Literary Terms

Front 1

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words in a poem or other literary work.

Back 1

Alliteration

Front 2

A person, animal, or thing in a story, play, or other literary work.

Back 2

Character

Front 3

A struggle or clash between characters or outside forces.

Back 3

Conflict

Front 4

An extreme exaggeration.

Back 4

Hyperbole

Front 5

When you expect one thing, and something entirely different happens.

Back 5

Irony

Front 6

A way of speaking in a particular place or of a particular group of people.

Back 6

Dialect

Front 7

The use of clues or hints suggesting events that will happen later in a story.

Back 7

Foreshadowing

Front 8

A comparison of two unlike things in which one thing IS something else.

Back 8

Metaphor

Front 9

Putting a poem or story in your own words.

Back 9

Paraphrase

Front 10

The time and place of a story or play.

Back 10

Setting

Front 11

A comparison of two things using “like” or “as”.

Back 11

Simile

Front 12

The uncertainty or anxiety we feel about what will happen in a story.

Back 12

Suspense

Front 13

The attitude a writer takes in a story to make the reader feel a certain way.

Back 13

Tone/Mood

Front 14

A word that means the same or about the same as another word.

Back 14

Synonym

Front 15

A word that means the opposite of another word.

Back 15

Antonym

Front 16

The life story of a person, written by that person.

Back 16

Autobiography

Front 17

Giving human characteristics to non-human things.

Back 17

Personification

Front 18

The use of a word like “buzz” or “hiss” in which the word and the noise sound the same.

Back 18

Onomatopoeia

Front 19

The history of a person’s life written by someone else.

Back 19

Biography

Front 20

A made-up story that takes place during an important time in history.

Back 20

Historical Fiction

Front 21

A story with a made-up plot and characters.

Back 21

Fiction

Front 22

A story that actually happened.

Back 22

Non-fiction

Front 23

A made-up story about future life, planets, or scientific ideas.

Back 23

Science Fiction

Front 24

A story that teaches a lesson using persons, animals, or objects.

Back 24

Fable

Front 25

An implied comparison that continues through an entire poem.

Back 25

Extended Metaphor

Front 26

A character that changes during the story.

Back 26

Dynamic character

Front 27

A character that stays the same through out the story.

Back 27

Static Character

Front 28

When you use context clues and your own knowledge to figure out what the author of a story or poem is suggesting.

Back 28

Inference/To Infer

Front 29

Stories in which the characters try to answer questions about secrets or crimes.

Back 29

Mystery

Front 30

Made-up stories about situations that could actually happen in real life.

Back 30

Realistic Fiction

Front 31

Stories that have characters with supernatural powers.

Back 31

Fantasy

Front 32

Stories that are based on gods and goddesses of different cultures.

Back 32

Myths

Front 33

The sequence of events in a story.

Back 33

Plot

Front 34

An unexpected turn of events in a story; a surprise ending.

Back 34

Plot Twist

Front 35

A story written in the form of a play.

Back 35

Drama

Front 36

A type of literature that is written in lines and stanzas, with or without rhyme, showing emotion and imagination.

Back 36

Poetry

Front 37

The lesson or message the author is trying to get across to the reader.

Back 37

Theme

Front 38

What a story or passage is mainly about.

Back 38

Main Idea