Terms for Literary Analysis

Alliteration

Repetition of initial letter in two or more words.

Allusion

Casual reference to a historical or literary figure or event that offers additional perspective on the current text.

Anachronism

False assignment of an event, person, or language to a time when it did not exist.

Analogy

A comparison of two things explaining one unfamiliar object or idea by comparing it with familiar ones.

Antagonist

The character directly opposed to the protagonist; the rival or villain.

Antithesis

A literary technique where opposite statements are balanced against each other for emphasis.

Apostrophe

Words addressed to an absent person, thing, or idea.

Aside

A remark made by a character intended to be heard by the audience but not by other characters.

Assonance

Similarity of sound between vowels; not perfect rhymes.

Blank verse

Unrhymed verse, usually in iambic pentameter.

Bon mot

A witty repartee or clever saying.

Cacophony

Harsh or dissonant sounds deliberately used by writers for effect.

Caesura

A break in the metrical progress of verse for emphasis.

Colloquialism

An expression used in informal conversation but not accepted in formal speech.

Comic Relief

A humorous scene introduced in a serious work to provide relief from emotional intensity.

Connotation

An additional, suggested, or implied meaning of words.

Consonance

Repeated identical consonant sounds in stressed syllables.

Contrast

A rhetorical device that emphasizes differences between elements.

Couplet

Two successive rhyming lines containing a complete statement.

Denotation

The specific, exact meaning of a word, independent of emotional associations.

Diction

The careful use of words in oral or written form.

Dramatic Irony

Words or acts of a character carrying meaning unknown to them but understood by the audience.

Dramatic Monologue

A lyric poem revealing a character's soul through conversation in a dramatic moment.

Elision

The omission of part of a word for ease of pronunciation.

Enjambement

Continuing the sense and grammatical construction of a verse into the next line.

Epithet

An adjective or phrase highlighting a characteristic of a person or thing.

Euphony

Pleasing, smooth sounds produced by long vowels.

Foil

A character whose qualities enhance those of another by contrast.

Foreshadowing

An indication or hint of future events.

Genre

Distinct types or categories into which literary works are grouped.

Hamartia

A human weakness leading to the downfall of a hero in tragedy.

Hubris

Overweening pride resulting in the protagonist's misfortune.

Hyperbole

An exaggeration for emphasis.

Imagery

Figurative language that conveys images and appeals to the senses.

Irony

Speech where the actual intent is expressed in words carrying the opposite meaning.

Juxtaposition

The arrangement of ideas or characters side-by-side for comparison or contrast.

Leitmotif

A recurring theme or idea.

Malapropism

An inappropriateness of speech from using one word for another similar-sounding word.

Metaphor

A figure of speech based on an implied comparison without using connectives.

Metonymy

A figure of speech where one thing's name is substituted for another closely associated with it.

Motif

A recurring image or symbol.

Nemesis

Retributive justice or just punishment.

Onomatopoeia

Words whose sounds suggest their meaning.

Oxymoron

A phrase that brings together contradictory terms.

Paradox

A statement that seems contradictory but is true, used for emphasis.

Pathetic Fallacy

Attributing human emotions to inanimate objects.

Pathos

The portrayal of incidents to arouse feelings of pity or sadness.

Personification

Endowing animals, ideas, or inanimate objects with human traits.

Protagonist

The chief character in a play or story, usually the hero or heroine.

Pun

A play on words based on similar sounds between different meanings.

Simile

A figure of speech comparing two things explicitly using "like" or "as."

Soliloquy

A speech delivered by a character alone on stage to reveal thoughts.

Syncope

A cutting short of words through the omission of a letter or syllable.

Symbol

An object representing something else, often an abstract idea.

Synecdoche

A form of metaphor where a part signifies the whole.

Type or Stock Character

Understatement
Verisimilitude

A character whose actions or qualities make him/her appear as representative of a class or type. (wicked stepmother, wise old man)

Understatement

A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is in fact. The opposite of hyperbole. Often used in everyday speech and usually with laconic or ironic intention. When the understatement expresses an affirmative with a negative, or an opposite, it is a litote. A common example of litote understatement is not bad meaning very good. In Romeo and Juliet, an understatement occurs when Mercutio has just received a fatal wound yet refers to the injury as “a scratch, a scratch…”.

Versimilitude

The appearance or semblance of truth and reality. The term is used in literary criticism to indicate the degree to which a writer faithfully presents the truth.