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Alliteration

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The repetition of similar sounds, usually consonants, at the beginning of words. “Sweet scented stuff” is an example of alliteration.

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Allusion

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A reference within a literary work to a historical, literary, or biblical character, place, or event.

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Assonance

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The repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words. “The monster spoke in a low mellow tone” has assonance in its repetition of the “o” sound.

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Caricature

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A description or characterization that exaggerates or distorts a character’s prominent features, usually for purposes of mockery.

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Cliché

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A familiar expression that has been used and reused so many times that it’s lost its expressive power.

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Epiphany

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A sudden, powerful, and often spiritual or life-changing realization that a character experiences in an otherwise ordinary moment.

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Foreshadowing

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An author’s deliberate use of hints or suggestions to give a preview of events or themes that do not develop until later in the narrative.

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Hyperbole

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An excessive overstatement or exaggeration of fact.

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Idiom

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A common expression that has acquired a meaning that differs from its literal meaning, such as “It’s raining cats and dogs” or “That cost me an arm and a leg.”

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Imagery

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Language that brings to mind sensory impressions.

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Irony

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Irony usually emphasizes the contrast between the way things are expected to be and the way they actually are.

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Metaphor

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The comparison of one thing to another that does not use the terms like or as.

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Motif

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A recurring structure, contrast, idea, or other device that develops a literary work’s major ideas.

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Onomatopoeia

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The use of words such as pop or hiss where the spoken sound resembles the actual sound.

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Oxymoron

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The association of two terms that seem to contradict each other, as in the expression “wise fool” or “jumbo shrimp.”

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Paradox

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A statement that seems contradictory on the surface but often expresses a deeper truth. The comment, “All men destroy the things they love” is a paradox.

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Personification

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The use of human characteristics to describe animals, things, or ideas.

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Pun

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A play on words that uses the similarity in sound between two words with distinctly different meanings. For example, the title of the play The Importance of Being Earnest is a pun on the word earnest, which means “serious” or “sober,” and the name “Ernest.”

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Rhetorical Question

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A question asked not to elicit an actual response but to make an impact or call attention to something.

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Sarcasm

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A verbal tone in which it is obvious from context that the speaker means the opposite of what he or she says.

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Simile

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A comparison of two things that uses the words like or as. “Love is like a fire” is a simile.

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Symbol

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An object, character, figure, place, or color used to represent an abstract idea or concept.

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Theme

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A fundamental and universal idea explored in a literary work. The struggle to achieve the American Dream is a common theme in twentieth-century American literature.

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Thesis

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The central argument that an author tries to make in a literary work.

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Tone

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The author’s or narrator’s attitude toward the story or the subject.