Alliteration - the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words.

• “Doubling, dreaming, dreams, no mortal ever dared to dream before.” - The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe

Allusion - indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work with which the author believes the reader will be familiar

• Types: Biblical, literary, historical

Climax - the moment when the reader’s interest and emotional intensity reach a peak

Conflict - a struggle between opposing forces that is the basis of the story’s plot

• External conflict: pits a character against nature, society, or another character

• Internal conflict: a conflict between opposing forces within a character

Connotation & Denotation:

• Connotation - the emotional response evoked by a word

• Denotation - the literal meaning of a word

  • Kitten

    • Connotation: softness, warmth, playfulness,

    • Denotation: young cat

Creation Myth - a traditional story, passed down through generations, that explains why the world is the way it is. It explains how the universe, the earth, and life on earth began

Epiphany - a moment of sudden revelation or insight

Exposition - the past of a literary work that provides the background information necessary to understand characters and their actions

Foil Characters - a character whose traits contrast with those of another character

Foreshadowing - a writer’s use of hints or clues to indicate events that will occur in a story. Foreshadowing creates suspense and at the same time prepares the reader for what is to come

Genre - the types in which literary works can be grouped. The five main literary genres are fiction, poetry, non-fiction, folktale, and genre

Hyperbole - figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or for humorous effect.

• “I’ve told you a thousand times.”

Imagery - the descriptive words or phrases

Irony - refers to contrast between appearance and reality

• Dramatic irony: when readers know more about a situation or a character in the story than the characters do

• Situational irony: contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens

• Verbal irony: when someone states one thing and means another

Loaded Language - words with strongly positive or negative connotation intended to influence a reader or listener’s attitude

Metaphor - figure of speech that compares two things that have something in common

• “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

Mood - feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Personification - figure of speech in which an object, animal, or idea is given human characteristics

• The wind howled through the trees.

Plot - sequence of events and actions in a literary work

Point of View - the narrative perspective from which events in a story or novel are told

• Limited: focuses on one character’s perspective

• Omniscient: all knowing

Protagonist - the main character in a work of literature

Setting - time and place in which the action occurs

Simile - figure of speech that compares two things that have something in common using the words “like” or “as”

Symbol - a person, place, or object that has a concrete meaning in itself and also stands for something beyond itself, such as an idea or feeling

Theme - the underlying message that a writer wants the reader to understand. It is a perception about life or human nature that the writer shares with the reader

Tragic Hero & Tragic Flaw

• Tragic Hero: character in a dramatic tragedy who has virtuous and sympathetic traits but ultimately meets with suffering or defeat

Tone - the writer’s attitude towards a subject