Literary Terms ☺︎

Metaphor

Comparison of two seemingly unlike things

Simile

Comparison using like or as

Personification

Characteristics of humans given to non-humans

Synecdoche

Part for the whole

Metonymy

Substitution of associated word for word itself

Allusion

Reference to well-known being or event

Symbol

Is what it is and something more

Image

sensory detail

Archetype

Recurrent image that touches collective subconscious

Abstract/Concrete

Classifications of imagery

Motif

Recurrent image, idea, or theme in specific piece of literature

Verbal irony

Say one thing, mean another

Dramatic irony

Audience knows, character doesn't

Situational irony

Unexpected result

Understatement

Making big things seem small

Hyperbole

Exaggeration

Paradox

Seeming contradiction-long style

Oxymoron

Seeming contradiction-short style

Litotes

Affirmation from negative

Ambiguity

Purposeful multiple meanings as in pun and double entendre

Diction

Word choice

Syntax

Sentence and phrase structure

Antithesis

Balancing of contrasting ideas

Polysyndeton

Stringing a sentence out with conjunctions

Anacoluthon

Breaking off a sentence

Parallelism

Repetition of similar syntactical structure

Point of View

Narrative perspective-1, 2, 3" Person

Apostrophe

Addressing person/entity not present

Analogy

Extended comparison of similar things

Colloquialism

Informal diction

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sound in initial position

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sound in any position

Euphony

Soft, pleasing sounds

Cacophony

Harsh sounds

Onomatopoeia

Word whose sound suggests meaning

Metric Feet

Spondee, lamb, anapest

Amphibrach

Unaccented, accented, unaccented syllable

Metric Lines

Ex. Tetrameter, Pentameter, Hexameter Stanzas

Stanzas

Ex. Couplet, quatrain, octave

Ballad Stanza

abcb, alternating tetrameter and trimester

Rhyme Scheme

end rhyme expressed alphabetically (abbacded)

Blank Verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter

Free Verse

Poetry with no regular rhyme or rhythm

Heroic Couplet

Two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter; complete thought

Lyric Poetry

Short verse stressing emotional over story

Narrative Poetry

Verse that tells a story (Ex.: ballad)

Epic Poetry

Long story in verse

Canto

Division of a long poem (like chapter to novel)

English Sonnet

Fourteen line poem with three quatrains and a couplet

Italian Sonnet

Fourteen line poem with octave and sestet

Epigram

Witty poem or saying

Epitaph

Memorial poem

Enjambment

Running over of a sentence from one line or stanza to another

Refrain

Repetition of line or phrase at regular intervals (like chorus)

Atmosphere

Effect of physical environment

Tone

Author's or speaker's attitude

Conflict

interplay of opposing forces

Comic Relief

Lightens narrative

Complication

Plot reversals

Deus Ex Machina

Contrived ending (Woody, Buzz, and the gang are trapped in the back of a trash truck)

Epiphany

Sudden awareness

Flashback

Device to supply background

Foreshadowing

Hints at coming events

Stream of Consciousness

Thoughts and feelings recorded as they occur

Theme

Central idea

Motif

Often-repeated idea or theme (Disney uses trees as character/motifs in films like Pocahontas, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland)

Plot

Exposition, rising action, climax, falling action

Denouement

resolution, outcome replicating thought (when Ariel's father, King Triton, decides to allow his daughter to have legs in order to marry Prince Eric. She then decides to remain on land rather than underwater to be with her true love. This ends the conflict of her desire to be human rather than a mermaid.)

In medias res

beginning in the middle of things

Round Character

Complex, multi-faceted, not predictable

Flat Character

Recognizable type; lacks complexity

Confidant

Protagonist's intimate

Foil

Character's illuminator through contrast (buzz and woody, how diff they are)

Protagonist

Character around which the action is centered

Antagonist

Person or force working against the protagonist

Omniscience

Teller knows all about everyone

Limited Omniscience

Teller knows all about one character

Dramatic Perspective

Teller presents just the facts

Doppelganger

Mysterious double

Antihero

An ordinary, modern man/woman groping through life

Renaissance

14-17 Century, rebirth of humanism

Neoclamicism

Restoration-18 Century, order and reason

Romanticism

18-19 e, imagination over reason

Realism

Verisimilitude

Naturalism

Extreme realiam

Existentialism

Humans inadequate to explain complex world

Magical Realism

Begins real, gets weird

Expressionism

Objectify inner experience

Tragedy

Starts good, gets bad, hero destroyed

Comedy

Starts bad, gets good, hero triumphs

Comedy of Manners

Elevated, often satirical, from Restoration Period

Farce

Crude, often obscene

Melodrama

Excessive appeal to emotions

Bildungsroman

Novel about young person's maturation (Coming of Age)

Allegory

Persons equated with meanings beyond the narrative

Satire

Improving human conditions through exaggeration, comedy

Novel

Extended fictional narrative

Novella/Novelets

Longer than a short story

Parody

Ridicule of a serious work by exaggerated imitation