Literary Terms

Front 1

Alliteration

Back 1

A repeated consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words.

Front 2

Allusion

Back 2

Reference to events or characters from history.

Front 3

Analogy

Back 3

A comparison between two things that are unlike.

Front 4

Antagonist

Back 4

The major character opposing the hero.

Front 5

Atmosphere

Back 5

The overall emotional impression created in the story.

Front 6

Characters

Back 6

The fictional people who are involved in the story's plot.

Front 7

Climax

Back 7

A decisive moment in the conflict of the story. Highest intersest.

Front 8

Connotation

Back 8

A word's implied meaning.

Front 9

Conflict

Back 9

The force that moves the plot along and the struggles in which the characters are involved.

Front 10

Denouement

Back 10

The final outcome and clarification of the conflict.

Front 11

Denotation

Back 11

The exact dictionary meaning of a word or phrase.

Front 12

Diction

Back 12

The author's choice of words.

Front 13

Drama

Back 13

A work of literature written to be preformed before an audience.

Front 14

Dramatic Irony

Back 14

The audience knows something the character on stage doesn't.

Front 15

Dynamic Character

Back 15

A character who grows or develops in the work.

Front 16

Essay

Back 16

A short piece of writing on a subject or theme which expresses a specific point of view.

Front 17

Flashback

Back 17

A presentation on an event that happened earlier that helps explain the story.

Front 18

Foreshadowing

Back 18

Clues that hint at what is going to happen later in the plot.

Front 19

Hyperbole

Back 19

An exaggeration or overstatement for effect.

Front 20

Understatement

Back 20

Pharase using less force than is warranted.

Front 21

Imagery

Back 21

Language that creates pictures in a reader's mind to bring life to the experiences and feelings described in a pieve of writing.

Front 22

Verbal Irony

Back 22

A form of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words that carry opposite meaning.

Front 23

Legend

Back 23

A story handed down orally from an early time.

Front 24

Metaphor

Back 24

A comparison that doesn't use "Like" or "As."

Front 25

Mood

Back 25

The predominant atmosphere of a work.

Front 26

Meter

Back 26

Poetry line length and structure.

Front 27

Myth

Back 27

A Story told by people in ancient times to explain life and nature.

Front 28

Onomatopoeia

Back 28

The sound of the word resembles its meaning.

Front 29

Oxymoron

Back 29

A phrase that uses two contradictory terms.

Front 30

Paradox

Back 30

Something that tugs at the heart's strings. Sympathy.

Front 31

Pathetic Fallacy

Back 31

The mood of the writer is complimented by the weather.

Front 32

Personification

Back 32

Human qualities added to to show intensity of feelings.

Front 33

Plot

Back 33

The series of events that produces the story.

Front 34

Point of View

Back 34

The vantage point of which the narrator tells the story.

Front 35

Protagonist

Back 35

The main character

Front 36

Purpose

Back 36

The reason for a specific piece of writing.

Front 37

Satire

Back 37

Sacrasm and humore to criticize or make fun of people's foolish actions, laws, or policies. Irony.

Front 38

Setting

Back 38

The time, place, and location of the story. Creates mood.

Front 39

Simile

Back 39

A comparison between two unline things using like, as, or than.

Front 40

Static Character

Back 40

Character who remains unchanged.

Front 41

Symbol

Back 41

A person, place, thing, or event that stands for something else.

Front 42

Syntax

Back 42

Arrangement of words into phrases and sentences.

Front 43

Theme

Back 43

The central ideas about life that emerges from literature.