Literary Terms Definitions and Examples

Alliteration

Same starting consonant sounds in a row.

Example: "Peter Piper picked a pepper."

Allusion

A reference to something famous.

Example: "He's a real Romeo."

Hyperbole

Extreme unrealistic exaggeration.

Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."

Motif

A repeating symbol or idea in a story.

Example: Bad weather happening right before bad events.

Paradox

A self-contradictory statement that is actually true.

Example: "Less is more."

Foil

A character whose traits contrast with the main character.

Example: Dr. Watson (calm) to Sherlock Holmes (intense).

Juxtaposition

Placing two contrasting things side-by-side.

Example: Light and darkness or wealth and poverty.

Personification

Giving human traits to non-human things.

Example: "The wind whispered through the trees."

Tone

The author's attitude toward the subject.

Example: Serious

Voice

The author's or narrator's unique style/personality.

Example: A diary written like a slang-using teenager.

Allegory

A story with a hidden deeper meaning.

Example: Animal Farm (represents the Russian Revolution).

Connotation

The feeling or idea associated with a word.

Example: "Home" feels warm while "house" is just a building.

Denotation

The literal dictionary definition of a word.

Example: "Home" means a place where one lives.

Aside

A quick comment to the audience that other characters don't hear.

Example: A character whispering a secret plan to the camera.

Soliloquy

A character speaking their thoughts aloud while alone on stage.

Example: "To be or not to be" in Hamlet.

Metonymy

Replacing a word with a closely related concept.

Example: "The Crown" (meaning the King or Queen).

Free verse

Poetry with no set rhyme or meter.

Example: A poem that reads like a normal conversation.

End rhyme

Rhyming words at the very end of lines.

Example: The cat sat on the mat / He was very fat.

Internal rhyme

Rhyming words within the same line.

Example: "Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary"

Stanza

A grouped block of lines (a "paragraph" in a poem).

Example: A 4-line chunk of text separated by a blank line.

Foot (poetry)

The basic unit of rhythm (one beat) in poetry.

Example: An iamb (da-DUM).

Meter (poetry)

The repeating pattern of rhythm/beats in a poem.

Example: Iambic pentameter (5 beats per line).

Quatrain

A stanza made up of exactly four lines.

Example: The "Roses are red / Violets are blue…" poem.

Couplet

Two lines in a row that rhyme.

Example: "Twinkle twinkle little star / How I wonder what you are"

Rhythm

The musical beat or flow of words.

Example: The steady da-DUM da-DUM sound when reading aloud.