Literary Terms

Question 1

Allegory

Answer 1

story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. Ex: Animal Farm; Dante’s Inferno; Lord of the flies

Question 2

Alliteration

Answer 2

the repetition of the same or similar consonant or vowel sounds at the beginning of closely positioned words. (Example: peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers) (related to Assonance and Consonance)

Question 3

Allusion

Answer 3

reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to something. (usually to literature)

Question 4

Ambiguity

Answer 4

Deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one way– this is done on purpose by the author, when it is done on purpose, it is vagueness, and detracts from the work.

Question 5

Analogy

Answer 5

Comparison made between made between two things to show how they are alike.

Question 6

Anecdote

Answer 6

Brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something, often shows character of an individual.

Question 7

Antagonist

Answer 7

Opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story.

Question 8

Antihero

Answer 8

Central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with heroes. may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.

Question 9

Anthropomorphism

Answer 9

A figure of speech in which human specific characteristics are attributed to animals other than humans. (Example: Mickey Mouse dancing).

Question 10

Aphorism

Answer 10

Brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life, or of a principle or accepted general truth. Also called maxim, epigram.

Question 11

Apostrophe

Answer 11

Calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking a god or goddess for inspiration

Question 12

Archetype

Answer 12

A recurring symbol, character, landscape, or event found throughout myth and literature across different cultures and eras. In terms of structure, it merely serves as a model from which writers create different versions and copies.

Question 13

Assonance

Answer 13

The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds especially in words that are together. (related to consonance) (Example: as hard as she might, her tries to light the fire were slight).

Question 14

Asyndeton

Answer 14

commas used without conjunction to separate a series of words, thus emphasizing the parts equally: instead of X, Y, and Z… the writer uses X,Y,Z… see polysyndeton.

Question 15

Atmosphere

Answer 15

The dominant feeling that is created by a particular setting. (It is related to mood)

Question 16

Bildungsroman

Answer 16

A German term for “novel growth and development”. They generally depict a youth who struggles toward maturity, forming a worldview or philosophy of life and leaving behind the concerns of adolescence. Ex: great expectations

Question 17

Cacophony

Answer 17

A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds. Ex: “grate on the scrannel pipes of wretched straw (John Milton)

Question 18

Characterization

Answer 18

The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.

Question 19

Indirect characterization

Answer 19

The author reveals what the character is like by describing how the character looks, and dresses, by letting the reader hear what the character says, by revealing the character’s private thoughts and feelings, by revealing the characters effect on other people (showing how other characters feel or behave toward the character), or by showing the character in action. Common in modern literature.

Question 20

Direct characterization

Answer 20

the author tells us directly what the character is like: sneaky, generous, mean to pets, and so on. Romantic style literature relied more heavily on this form.

Question 21

Static character

Answer 21

Is one who does not change much in the course of history

Question 22

Dynamic character

Answer 22

is one who changes in some important way as a result of the story’s action.

Question 23

Flat character

Answer 23

has only one or two personality traits. They are one dimensional, like a piece of cardboard. They can be summed up in one phrase.

Question 24

Round character

Answer 24

has more dimensions to their personalities— they are complex, just like real people are.

Question 25

Cliche

Answer 25

is a word or phrase , often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless because of overuse. Avoid cliches like the plague. (that cliche is intended.)

Question 26

Collaquialism

Answer 26

a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal writing but is inappropriate for formal situations.

Question 27

Conflict

Answer 27

the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story

Question 28

External Conflict

Answer 28

conflicts can exist between two people, between a person and nature or a machine or a between a person and a whole society.

Question 29

Internal Conflict

Answer 29

A conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces within a persons mind

Question 30

Connotation

Answer 30

The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.

Question 31

Consonance

Answer 31

the repetition of similar consonant sounds anywhere within words that are placed close together (related to assonance) Ex: The mother hen checked on the chick with a click of her beak.)

Question 32

Comedy

Answer 32

in general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters.

Question 33

Dialect

Answer 33

A more micro level variety of a language (specifically, often spoken variety) that is characteristic of a particular area, community or group, often with relatively minor differences in vocabulary, style, spelling and pronunciation. Ex: A person from the North East might say, “hello.” A southerner might say, “hey y’all.” A person from Texas might say, “howdy.” Think expressions and accents and you’ll be in the right ballpark.

Question 34

Diction

Answer 34

a speaker or writer’s choice of words

Question 35

Didactic

Answer 35

form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or provides a model of correct behavior or thinking.

Question 36

Epigraph

Answer 36

a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme.

Question 37

Epithet

Answer 37

An Adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of out country” and “the great Emancipator” are examples.
A Homeric epithet is a compound adjective used with a person or thing: swift-footed Achilles”; “rosy-fingered dawn.”

Question 38

Essay

Answer 38

A short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of a subject

Question 39

Argumentative Essay

Answer 39

one of the four forms of discourse which uses logic, ethics, and emotional appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) to develop a fair and balanced yet effective means to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way.