1. “Peter Piper picked purple peppers.”
Which literary term is demonstrated by the repeated beginning consonant sound?
Answer: Alliteration
2. “Oh, Moon, why must you hide tonight?”
A speaker directly addresses the moon as though it could respond. Which term is demonstrated?
Answer: Apostrophe
3. “We will fight. We will endure. We will succeed.”
Which literary term is demonstrated by repeating the same words at the beginning of successive sentences?
Answer: Anaphora
4. In a play, a character turns toward the audience and quietly says, “Nobody here knows my real plan,” while the other characters act as though they cannot hear.
Which term is demonstrated?
Answer: Aside
5. A poem describes a hero who leaves home, faces a great challenge, and returns transformed, reflecting a pattern found across many cultures.
Which term best describes this recurring pattern?
Answer: Archetype
6. A writer uses words such as “crack,” “clang,” “hiss,” and “clash” to create harsh, unpleasant sounds.
Which term is demonstrated?
Answer: Cacophony
7. A poem tells the story of a traveler and repeatedly returns to the same line at the end of each stanza.
Which term best describes the poem?
Answer: Ballad
8. A story about animals competing for control of a farm also represents different abstract political ideas beyond the literal animal story.
Which term best describes the story?
Answer: Allegory
9. A poet uses several words with similar repeated vowel sounds in stressed syllables.
Which literary term is demonstrated?
Answer: Assonance
10. An author presents a character as impatient, generous, and stubborn through the character’s actions and descriptions.
What term describes the author’s method of presenting the character?
Answer: Characterization
11. A writer says, “He ran, jumped, climbed, sprinted” without using “and” between the actions.
Which literary term is demonstrated?
Answer: Asyndeton
12. A writer describes a dark, abandoned house using gloomy imagery to make the reader feel nervous and uncomfortable.
Which term describes the feeling created for the reader?
Answer: Atmosphere (mood)
13. A character spends the story trying to stop the main character from achieving their goal.
What is this character called?
Answer: Antagonist
14. A writer says, “She is as brave as a lion,” comparing two things that are different but share a particular quality.
Which term describes this type of comparison?
Answer: Analogy
15. A poem contains five metrical feet per line, uses iambic rhythm, and does not rhyme.
Which term describes this type of poetry?
Answer: Blank verse
16. A poet writes about enjoying the present because life is short and opportunities should be appreciated while they last.
Which term describes this theme?
Answer: Carpe diem
17. During a dramatic scene, a character experiences an intense emotional release that leaves the audience feeling emotionally relieved.
Which term describes this purification or purging of emotions?
Answer: Catharsis
18. A poet writes a line with a noticeable pause in the middle: “The night was dark — / the road was silent.”
Which term describes the pause within the line of poetry?
Answer: Caesura
19. A narrator briefly mentions “a David facing Goliath” to describe a small person or group confronting a powerful opponent.
Which term is being used?
Answer: Allusion
20. A fictional story contains an imaginary person who has their own personality, actions, and role in the story.
What is this person called?
Answer: Character 1. Allegory — A narrative in verse or prose in which characters, actions, and sometimes settings represent abstract concepts beyond the literal meaning of the story.
2. Alliteration — The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
3. Allusion — A brief reference to a person, event, or place in history, or to a work of art or literature.
4. Analogy — A comparison made between two items, situations, or ideas that are somewhat alike but unlike in most respects.
5. Anaphora — Repetition that occurs when the first word or set of words in successive sentences, clauses, or phrases is repeated.
6. Antagonist — A character in a story or play who opposes the protagonist.
7. Apostrophe — A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person or a personified quality, object, or idea.
8. Archetype — A character, action, or situation that represents common patterns of human life and often has a common meaning throughout a culture or humanity.
9. Aside — In drama, a few words or a short passage spoken by one character to the audience while the other actors pretend they cannot hear the speaker.
10. Assonance — The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in stressed syllables or words.
11. Asyndeton — The omission of conjunctions from constructions in which they would normally be used.
12. Atmosphere (mood) — The mood or feeling of a literary work created for the reader by the writer.
13. Ballad — A narrative poem that usually includes a repeated refrain.
14. Blank verse — Unrhymed iambic pentameter, a line of five feet.
15. Cacophony — The use of words in poetry that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds.
16. Caesura — A pause within a line of poetry.
17. Carpe diem — Latin for “seize the day”; a theme frequently found in lyric poetry that encourages enjoying life’s pleasures while you are able.
18. Catharsis — Purification or purging of emotions, such as pity or fear.
19. Character — An imaginary person represented in a work of fiction.
20. Characterization — The method an author uses to acquaint the reader with his or her characters
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