Literary Terms

Question 0

Allusion

Answer 0

Reference to a person or place to which a reader is presumed to be familiar

Question 1

Style

Answer 1

The author’s characteristic choice and arrangement of words

Question 2

Tone

Answer 2

The attitude and author takes toward his or her subject revealed through the choice of details, word choice, style, and through emphasis and comments that are made

Question 3

Juxtaposition

Answer 3

Placing two ideas, words, or messages side-by-side so that the closeness creates an original, ironic, or insightful meaning

Question 4

Theme

Answer 4

The generalized meaning or message of a literary work arising out of the specific subject that the work developed

Question 5

Satire

Answer 5

Writing that makes fun of popular institutions, customs, and beliefs

Question 6

Couplet

Answer 6

Two lines in a poem (in a row) that rhyme

Question 7

Rhyme Scheme

Answer 7

The pattern of rhyming lines in a poem

Question 8

Characterization

Answer 8

And author’s development of a character; physical and/or personality traits (actions, dialogue, what other character say or think about the character, blatant author statements)

Question 9

Parody

Answer 9

A humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of lit or writing

Question 10

Vernacular

Answer 10

Characteristic language of a particular area

Question 11

Dramatic irony

Answer 11

A contrast between what the character thinks and what the reader or audience knows is happening in the plot

Question 12

Verbal irony

Answer 12

When words are used to suggest the opposite of what is actually meant (kind of like sarcasm – kind of)

Question 13

Tragedy

Answer 13

A type of play characterized by the depiction and dramatic treatment of misfortunes, disasters, and/or the death of the main protagonists

Question 14

Motif

Answer 14

Any recurring element that has symbolic significance in the story. Through to petition, a motif can help produce other literary aspects such as the theme or mood.

Question 15

Oxymoron

Answer 15

It figures speech that combines contradictory terms

Question 16

Alliteration

Answer 16

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a word

Question 17

Surrealism

Answer 17

A cultural movement that began in the early 1920s. It features elements of surprise, unexpected juxtaposition

Question 18

Foot

Answer 18

Used in poetry, two syllables

Question 19

Stanza

Answer 19

A poetry paragraph

Question 20

Conflict

Answer 20

The problem that causes the plot to occur

Question 21

End-stopped Line

Answer 21

A line in poetry that ends with a pause marked by puntuation

Question 22

Enjambment

Answer 22

When one line ends without a pause and continues onto the next line for its meaning

Question 23

Foreshadow

Answer 23

When an author subtly hints at something that is to come later in the story; often found when rereading a piece

Question 24

Simile

Answer 24

A comparison of two very different things that uses “like” or “as”

Question 25

Paradox

Answer 25

A type of irony; The effect of creating a meaning very different than the surface one; something that appears to be false but then is true when you look at it