English 3 Exam Lit Terms

ALLUSION

Reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, politics, etc. or another branch of culture.

ANTAGONIST

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero in a story, often creating conflict and tension.

PROTAGONIST

 A central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action.

ARCHETYPE

A typical example of something, in this case a symbol or motif in literature

CATALOG

Catalog or catalogue is a literary device used in poetry and prose to give a list of things and create a rhetorical effect. Writers use it to make a list of multiple thoughts in a unified form. The accumulation of images or arguments or evidence, etc. is for emphasis.

CHARACTERIZATION

The process by which the author reveals the personality of a character

DIRECT

The author tells exactly what the character is like (no guessing)

INDIRECT

Author reveals what the character is like by describing appearance, conversations, actions, motivations by which the audience understands who the character is (showing, not telling)

STATIC

character does not undergo a change or grow as a result of the events in the work

FLAT

Has only one or two personality traits. Can be summed up in one phrase.

DYNAMIC

character changes or grows as a result of the events of the work

ROUND

Has more dimensions to their personalities- complex, like real people

External

conflict that exists between two people, or a person and nature, or person versus society

Internal

conflict that involves opposing forces with in the mind/ heart/ will

Connotation

An idea or feeling a word invokes in addition to its primary meaning

Denotation

The literal or primary meaning of a word

DICTION

Speaker or writer’s choice of words

DIDACTIC

Used to describe a work that teaches a lesson or moral in an obvious way, may be heavy-handed

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally; used to describe

IMAGERY

Use of language to evoke a picture or sensory experience

(senses: smell, touch, sight, hear, kinesthetic, taste)

IRONY

 A discrepancy between appearances and reality

VERBAL IRONY

Character says the opposite of what he means

DRAMATIC IRONY

Used on stage. A character thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.

SITUATIONAL IRONY

When a situation turns out to be different than expected

LYRIC POEM

A poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker.

SIMILE

A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles. The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.

METAPHOR

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of “like” or “as”

MOTIF

A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work/ or works. Many transcend culture and time.

MOTIVATION

Reasons for the character’s behavior

PARALLELISM

The repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures

PERSONIFICATION

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is give human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes

PLOT

A series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline

Parts of the plot

• Exposition: characters and setting are introduced

• Rising action: main character begins to experience conflict

• Climax: turning point

• Falling action: events leading to the end of the conflict

• Resolution: ending of the story

PURPOSE

The author’s reason for writing, what he or she hopes to achieve (entertain, persuade, inform, etc.)

RHETORICAL QUESTION

A question asked for effect, and not actually requiring an answer.

STYLE

The distinctive way in which a writer uses language: a writer’s distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax.

SYMBOL

A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself.

THEME

The author’s message that the work communicates

TONE

The attitude the writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization

CITE

Refer to a passage, book, or author as evidence for or justification of an argument or statement

ATTRIBUTE

The action of ascribing a work to an author

PARAPHRASE

Expresses the meaning of something in different words, especially for clarity

SUMMARY

A brief statement or account of the main points of something longer

EXPLICIT

Stated clearly and in detail; no room for doubt

IMPLICIT

Suggested but not directly expressed.

DIALECT

particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group.

FORESHADOWING

be a warning or indication of (a future event).

SATIRE

Mocking or ridiculing society’s weaknesses or errors to bring about change

PATHOS

appeal to emotion

ETHOS

appeal to the right thing to do or to authority

LOGOS

appeal to logic or reason (facts)

Setting

Time and place of a story

POINT OF VIEW

Perspective from which the story is told

Can be:

First person

Second person

Third person

Limited

Omniscient

Unreliable narrator

A narrator that cannot be trusted

MOOD

Atmosphere of a piece of writing; the way the writing makes the reader feel

SUSPENSE

Feeling of uncertainty about what is to come within a story

FLASHBACK

Insertion of a previous event into a story

PERSONIFICATION

Giving human like qualities to something that is not human

ALLITERATION

repetition of initial consonant sounds

Rhetorical Question

Question that does not require an answer, but causes the reader to think

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement not to be taken literally