Literary Terms #1

Question 1

allusion

Answer 1

a reference in a work of literature to something outside the work, especially to a well-known historical or literary event, person, or work

Question 2

attitude

Answer 2

a speaker’s, author’s, or character’s disposition toward or opinion of a subject

Question 3

details (or choice of details)

Answer 3

details are items or parts that make up a larger picture or story

Question 4

devices of sound

Answer 4

the techniques of deploying the sound of words, especially in poetry, such as rhyme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and onomatopoeia

Question 5

diction

Answer 5

word choice

Question 6

figurative language

Answer 6

writing that uses figures of speech (as opposed to a literal language or that which is actual or specifically denoted) such as metaphor, simile, and irony; figurative language uses words to mean something other than their literal meaning

Question 7

imagery

Answer 7

the images of a literary work; the sensory details of a work; the figurative language of a work; imagery has several definitions, but the two that are paramount are the visual, auditory, or tactile images evoked by words of a literary work or the images that figurative language evokes

Question 8

irony

Answer 8

a figure of speech in which intent and actual meaning differ, characteristically praise for blame or blame for praise; a pattern of words that turns away from direct statement of its own obvious meaning; the term irony implies a discrepancy

Question 9

metaphor

Answer 9

a figurative use of language in which a comparison is expressed without the use of a comparative term like “as,” “like,” or “than”

Question 10

narrative techniques

Answer 10

the methods involved in telling a story; the procedures used by a writer of stories or accounts; narrative techniques is a general term (like “devices,” or “resources of language”) which asks you to discuss the procedures used in the telling of a story; examples of the techniques you might use are point of view, manipulation of time, dialogue, or interior monologue

Question 11

omniscient point of view

Answer 11

the vantage point of a story in which the narrator can know, see, and report whatever he or she chooses; the narrator is free to describe the thoughts of any of the characters, to skip about in time or place, or to speak directly to the reader

Question 12

point of view

Answer 12

any of several possible vantage points from which a story is told; the point of view may be omniscient, limited to that of a single character, or limited to that of several characters; the teller may use first person or third person