30 literary terms

allegory

a story within a story

allusion

a reference to something else

alter ego

a secondary self

anecdote

a very short story that is significant to the topic at hand

antagonist

the opposite of the protagonist, or main character

anthropomorphism

giving human traits or attributes to animals, inanimate objects or other non-human things

antithesis

the opposite of a statement, concept, or idea

archetype

an idea, symbol, pattern, or character-type in a story

bildungsroman

a tale in which the main character transforms from child to adult, or at least takes some major steps in that direction

characterization

any time the author uses details to teach us about a person

climax

the highest point of tension or drama in a narratives' plot

comic relief

jokes to ease the burden of difficult circumstances

connotation

a feeling or idea that a word has, in addition to its literal or main meaning

denouement

the very end of a story, the part where all the different plotlines are finally tied up and all remaining questions answered

deuteragonist

the secondary character, right behind the protagonist in importance.

dialect

any particular form of a language spoken by some group of people

doppleganger

a twin or double of some character, usually in the form of an evil twin

irony

the difference between expectations and reality

dramatic irony

when the audience knows something the characters don't

dystopia

a horrible place where everything has gone wrong

epilogue

an optional final chapter of a story

extended metaphor

a metaphor that is developed in great detail

juxtaposition

the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences

motif

a symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story

nemisis

an enemy, often a villain

parody

a work that's created by imitating an existing original work in order to make fun of or comment on an aspect of the original

satire

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices.

protagonist

another word for "main character."

trope

any type of figure of speech, theme, image, character, or plot element that is used many times

verisimilitude

the quality of resembling reality