaning of a text.

* Do not confuse (blank) with (blank)! (blank) refers to the attitude that the author expresses in the writing of the work, and (blank) refers to the kinds of emotions the work stirs up within the reader.