Literary Terms Flashcards
Allusion
The reference to a person, place, or poem, or event that are not apart of the story, but an author expects you to know
Allegory
Narrative (tells a story) in which characters, setting, and or symbols have both literal and figurative meanings
Analogy
Comparison between people, places, things that are similar in order to point out dissimilarities
Apostrophe
A figure of speech where character is talking to a thing, quality, or imaginary person, god, ghosts, like they are really there
Audience
The readers
Characterization
the way am author presents it's characters: A. Physical description B. Thoughts and actions C. What other characters say about them D. What they say
Climax
The highest action point in plot that peaks readers intrest
Conflict
Problem or disagreement between two forces
Contrast
Showing something against its opposite
Diction
Words that the author chooses to use
Dramatic monologue
A character directs a silent character very intense or emotional point of a story
Euphemism
Word or phrase that is less expressive or direct to be less offensive or distasteful (saying something mean in a nice way)
Farce
Comedy that depends on an overblown speech, unbelievable situations, exaggerated characters, and sexual hints
Figurative language
Words and phrases that have meanings different from their usual ones to create poetic or literary effect
Flashback
When the story goes back to an earlier time
Foreshadowing
Hints or clues in the story to what might happen in the story
Form
Genera; physical arrangement for words in poetry
Hyperbole
Figure of speech where truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humor
Imagery (auditory)
Sound
Imagery (gustatory)
Taste
Imagery (kinesthetic)
Body tension and movement
Imagery (olfactory)
Smell
Imagery (organic)
Internal feelings ex: heatbeat
Imagery (tactile)
Touch
Imagery (visual)
Seeing
Inference
Drawing a conclusion that is not stated by the author
Dramatic irony
The reader knows more than the characters
Situational irony
Contrast between what is expected and what actually happens
Verbal irony
Stating one thing but meaning the other
Juxtaposition
When you put two dissimilar things together to emphasize differences or heighten similarities
Imagery
Words that create a sensory experience
Metaphor
Compare directly of things that are dissimilar
Mood
The feeling the reader gets from the book; emotional aspect
Motif
Anything that reoccurs: image, object, idea, action, not necessarily a symbol
Onomatopoeia
Words who’s punctuation suggest their meaning
Paradox
Statement that seems contradictory or ridiculous but is quite true
Parallelism
Ideas of equal worth with the same grammatical form in sentence structure
Parody
Mocking piece of literature designed to ridicule in an exaggerated sarcastic way
Persona
Speaker in a poem like the narrator in a work of fiction
Personification
Giving human characteristics to something my human
Plot
The sequence of events: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution
Point of view
Perspective from which events are told 3rd limited or omniscient; first
Prose
All forms of written or spoken expression that is not a rhythmic pattern
Pun
Expression for emphasis or humor using two different meanings for the same word
Satire
Making fun of foolish ideas
Setting
Time, place, and circumstances
Simile
A comparison of two dissimilar things using like or as
Structure
Way a piece of literature is put together by arrangement of parts (paragraphs, chapters)
Symbol/symbolism
When an object in a story has a meaning greater than itself
Syntax
Arrangement of words to form sentences
Theme
The main message the author wants to get across to the reader
Tone
Authors attitude
