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IB Literary Terms 

  1. allegory- story that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning/ the whole story is symbolic

  2. allusion- an indirect reference

  3. ambiguity- having more than one possible meaning at the same time

  4. antithesis- expresses opposite or contrasting ideas

  5. apostrophe- talking to someone who isn’t really there

  6. catharsis- process of releasing emotions & providing relief

  7. characterization- how author reveals different qualities of a character throughout the story

  8. conflict- tensions or struggles experienced by the characters (internal or external)

  9. connotation- association, implications, or suggestions evoked by a word or phrase

  10. denotation- actual or literal definition of a word

  11. dialogue- direct speech or conversation between characters in a story

  12. diction- an author’s choice of words

  13. epiphany- a sudden realization or divine intervention

  14. flashback- a return to a memory of a character

  15. foil- an opposite or contrast

  16. graphic weight (graphic novel) - the way some images draw the eye more than others

  17. hubris- excessive pride (a fault of a character)

  18. hyperbole- an exaggeration

  19. imagery- an author’s description/ “painting the picture”

  20. dramatic irony- when the audience knows the truth but the characters don’t

  21. situational irony- a striking reversal of what’s expected or intended

  22. metaphor- an IMPLIED COMPARISON between two unlike objects

  23. monologue- a long speech by one person during a conversation

  24. motif- a common theme or recurring idea

  25. narrator- voice telling the story

  26. objective pov- narrator is NOT involved with the story

  27. omniscient pov- narrator assumes an “all knowing” perspective on the story

  28. panels- distinct segment of the comic

  29. parallelism- structural similarity or conceptual similarity throughout a story/ poem

  30. pastiche- taking inspiration or mimicking another thing

  31. personification- giving human characteristics to a non human thing

  32. prose- anything in literature besides poems (written in sentences & paragraphs)

  33. rhyme scheme- an author’s rhyming pattern

  34. setting- where & when a story takes place

  35. soliloquy- speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself

  36. stage direction- an instruction in the text of a play indicating movement

  37. stanza- sections a poem is broken into

  38. stream of consciousness- a character’s unedited thoughts & expressions

  39. symbol- an object that represents an idea

  40. syntax- the arrangement & ordering of words in a sentence

  41. tone- the writer’s attitude as expressed by word choice

  42. tragic flaw- flaw in character that brings about their downfall or tragedy

IB Literary Terms 

  1. allegory- story that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning/ the whole story is symbolic

  2. allusion- an indirect reference

  3. ambiguity- having more than one possible meaning at the same time

  4. antithesis- expresses opposite or contrasting ideas

  5. apostrophe- talking to someone who isn’t really there

  6. catharsis- process of releasing emotions & providing relief

  7. characterization- how author reveals different qualities of a character throughout the story

  8. conflict- tensions or struggles experienced by the characters (internal or external)

  9. connotation- association, implications, or suggestions evoked by a word or phrase

  10. denotation- actual or literal definition of a word

  11. dialogue- direct speech or conversation between characters in a story

  12. diction- an author’s choice of words

  13. epiphany- a sudden realization or divine intervention

  14. flashback- a return to a memory of a character

  15. foil- an opposite or contrast

  16. graphic weight (graphic novel) - the way some images draw the eye more than others

  17. hubris- excessive pride (a fault of a character)

  18. hyperbole- an exaggeration

  19. imagery- an author’s description/ “painting the picture”

  20. dramatic irony- when the audience knows the truth but the characters don’t

  21. situational irony- a striking reversal of what’s expected or intended

  22. metaphor- an IMPLIED COMPARISON between two unlike objects

  23. monologue- a long speech by one person during a conversation

  24. motif- a common theme or recurring idea

  25. narrator- voice telling the story

  26. objective pov- narrator is NOT involved with the story

  27. omniscient pov- narrator assumes an “all knowing” perspective on the story

  28. panels- distinct segment of the comic

  29. parallelism- structural similarity or conceptual similarity throughout a story/ poem

  30. pastiche- taking inspiration or mimicking another thing

  31. personification- giving human characteristics to a non human thing

  32. prose- anything in literature besides poems (written in sentences & paragraphs)

  33. rhyme scheme- an author’s rhyming pattern

  34. setting- where & when a story takes place

  35. soliloquy- speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself

  36. stage direction- an instruction in the text of a play indicating movement

  37. stanza- sections a poem is broken into

  38. stream of consciousness- a character’s unedited thoughts & expressions

  39. symbol- an object that represents an idea

  40. syntax- the arrangement & ordering of words in a sentence

  41. tone- the writer’s attitude as expressed by word choice

  42. tragic flaw- flaw in character that brings about their downfall or tragedy

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