Literary Terms Part 1

Front 1

Alliteration

Back 1

the practice of beginning several consecutive or adjacent words with the same sound. Example-“The twisting trout twinkled below”.

Front 2

Allusion

Back 2

a reference to a mythological, literary, or historical person, place or thing. Example: “He met his Waterloo.”

Front 3

Antagonist

Back 3

the character who stands opposed to the protagonist

Front 4

Climax

Back 4

the point of greatest suspense or tension in a literary work; turning point

Front 5

Conflict

Back 5

the struggle between two forces in a piece of literature

Front 6

Diction

Back 6

word choice intended to give certain effect

Front 7

Falling Action

Back 7

all the events that follow the climax

Front 8

Flashback

Back 8

a scene that interrupts the action (plot) of a literary work to show a previous event

Front 9

Foreshadowing

Back 9

an author gives either hints or clues of coming events

Front 10

Hyperbole

Back 10

a deliberate, extravagant and somewhat outrageous exaggeration

Front 11

Imagery

Back 11

consists of words or phrases an author selects and uses to represent persons, actions, feelings, and ideas descriptively by appealing to the senses.

Front 12

Verbal Irony

Back 12

irony occurs when a speaker says one thing and means the opposite

Front 13

Situational Irony

Back 13

occurs when a situation turns out differently than you would normally expect.

Front 14

Dramatic Irony

Back 14

occurs when a character or speaker says or does something that has a different meaning from what he or she thinks it means, though the audience or other characters understand the cull implications of the speech or action.

Front 15

Metaphor

Back 15

is a comparison of two unlike things not using “like” or “as”

Front 16

Mood

Back 16

is the atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work

Front 17

Onomatopoeia

Back 17

is the use of words that mimic the sounds they describe – example: hiss, bang, splat