Literary Terms Flashcards by Maria Moskaleva

A story in which people, things and actions represent an idea or a generalization about life; often have a strong moral or lesson.

Allegory

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A literary reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event.

Allusion

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A comparison of two or more similar objects, suggesting that if they are alike in certain respects, they will probably be alike in other ways as well.

Analogy

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The person or thing working against the protagonist, or hero, of the work.

Antagonist

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An author’s account or story of her or his own life.

Autobiography

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The story of a person’s life written by another person.

Biography

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The method an author uses to reveal characters and their personalities

Characterization

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A literature in which human errors or problems appear funny. End on a happy note.

Comedy

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The problem or struggle in a story that triggers the action.

Conflict

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How many types of conflict are there?

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What are the types of conflict?

Person vs. Person
Person vs. Society
Person vs. Self
Person vs Nature
Person vs. Fate (God)

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What is Person vs. Person conflict?

One character in a story has a problem with one or more of the characters

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What is Person vs. Society conflict?

A character has a problem with some element of society: the school, the law, the accepted way of doing things

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What is Person vs. Self conflict?

A character has a problem deciding what to do in a certain situation

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What is Person vs. Nature conflict?

A character has a problem with nature: heat, cold, a tornado, an avalanche, or any other element of nature

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What is Person vs. Fate(God) conflict?

A character must battle what seems to be an uncontrollable problem. Whenever the conflict is an unbelievable or strange coincidence, it can be attributed to fate or an act of God.

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The set of facts or circumstances surrounding an event or a situation in a piece of literature

Context

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The conversation carried on by the characters in a literary work

Dialogue

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An author’s choice of words based on their correctness, clearness, or effectiveness.

Diction

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An expression that is usually accepted in informal situations and certain locations, as in “He really grinds my beans.”

Colloquialism

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(Technical diction) is the specialized language used by a particular group, such as those who use computers: override, interface, download.

Jargon

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language that shows disrespect for someone or something regarded as holy or sacred

Profanity

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The informal language used by a particular group of people among themselves; it is also language that is used in fiction to lend color and feeling: awesome, chill out, no way.

Slang

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language that is generally considered crude, gross, and, at times, offensive. It is sometimes used in fiction to add realism.

Vulgarity

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literature instructs or presents a moral or religious statement.

Didactic

The form of literature known as plays; also refers to the type of serious play that is often concerned with is he leading character’s relationship to society

Drama

Putting yourself in someone else’s place and imagining how that person must feel

Empathy

A long narrative poem that tells of the deeds and adventures of a hero

Epic

A short poem or verse written in memory of someone

Epitaph

A word or phrase used in place of a person’s place; it is a characteristic of that person: Alexander the Great, Material Girl, Ms. Know-It-All

Epithet

A piece of prose that expresses an individual’s point of view; usually, it is a series of closely related paragraphs that combine to make a complete piece of writing

Essay

A short fictional narrative that teaches a lesson. It usually includes animals that talk and act like people.

Fable

An opposition, or contrast, of ideas.

Antithesis

An exaggeration or overstatement

Hyperbole

A comparison of two unlike things in which no word of comparison (like or as) is used

Metaphor

The substituting of one word for another related word

Metonymy

A literary device in which the author speaks of or describes an animal, object, or idea as if it were a human

Personification

A comparison of two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”

Simile

A way of emphasizing an idea by talking about it in a restrained manner

Understatement

Returning to an earlier time for the purpose of making someone in the present more clear

Flashback

Someone who serves as a contrast or challenge to another character

Foil

Is giving hints or clues of what is to come later in the story.

Foreshadowing

Refers to a category or type of literature based on its style, form, and content. The mystery novel is an example

Genre

Derived from a Greek word, means “excessive pride.” In Greek tragedy, it is often viewed as the flaw that leads to the downfall of the tragic hero

Hubris

The use of words to create a certain picture in the reader’s mind; usually based on sensory details

Imagery

Using a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or normal meaning;

Irony

Writing based on the writer’s memory of a particular time, place, or incident. Reminiscence is another term for it

Memoir

The feeling a text arouses in the reader: happiness, peacefulness, sadness, and so on.

Mood

The particular value or lesson the author is trying to get across to the reader.

Moral

The term for an often-repeated idea or theme in literature.

Motif

Traditional story that attempts to justify a certain practice or belief or to explain a natural phenomenon

Myth

Person who is telling the story

Narrator

A lengthy fictional story with a plot that is revealed by the speech action, and thoughts of the characters

Novel

A prose work longer than the standard short story, but shorter and less complex than a full length novel

Novella

A combination of contradictory terms as in jumbo shrimp, tough love, or cruel kindness

Oxymoron

A statement that seems contrary to common sense, yet may, in fact, be true: “The coach considered this a good loss.”

Paradox

The action or sequence of events in a story. It is usually a series of related incidents that build upon one another as the story develops. There are five basic elements in this

Plot

Writing that is intended to explain something that might otherwise be difficult to understand. In a play or novel, it would be the portion that gives the background or situation surrounding the story.

Exposition

Usually the most intense point in a story. A series of struggles or conflicts builds a story or play toward this

Climax

AKA denouement, is the portion of the play or story in which the problem is solved. It comes after the climax and falling action and is intended to bring the story to a satisfactory end

Resolution

The vantage point from which the story is told.

Point of View

How many types of third-person point of view are there?

What are the 3 types of 3rd person POV?

1. Omniscient point of view 2. Limited omniscient point of view 3. Camera view

This point of view allows the narrator to share the thoughts and feelings of all the characters

Omniscient point of view

This point of view allows the narrator to share the thoughts and feelings of only one character

Limited omniscient point of view

This point of view allows the storyteller to record the action from his or her own point of view, being unaware of any of the characters’ thoughts or feelings

Camera view

Main character or hero of the story.

Protagonist

A literary movement with an emphasis on the imagination and emotions

Romance

A literary tone used to make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting or changing the subject of the attack

Satire

The time and place in which the action of a literary work occurs.

Setting

A speech delivered by a character when he or she is alone on stage. It is though the character is thinking out loud.

Soliloquy

A person, a place, a thing, or an event used to represent something else; Characters can be used to represent things too

Symbol

Statement about life that a writer is trying to get across in a piece of writing; in most cases, the it will be implied rather than directly spelled out

Theme

The overall feeling, or effect, created by a writer’s use of words. This feeling may be serious, humorous, or satiric.

Tone

A literary work in which the hero is destroyed by some character flaw or by forces beyond his or her control.

Tragedy