lit terms 3

1. alliteration – repetition of initial consonant sounds
2. analogy – comparison between two or more things that are similar in some ways
but other ways unalike
3. anecdote – brief story told to entertain or to make a point
4. aphorism – a short pointed statement that expresses a wise or clever observation
about human experience. (e.g. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.)
5. apostrophe – figure of speech that directly expresses an absent or imaginary
person or abstraction
6. argument – writing or speech that attempts to convince the reader to adopt a
particular opinion or course of action
7. aside - a character’s comment, in a play, that is directed to the audience or
another character
8. assonance – repetition of same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables that
end with different consonant sounds (e.g. low, tow, given, distance)
9. broad generalization – a statement mostly based on limited knowledge about a
large group of things, places, or people (e.g. All women like to shop.)
10. consonance – repetition of consonant sounds before and after different vowels
11. fable – a short tale to tell a moral lesson often with animals or inanimate objects
as characters (e.g. Aesop’s fables)
12. fallacy – erroneous reasoning that renders arguments logically unsound
13. figurative language – a phrase that stands for something other than its literal
meaning, used for descriptive effect. (e.g. simile, metaphor, hyperbole)
14. foil – a character who provides a strong contrast to another character (e.g. Shrek
to the donkey)
15. juxtaposition – an act or instance of placing close together or side by side,
especially for comparison or contrast

16. memoir – an account of one’s personal life or experiences
17. meter – rhythmical pattern determined by the number and types of stresses, or
beats in each line
18. monologue – a speech by one character, unlike a soliloquy, that is addressed to
another character or characters
19. mood/atmosphere – the feeling or created by a literary work or passage
20. motif – recurring subject, theme, idea, etc
21. onomatopoeia – use of words that imitate sounds (e.g. hiss, barking)
22. oversimplification – description of something in a way that does not include all
the facts or details (and that causes misunderstanding)
23. oxymoron – combination of contradictory terms or words (e.g. cruel kindness,
jumbo shrimp)
24. paradox – statement that seems to say two opposite things, but that may be true
25. parallelism (parallel structure) – two or more words, phrases, or clauses, that are
similar in length and grammatical form
26. pun – play on words involving two words that sound alike or have different
meanings
27. rhetoric (rhetorical question, rhetorical device) – persuasive writing
28. sarcasm – caustic language that is meant to hurt or ridicule someone or
something
29. sonnet – 14-line poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter
30. soliloquy - a long speech delivered by a character, alone on stage
31. tragedy - a work of literature that tells of a catastrophe or great misfortune
32. tragic flaw - hero’s weakness which causes a downfall
33. tragic hero - main character who experiences a downfall