70 Literary Terms Flashcards
ACT
Dramas are divided into large units called…
ALLEGORY
story or tale with two or more levels of meaning
ALLITERATION
repetition of initial consonant sounds
ALLUSION
reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art
ANALOGY
comparison between two or more things that are similar in some ways but otherwise unalike
ANECDOTE
brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event told to entertain
ANTAGONIST
a character or force in conflict with a main character
ANTICLIMAX
“letdown” turning point in a story
ASIDE
short speech delivered by an actor in a play
ASSONANCE
repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in two or more stresses syllables
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
a form of nonfiction in which writer tells his/her own story
BALLAD
song-like poem that tells a story often dealing with romance and adventure
BLANK VERSE
poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter lines
CHARACTER
person or animals who takes part in the action of a literary work
CHARACTERIZATION
act of creating and developing a character
CLIMAX
high point of interest of suspense
COMEDY
a literary work that has a happy ending
COMIC RELIEF
technique that is used to interrupt a serious part of a literary work by introducing a humorous character or situation
CONFLICT
struggle between opposing forces
CONNOTATION
set of ideas associated with it in addition to its explicit meaning
COUPLET
a pair of rhyming lines, usually of the same length and meter
DENOTATION
its dictionary meaning, independent of other associations that the
word may have
DENOUEMENT
resolution, in
which a general insight or change is conveyed
DIALECT
the form of language spoken by people in particular region or group
DIALOGUE
conversation between characters
DICTION
word choice, including the vocabulary used, the appropriateness of the words, and the
vividness of the language
DRAMA
story written to be performed by actors
DRAMATIC IRONY
a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true
DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE
a poem or speech in which a fictional character addresses the listeners
END RHYME
repetition of sounds at the ends of words
EPIC
a long narrative poem about the deeds of gods or heroes
EXTENDED METAPHOR
a writer speaks or writes of a subject as though it were something else.
FANTASY
highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life
FICTION
prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally
FOIL
a character who provides a contrast to another character
FORESHADOWING
the use in a literary work of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur
FREE VERSE
poetry not written in a regular rhythmical pattern, or meter
GENRE
a category or type of literature
HYPERBOLE
a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement
IMAGERY
the descriptive or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the
reader
INTERNAL RHYME
occurs when the rhyming words appear in the same line
IRONY
literary techniques that portray differences between appearances and
reality, or expectation and result
METAPHOR
figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something
else
METER
a poem’s rhythmical pattern
MONOLOGUE
a speech by one character in a play, story, or poem
MOOD
the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage
MORAL
a lesson taught by a literary work
MYTH
a fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or the causes of natural phenomena
ONOMATOPOEIA
the use of words that imitate sound
PARADOX
a statement that seems contradictory but that actually may be true
PERSONIFICATION
a type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human
characteristics
PLOT
the sequence of events in a literary work
POETRY
one of the three major types of literature, the others being prose and drama
PROSE
the ordinary form of written language
PROTAGONIST
the main character in a literary work
REPETITION
the use of any element of language—-a sound, a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence—-more than once
RHYME
the repetition of sounds at the ends of words
RHYME SCHEME
a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem
SETTING
the time and place of the action
SIMILE
a figure of speech in which like or as is used to make a comparison between two
basically unlike ideas
SOLILOQUY
a long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage
SONNET
a fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter
SPEAKER
the imaginary voice assumed by the writer of a poem
STANZA
a formal division of lines in a poem, considered as a unit
SYMBOL
anything that stands for or represents something else
THEME
a central message or insight into life revealed through a literary work
TONE
he writer’s attitude toward his or her audience and subject
TRAGEDY
a work of literature that results in a catastrophe for the main character
VERBAL IRONY
words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant
