English 1 HI Final Literary Terms

Alliteration

The repetition of the same sound or letters at the start of a series of words in succession

Analogy

the extended comparison between two things usually thought of as unlike

Antagonist

The principal opponent of the main character, or protagonist, in a drama or narrative

Assonance

The repetition of similar of vowel sounds taking place in a series of words in a succession

Allusion

The reference of an object or circumstance, within a literary work, to a person, place, event, or to another word of literature

Aside

When a character in a work of fiction directly addresses the audience for a moment to provide a truth, reveal a feeling, or common on the events of the story

Blank verse

Poetry written in unrhymed but metered lines, almost always iambic pentameter

Comic relief

The relief of emotional tension especially of drama through the occurrence of a comic episode or element

Couplet

A pair of end-rhymed lines of poetry that are together

Dynamic character

A character that undergoes an important change in the course of the story

Epic

Or an epic poem, is a lengthy narrative poem generally about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters, like gods.

Epic simile

A long poetic comparison in an epic

External conflict

The type of conflict that places characters at odds with forces outside themselves

Flat character

A two-dimensional character as they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work

Iambic pentameter

A line of verse composed of ten syllables arranged in five metrical feet, consisting of an unstressed syllable by a stressed syllable

Internal conflict

The type of conflict when a character struggle with their own opposing desires or beliefs

Meter

The rhythmic pattern of a poetic line

Metaphor

Comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated, without using like or as

Monologue

an extended speech by one person

Oxymoron

A rhetorical device that describes words or phrases despite creating paradoxs or contradictions, when places together

Paradox

A statement that appears to contradict itself but actually reveals a deeper truth or meaning

Personification

A type of metaphor that describes non-human looks, actions, and purposes with human qualities or language

Pun

A joke based on the play of words, using homophones or similar sounding words

Quatrain

A stanza of four lines, especially one having alternate rhymes

Rhyme scheme

The formal arrangement of rhymes of rhymes in a stanza or a poem

Simile

The comparison of two unlike things using the word “like” and “as”

Static character

A character that doesn’t change from the start of the story through to the end

Soliloquy

A monologue that is delivered when the character is alone

Sonnet

A 14-line poem with variable rhyme scheme, usually written by Shakespeare

Tragedy

A branch of drama that depicts the sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual, in a serious and dignified style

Tragic hero

A character in a dramatic tragedy who has likable traits but is ultimately defeated

Free verse

Poetry written in unrhymed and unmetered lines

Verbal irony

When the speaker says something different from what they mean (sarcasm)

Dramatic Irony

When the reader or audience knows something that the character does not.

Situational irony

When an event or outcome takes place that is the opposite of what a person expected