Literary Elements & Techniques

Question 1

SETTING

Answer 1

the surroundings or environment in which a story takes place

Question 2

TONE

Answer 2

the way that an author feels about the subject on which they are writing

Question 3

CHARACTERIZATION

Answer 3

the way in which an author portrays a character to the reader

Question 4

MOOD

Answer 4

the way a reader is intended to feel based on the diction and events/actions that occur within a given passage

Question 5

IRONY

Answer 5

a manner of organizing work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc. especially as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme or emotion

Question 6

ATMOSOHERE

Answer 6

the way the characters feel based on the events/actions that occur in a given passage

Question 7

NARRATION

Answer 7

the acting of telling a story

Question 8

THEME

Answer 8

a message about life that the author of a text wants the reader to realize. The message is NEVER directly stated, but instead is implied based on repeated events/conflicts/characters’ behaviors

Question 9

DIALOGUE

Answer 9

conversation between two or more persons

Question 10

SIMILE

Answer 10

a comparison between two nouns, ideas or actions that make use of the words like or as

Question 11

METAPHOR

Answer 11

a direct comparison made between two nouns, ideas, or actions; usually accompanied by the words is or are

Question 12

HYPERBOLE

Answer 12

an extreme exaggeration that would be nonsensical if interpreted literally

Question 13

PERSONIFICATION

Answer 13

the attribution of human traits to something that is not human

Question 14

REPETITION

Answer 14

when a specific word repeats itself in a small amount of sentences; used to help us remember an idea, reinforce a specific idea, make us focus on a specific idea, or lets us know what the character is focusing on

Question 15

ALLITERATION

Answer 15

a specific sound that is repeated in a group of words in close proximity; can occur anywhere within the words, but most often fall at the beginning or the end

Question 16

CONSONANCE

Answer 16

a repeated consonant sound within a group of words

Question 17

ASSONANCE

Answer 17

the repeated vowel sound that appears within a group of words

Question 18

SIBILANCE

Answer 18

the repeated s, z, or sh sound that appears within a group of words

Question 19

CONTRAST

Answer 19

the deliberate placement of two opposite images, objects, ideas or words within close proximity of each other

Question 20

SYMBOLISM

Answer 20

the use of an object or an image to represent an idea

Question 21

ALLUSION

Answer 21

a brief reference to something outside of the text

Question 22

FLASHBACK

Answer 22

a device in which an event or scene taking place before the present time in the narrative is inserted into the chronological structure of the work

Question 23

FORESHADOWING

Answer 23

suggesting or hinting at something that will occur

Question 24

PARADOX

Answer 24

a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality express a possible truth

Question 25

OXYMORON

Answer 25

a figure of speech in which incongruous or seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side