Literary Terms

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Alliteration

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repeated sounds in a phrase or sentence

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Connotation

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emotional/images associations of a word

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Denotation

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dictionary definition of a word

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Hyperbole

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extreme exaggeration

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Imagery

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details that appeal to the senses

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Metaphor

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comparison between two things that are not alike

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Onomatopoeia

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use of a word that makes a sound which conveys its meaning

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Oxymoron

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use of opposite words for effect

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Simile

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comparison between two unlike things using like or as

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Foreshadowing

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clues to later events in the story

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Flashback

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leaving present time and going to an earlier time

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Plot

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series of events that make up a story

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Conflict

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struggle/clash between opposing forces or characters; problem

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External Conflict

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character struggles against an outside force (another character or society)

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Internal Conflict

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a problem that takes place within a characters mind

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Climax

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the most exciting point of a story, turning point. the point where conflict is about to be resolved

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Resolution

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conclusion to working out of problem in a story

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Setting

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time and place of a story

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Symbol

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person,event, or object that stands for something else

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Theme

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idea about life revealed in literature; main idea

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Dialog

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conversation between characters

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Antagonist

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a person or force that opposes the central character in a story

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Protagonist

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central character in a story; generally the audience is meant to sympathize with them

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Characterization

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methods of revealing a character

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Point of View

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perspective from which the story is told

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First Person

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one of the characters in the story is telling the story

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Third Person

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someone outside the story tells the story

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Mood

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feeling that an author wants the reader to experience

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Allusion

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reference to a person, place, event from literature, history, religion, mythology, etc... of which writers expect readers to recognize through their own knowledge

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Drama

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a story written to be acted in front of an audience

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Acts

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the related events that take place within a drama are often separated into these

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Folk Tale

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a story with no author, originally passed on from one generation to another by word of mouth. not about gods or religious beliefs

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Poetry

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a kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery to appeal to emotion and imagination

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Free Verse

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poetry that does not have a regular rhyme scheme

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Refrain

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a repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines in a poem or song or even in a speech

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Rhyme

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repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them

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End Rhyme

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rhymes at the end of lines

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Internal Rhymes

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rhymes within lines of a poem

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Rhyme Scheme

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pattern of rhyming sounds at the end of lines of poems

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Speaker

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the voice talking to us in the poem

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Stanza

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in a poem, a group of lines that form a unit

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Prose

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any writing that is not poetry

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Irony

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a contrast between what is expected and what really happens

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Legend

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a story, usually based on some historical fact, that has been handed down from one generation to the next

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Myth

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a story that usually explains something about the world and involves gods and are connected with religious beliefs