Literary Terms Flashcards
Memorize all the literary terms by October 15.
Allegory
Symbolic device in which characters or events in a story symbolize ideas or concepts
Ex. Aslan –> Jesus (comes back to life after getting executed)
Alliteration
Repetition of an initial consonant sound. Often used in poetry
Ex. Blown away –> every Brick –> every Board –> Blown away
Anagram
Writers jumble up parts of words in order to create a new word
Ex. “O Draconian devil O lame saint” = “Leonardo Da Vinci The Mona Lisa
Analogy
Comparison between two things for explanation or clarification
Ex. Barrack Obama comparing the economy to a car being in a ditch
Antagonist
Character or group of characters that oppose the protagonist
Anthropomorphism
Human quality, emotion, or ambition is given to a non-human object/being
Ex. Alice in Wonderland - animals, card, inanimate objects
Antithesis
Writer puts two sentences of contrasting meanings close to one another
Ex. “You’re hot then you’re cold, you’re yes then you’re no”
Apostrophe
Speaker addresses an object, concept, or person that is unable to respond
Archetype
Concept, person, or object that serves as a universally accepted/understood prototype of its kind
Ex. Hero, wise old wizard, creepy neighbor, jocks and cheerleaders, etc.
Atmosphere
Created when setting/scene triggers emotion
Catharsis
Releasing strong or repressed emotion for the audience
Ex. Providing comic relief during something very sad
Caricature
Simple image exaggerating features of a person (subject)
Ex. Ugly caricature drawing with big headed people or something like that
Cliche
Expression that has been so overused that it becomes annoying
Cliffhanger
Protagonist is confronted with a dilemma at the end of a chapter or episode so audience returns to see the resolution
Character (round/dynamic)
Character that changes/grows throughout the story
Character (flat/static)
Character that remains the same throughout the story, not changing
Climax
Most intense or exciting part of a story
Conflict
Struggle between opposing forces
Dark Comedy
Making light of a dark situation (solemn subject matter)
Denotation
Dictionary definition of a word
Dystopia
Imagined setting where everything is bad
Epithet
Descriptive device used to add to a person/place’s regular name to give it specialty
Ex. Alexander “The Great”
Euphemism
Milder form of negative descriptions (sex, violence, death)
Ex. Died –> Passed away
Flashback
Earlier event inserted into normal chronology of a story
Flash Forward
Future events are hinted to show what may happen later in a story
Foil
Character who’s primary purpose to contrast another character
Foreshadowing
Words/phrases that give hints about what may happen in the future
Genre
Category of artistic composition characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter
Hubris
Another way of saying someone is over arrogant, usually leading to their downfall
Hyperbole
Extreme exaggeration used for effect
Idiom
Expression that cannot be understood from individual meanings, but understood by most people
Imagery
Provide the reader w/ mental images using the five senses
Internal Rhyme
Practice of forming a rhyme in only one line of a verse. Constructed within the middle of a line and rhymes with something at the end of the line.
Ex. “There’s vomit on his sweater already”
Verbal Irony
When a writer makes a statement that has a different meaning than what the words suggest.
Ex. “Awesome job!” - after crashing a car
Situational Irony
Reader is led to believe one thing will occur, but the opposite occurs
Dramatic Irony
Audience knows something that characters do not
Kenning
New compound-phrase for common person, place, thing, or idea
Ex. bone-house = body, sea-wood = ship
Malapropism
Substituting words with similar sounds that have 0 connected meanings
Ex. We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it!
Metaphor
Implied comparison between two unlike things that have something important in common
Metonymy
The practice of not using the formal word for an object/subject by referring to another word somehow linked to the formal name/word
Ex. “The pen is mightier than the sword”
–> pen = written language | sword = physical force
Mood
Author’s mental/emotional disposition towards subject of literary works. Audience feels this emotion as a result
REMEMBER: TONE IS HOW MOOD IS EXPRESSED, IT INVOKES MOOD
Motif
Specific theme that dominates a literary work, defining the nature of a story
Ex. Lord of the Rings –> temptation of the ring (all the characters just pursue the ring)
Nemesis
A bitter enemy, especially one that seem unbeatable
Onomatopoeia
Words that imitate or replicate a sound.
Oxymoron
Occur when opposite words are placed together
Ex. “Sober Mexicans is an oxymoron” -asiansoyboy
Paradox
Seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement, but when investigated may turn out true.
“This statement is false”
Parody
Imitation of the style of someone with a deliberate exaggeration for comedic effect
Pathos
Appealing to emotion
Pathetic Fallacy
Treatment of inanimate objects as though they have human feelings, thoughts, or sensations (only used for weather in literature)
Ex. “So bright the sun is ASHAMED to rise”
Personification
Attaching human characteristics to inanimate objects
Plot
Sequence of events that make up a story. Usually a pattern, intended or unintended
Ex. exposition–>rising action–>climax–>falling action–>resolution
Point of View (1st person)
Narrator POV (uses “I” or “me”)
Point of View (2nd person)
Reader POV (“you”)
Point of View (3rd person)
Narrator does not participate in the events of a story (he, she, they)
Prologue
Introduction to a story, usually setting the tone and providing background to the story
Protagonist
Leading character or major character in a story
Pun
Play on words
Rhyme Scheme
Rhyming words placed at the ends of lines in poetry
Ex. ABAB AABB
Satire
A piece of writing is making fun of a weakness or character flaw. Usually meant to give feelings of contempt even though may be humorous
Setting
Time and place of events of a story
Simile
Comparison by two unrelated and dissimilar things using like or as (and sometimes than)
Spoonerism
Interchanging first letter of words to create a new and/or nonsensical words
Ex. “No wuckin forries”
Stanza
Singular related chunks of lines in poetry. Particular section of a poem
Suspense
Intense feeling an audience goes through while waiting for the outcome of certain events
Symbol
An object that represents something else, usually something meaningful
Synechdoche
Device that uses part of something to refer to a whole
Ex. “Lend me your ears” = pay attention (pay attention with your whole body)
Theme
Underlying message that acts as a foundation for the entire literary piece (why did the author write the story?)
Tone
Perspective or attitude the author has towards a topic
Tragedy
Series of unfortunate events for a character which finally culminates into a disaster of epic proportions (usually death)
Tragic Flaw
A character flaw of a tragic hero that leads to the character’s downfall
Understatement
Draws attention to a fact that is already obvious and noticeable in an ironic way to play down a situation to make it seem less serious than it actually is
Utopia
Ideal or perfect community
Wit
Intelligent humor to write something that is clever and usually funny
