Literary Terms 1-100 Flashcards by Julia Hefner

a literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions

Allegory

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the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words

Alliteration

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a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize

Allusion

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occurs when a word, phrase, situation, or event can be interpreted in more than one way; both interpretations must be supportable from the text

Ambiguity

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a comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

Analogy

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a brief narrative (story) that focuses on a particular incident or event

Anecdote

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a main character of a plot who is in opposition to or conflict with the protagonist. This person usually complicates the conflict and plot.

Antagonist

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a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response

Archetype

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side comments by a character on stage, which the other characters appear not to hear or react to

Aside

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repetition of vowel sounds in the middle of words (not the same as rhyme)

Assonance

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a nonfiction story written by an author about himself/herself

Autobiography

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a nonfiction story about a person’s life written by someone else

Biography

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a cleansing of the spirit when feelings of pity and sorrow arise from tragedy

Catharsis

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the introduction and development of the personalities of the individuals in a piece of literature

Characterization

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an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off

Cliché

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the point of highest interest in a literary work

Climax

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a problem, issue, or challenge that must be solved. This is the driving force for all the action and events in the plot.

Conflict

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the implied or associative meaning of a word

Connotation

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repetition of the same consonant sounds in neighboring words

Consonance

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two consecutive lines with words at the end that rhyme

Couplet

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the literal meaning of a word (the precise dictionary definition)

Denotation

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the resolution or outcome of a story

Denouement

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a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar or pronunciation, often associated with a particular geographical region

Dialect

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conversation between two or more people

Dialogue

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the word choices made by a writer

Diction

when the narrator or a character in the story explicitly tells readers what they need to know about a character

Direct characterization

the formal name for a play

Drama

an individual who changes, learns, and grows from his/her experiences during the story

Dynamic character

a poetic technique in which one line ends without a pause and must continue on to the next line to complete its meaning

Enjambment

a long narrative poem written in elevated style that presents the adventures of characters of high position and episodes that are important to the history of a race or nation

Epic

a sudden perception or moment of understanding that causes a character to change or act in a certain way

Epiphany

the opening part of the plot that introduces the setting, characters, and conflict

Exposition

a struggle or problem originating outside a character, i.e., person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society

External conflict

a brief story that embodies a moral, often using animals as characters

Fable

stories that include characters, settings, and/or events that were created in the imagination of the writer. If any of these three is invented, the entire story is deemed fiction.

Fiction

language employing one or more figures of speech (simile, metaphor, imagery, etc.)

Figurative language

a story told from the perspective of someone in the story using the pronouns “I,” “me,” “my,” etc.

First-person point of view

the insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative

Flashback

a character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story

Flat character

a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight various features of the characters’ personalities, throwing these characteristics into stark focus

Foil

hints or clues about what may happen later in the plot. This can be suggested through symbolism, dialogue, imagery, or other literary devices.

Foreshadowing

poetry with no fixed meter or rhyme scheme

Free verse

a major category or type of literature

Genre

excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy

Hubris

intentional exaggeration to create an effect

Hyperbole

an expression in a given language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning of the words in the expression (i.e., “raining cats and dogs”)

Idiom

the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the senses

Imagery

when readers indirectly learn about a character through thoughts, comments, or actions of the characters

Indirect characterization

a conclusion one draws (infers) based on premises or evidence

Inference

a struggle or problem within a character, i.e., person vs. self

Internal conflict

the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs

Irony

a narrative handed down from the past, containing historical and often supernatural elements

Legend

a narrator who presents the story as it is seen and understood by a single character and restricts information to what is seen, heard, thought, or felt by that one character

Limited narrator

a poem written to express feelings or emotions (the most common category for poems)

Lyric poem

a nonfiction story about certain moments or parts of an author’s life

Memoir

a direct comparison of two different things

Metaphor

the rhythm or syllable pattern in lines of poetry; the beat of the words

Meter

one character speaking to himself or directly to the audience

Monologue

the emotional quality the reader experiences from the words, images, and descriptions created by the writer

Mood

a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works

Motif

a traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that help explain natural events

Myth

a poem that tells a story

Narrative poem

a story or narrated account

Narrative

the one who tells the story; the speaker; may be first-person (a character living the story) or third-person (a character watching the story unfold), limited or omniscient

Narrator

stories that include characters, settings, and events that are based on fact. All three must be accurate and true for a piece to be considered nonfiction.

Nonfiction

a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters

Omniscient narrator

a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds

Onomatopoeia

an expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined

Oxymoron

an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth

Paradox

a humorous imitation of a serious work

Parody

giving human qualities or characteristics to non-human objects or creatures

Personification

the sequence or order of events

Plot

the perspective from which the story is told

Point of view

non-poetry; most writing falls into this category (short stories, novels, nonfiction, etc.)

Prose

the main character of the plot who is usually considered the hero or positive individual

Protagonist

a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but different meanings (i.e., In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio says, “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” Grave carries the double meaning of serious/sad and dead.)

Pun

the part of the story’s plot line in which the problem of the story is resolved or worked out. This occurs after the falling action and is typically where the story ends.

Resolution

the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing

Rhetoric

a set pattern of rhyming words found at the ends of lines of poetry. The rhyme scheme is indicated by assigning capital letters to pinpoint the pattern (i.e., ABAB CDCD EFEF GG).

Rhyme scheme

a character who, like a real person, possesses many different, even contradictory, character traits

Round character

ridicule intended to expose truth

Satire

time and place in which the plot takes place

Setting

the comparison of two or more related objects or events using the words like or as in the phrasing

Simile

when a character is alone (solo) on stage, speaking aloud her thoughts or emotions. Soliloquies often reveal motivation and/or foreshadowing.

Soliloquy

a fourteen-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme

Sonnet

the natural divisions of a poem, similar to a paragraph in a work of prose

Stanza

a character who does not change through the course of a story

Static character

a technique in which prose follows the logic and flow of a character’s (or multiple characters’) thought processes

Stream of consciousness

all the distinctive ways an author uses language to create a literary work; style can involve diction, imagery, tone, syntax, and figurative language

Style

a building or rising sense of concern or interest in what will happen in a plot

Suspense

an object that is used to represent something else

Symbol

the use of objects, animals (especially birds), colors, etc. that have a greater or universal meaning beyond their simple existence. The symbols can offer information and even create foreshadowing if the reader understands or notes their meaning.

Symbolism

sentence structure

Syntax

the message, advice, or warning about life and/or relationships the author shares through the characters’ experiences. This message is often inferred; it is more than a simplistic moral to the story.

Theme

the primary position taken by a writer or speaker

Thesis

the narrator of the story exists outside of the story’s events and uses the pronouns “he,” “she,” “they,” etc.

Third-person point of view

the attitude of a writer, usually implied, toward the subject or audience

Tone

a work in which the protagonist, a person of high degree, is engaged in a significant struggle, which ends in ruin or destruction

Tragedy

a habit, personality trait, or practice that repeatedly causes a character problems in his/her life and ultimately causes his or her downfall or destruction

Tragic flaw

the point in a work in which a very significant change occurs

Turning point