Grade 9 and 10 Literary Terms

Vocabulary flashcards created from Grade 9 and Grade 10 literary terms lecture notes.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words (usually 3 out of 5 words that have the same sound that start a word).

Connotation

An implied meaning of a word. Opposite of denotation.

Denotation

The literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning. Opposite of connotation.

Euphemism

The substation of a more pleasant expression for an expression that is unpleasant of offensive.

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration or overstatement.

Metaphor

Direct comparison that does not use like or as; saying one thing is another.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound it represents.

Paronomasia

A play on words.

Personification

Giving human qualities to animals or objects.

Simile

The comparison of two unlike things using like or as.

Irony

An implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant.

Verbal irony

When an author says one thing and means something else.

Dramatic irony

When an audience perceives something that a character in the literature does not know.

Situational irony

A discrepancy between the expected result and actual results.

Allegory

A form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. A story with two meaning, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.

Symbolism

Using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning. The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events or relationships.

Foreshadowing

The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature.

Imagery

Language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching.

Oxymoron

Putting two contradictory words together.

Cliché

A usually pejorative general term for a word or phrase regarded as having lost its freshness and vigour through overuse.

Satire

A kind of literature that ridicules human folly or vice with the purpose of bringing about reform or keeping others from falling into similar folly or vice.

Juxtaposition

A literal 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 developing comparisons and contrasts.

Paradox

A self-contradictory phrase or sentence revealing a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory.

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds but not consonant sounds. Typically won't be at the beginning of a word.

Consonance

The repetition of consonant sounds but not vowels.

Analogy

The comparison of two things to highlight what they share in common.

Tone

The authors attitude conveyed through word choice.

Mood

The emotional effect a piece creates for readers.

Antagonist

The character or force opposing the main character.

Protagonist

The main character driving the story forward.

Theme

The main idea or message running through a piece of work.