Literary Terms for Exam 2023

English

Allegory

Story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities.

Alliteration

Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together

Allusion

Reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something (usually from literature, etc.)

Ambiguity

Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way is done on purpose by the author, when it is not done on purpose, it is vagueness and detracts from the work.

Analogy

Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike

Anaphora

Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row. This is a deliberate form of repetition and helps make the writer’s point more coherent.

Anecdote

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual

Antagonist

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.

Antithesis

Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical structure.

Antihero

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.

Anthropomorphism

Attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object (Personification)

Apostrophe

Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration it is called an invocation.

Assonance

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together

Balance

Constructing a sentence so that both halves are about the same length and importance. Sentences can be unbalanced to serve a special effect as well.

Characterization

The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character

Indirect Characterization

The author reveals to the reader what the character is like by describing how the character looks and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the character’s effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature

Direct Characterization

The author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets and so on. Romantic style literature relied more heavily on this form.

Static Character

Is one who does not change much in the course of a story.

Dynamic Character

Is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

Flat Character

Has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.

Round Character

Has more dimensions to their personalities---they are complex, just a real people are.

Cliche

Is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. Avoid clichés like the plague. (That cliché is intended.)

Colloquialism

a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. Example: “He’s out of his head if he thinks I’m gonna go for such a stupid idea.

Comedy

In general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters

Conflict

The struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story

External Conflict

Conflicts can exist between two people, between a person and nature or a machine or between a person a whole society.

Internal Conflict

A conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces within a person’s mind.

Connotation

The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.

Couplet

Two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry

Dialect

A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area.

Diction

A speaker or writer’s choice of words.

Elegy

A poem of mourning, usually about someone who has died. A Eulogy is great praise or commendation, a laudatory speech, often about someone who has died.

Epic

A long narrative poem, written in heightened language , which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.

Epigraph

A quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.

Epithet

An adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of our country” and “the great Emancipator” are examples. A Homeric epithet is a compound adjective used with a person or thing: “swift-footed Achilles”; “rosy-fingered dawn.”

Essay

A short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a subject.

ESSAY - Argumentation

One of the four forms of discourse which uses logic, ethics, and emotional appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) to develop an effective means to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way.

ESSAY - Persuasion

Relies more on emotional appeals than on facts

ESSAY - Argument

Form of persuasion that appeals to reason instead of emotion to convince an audience to think or act in a certain way.

ESSAY - Causal Relationship

Form of argumentation in which the writer claims that one thing results from another, often used as part of a logical argument.

ESSAY - Description

A form of discourse that uses language to create a mood or emotion.

ESSAY - Exposition

One of the four major forms of discourse, in which something is explained or “set forth.”

ESSAY - Narrative

The form of discourse that tells about a series of events.

Explication

Act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.

Fable

A very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about how to succeed in life

Figurative Language

Words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms

Flashback

A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time

Foil

A character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero

Foreshadowing

The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot.

Free Verse

Poetry that does not conform to a regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Hyperbole

A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times….”

Imagery

The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person , a thing, a place, or an experience

Inversion

The reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase

Irony

A discrepancy between appearances and reality

Verbal Irony

Occurs when someone says one thing but really means something else

Situational Irony

Takes place when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen, or what would be appropriate to happen, and what really does happen.

Dramatic Irony

Is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better

Juxtaposition

Poetic and rhetorical devices in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit. Ezra Pound: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough.”

Lyric Poem

A poem that does not tell a story but expresses the personal feelings or thoughts of the speaker. A ballad tells a story

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles

Implied Metaphor

Does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison: “I like to see it lap the miles” is an implied metaphor in which the verb lap implies a comparison between “it” and some animal that “laps” up water.

Extended Metaphor

Is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it. (conceit if it is quite elaborate).

Mixed Metaphor

Is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. “The President is a lame duck who is running out of gas.”

Mood

An atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected

Motif

A recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. Kurt Vonnegut uses “So it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of death

Motivation

The reasons for a character’s behavior.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pop.” “Zap.”

Oxymoron

A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase. “Jumbo shrimp.” “Pretty ugly.” “Bitter-sweet”

Parable

A relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson about how to lead a good life.

Paradox

A statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of truth.

Parrel Structure

(parallelism) the repetition of words or phrases that have similar grammatical structures.

Parody

A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer’s style.

Personification

A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

Plot

The series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline.

PLOT - Exposition

Introduces characters, situation, and setting

PLOT - Rising Action

Complications in conflict and situations (may introduce new ones as well)

PLOT - Climax

That point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest. Also called “turning point”

PLOT - Resolution

The conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have been settled; often called the denouement.

Point Of View

The vantage point from which the writer tells the story

First Person - POINT OF VIEW

One of the characters tell the story

Third Person - POINT OF VIEW

An unknown narrator, tells the story, but this narrator zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings of only one character

Omniscient - POINT OF VIEW

An omniscient or all knowing narrator tells the story, also using the third person pronouns. This narrator, instead of focusing on one character only, often tells us everything about many characters

Objective - POINT OF VIEW

A narrator who is totally impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or events

Protagonist

The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. Usually the hero or anti-hero; in a tragic hero, like John Proctor of The Crucible, there is always a hamartia, or tragic flaw in his character which will lead to his downfall.

Pun

A “play on words” based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.

Quatrain

A poem consisting of four lines, or four lines of a poem that can be considered as a unit.

Refrain

A word, phrase, line, or group of lines that is repeated, for effect, several times in a poem.

Rhythm

A rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language

Rhetoric

Art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.

Rhetorical Question

A question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an answer

Romance

In general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful

Satire

A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change

Simile

A figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike things, using words such as like, as , than, or resembles.

Soliloquy

A long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters are on stage

Stereotype

A fixed idea or conception of a character or an idea which does not allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices

Stream of consciousness

A style of writing that portrays the inner (often chaotic) workings of a character’s mind

Style

The distinctive way in which a writer uses language: a writer’s distinctive use of diction, tone, and syntax

Suspense

A feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story

Symbol

A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself

Theme

The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work