Elements of Literature Final Study Guide

Implied metaphor

metaphors conveyed indirectly

Allegory

type of extended metaphor that forms a story with two levels of meaning, a literal and implied meaning

Synecdoche

using a part of something to stand for the whole

Simile

a comparison of two unlike objects using like or as

Personification

giving human characteristics to something nonhuman

Metonymy

an expression in which a related thing stands for the thing itself

Paradox

a statement that seems to be self contradictory yet actually makes sense when understood in the right context

Apostrophe

a speaker or writer’s directly addressing an absent person, abstraction, or inanimate object

Literary imagery

descriptive words or phrases that appeal to sense perceptions in order to create an impression

Extended metaphor

a metaphor that is developed beyond a single sentence or comparison

Rhetoric

the art of public speaking

Anaphora

the repetition of words or phrases at the beginnings of lines of poetry or grammatical units

Meter

the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Rhyme

two or more words having identical sounds in the last stressed vowel and all the sounds following that vowel

End rhyme

rhyme that occurs at the ends of corresponding lines of poetry

Perfect rhyme

agreement of sounds from the last stressed vowel sound onward, with a difference in the immediately preceding consonant sounds

Slant rhyme

rhyme between two words with similar but slightly different sounds

Assonance

the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a series of words

Consonance

the repetition of terminal consonant sounds and, more rarely, of internal consonants that creates extra emphasis on the words involved

Alliteration

the repetition of initial consonant sounds

Allusion

a reference within a work to something else, usually history or another artistic work

Literary conflict

the opposition of two or more characters or forces in literature

Literary persona

the person created by the author to tell the story, affecting the way a story is told

Verbal irony

irony occurring when a speaker’s meaning differs from what he or she says

Hyperbole

a type of obvious overstatement used by writers to make a point

Structural irony

sustained verbal irony that generates two layers of meaning, one literal and one implied, throughout the entire work

Irony

the use of language to convey meaning other than what is stated or a contradiction in what is expected to happen and what actually is

Epic

a long stylized narrative poem celebrating the deeds of a great national or ethnic hero or legend

In medias res

Latin literary term meaning “in the middle of events” and referring to the practice of starting a story in the midst of the action

Essay

a work that seeks to state a point of view, discuss a subject, or persuade a reader to accept an argument

Foil

a character used to emphasize another character’s opposing traits within a work

Archetype

character types, plot patterns, or images that recur throughout world literature

Mythology

a collection of myths forming a particular culture’s explanation of how the world came to be as it is

Fable

a brief fanciful story that embodies a particular moral

Detective fiction

fiction with a recurring character who investigates and solves a crime that often stretches a reader’s interest and thinking to the limit

Plot

a series of events arranged to produce a definite sense of movement toward a specific goal

Denouement

the resolution of a story

Crisis

a major turning point in the story

Free verse

poetry with no set meter or rhyme

Rhyme scheme

the pattern of rhyme sounds in a poem or in a stanza of poetry

Soliloquy

in drama, a form of speech in which a character who believes himself to be alone discloses his innermost thoughts

Aside

a stage device in which a character briefly discloses his thoughts in the presence of other characters who by convention do not hear him

Repartee

besting another’s remark or turning it to one's own advantage in a contest of wits

Closet drama

a play written to be read and not performed

Fate

the predetermined, inescapable course of events that governs a character’s life, often orchestrated by divine, supernatural, or cosmic forces rather than personal choice