Junior Year Literary Terms

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allegory

Back 1

a story or poem that has two levels of meaning, literal and metaphorical

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alliteration

Back 2

the repetition of the same consonant sounds in words that are close together

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allusion

Back 3

a reference to something else in history, literature, religion, culture, etc. in a work of literature

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anecdote

Back 4

a breif story told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something

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antagonist

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the rival/opponent of the protagonist

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aphorism

Back 6

a brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life

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assonance

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the repetiton of vowel sounds

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consonance

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the repetition of consonant sounds, not necessarily at the beginning of words

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epithet

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a descriptive word or phrase frequently used to characterize a person or thing

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flashback

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a scene that interrupts the normal sequence of events to depcit something that happened previously

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foreshadowing

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hinting at something that will happen later in the story

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haiku

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a short, unrhymed poem developed in Japan in the 15th century (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables)

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hyperbole

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usin an incredible exaggeration or overstatement for effect

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imagery

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use of language to evoke a specific sensation or feeling

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inflection

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alteration of pitch or tone in the voice that adds meaning to the speaker's words

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irony

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a discrepancy between appearance (how something seems or what was intended/expected) and reality

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verbal,
situational,
dramatic

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3 types of irony

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verbal irony

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when someone says one thing but really means another

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situational irony

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when there is a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens

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dramatic irony

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when there is a contrast between what a character knows and what the audience knows

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lyric poetry

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poetry that does not tell a story, but expresses the thoughts or feelings of a speaker

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metaphor

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comparison between two unlike things without using the words "like" or "as"

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mood

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the overall emotion created bya work of literature

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motif

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a recurring concept or structure in a work of literature

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paralelism

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repetition of words or phrases with similar grammatical structures for effect

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paradox

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a statement that appears self-contradictory, but actually reveals a kind of truth

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personification

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giving human-like trains to non-human things

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point of view

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the persepctive/vantage point from which a writer tells a story

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protagonist

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the central character in a story

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satire

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a type of writing that ridicules/makes fun of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about change

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simile

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a comparison between two unlike things using "like" or "as"

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symbol

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a person, place, thing, event, etc. that has meaning itself, but also stands for something else

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soliloquy

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a monologue with no other characters on stage

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theme

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the insight about human life or life lesson that is revealed in a literary work

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tone

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the attitude a writer takes about his/her subject, characters, etc.

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understatement

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a statement that says less than what is meant

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vernacular

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the langauge spoken by people who live in a particular place