Literary Terms

Question 1

allegory

Answer 1

A short moral story with an expressive style using fiction

Question 2

alliteration

Answer 2

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words

Question 3

assonance

Answer 3

The repetition of vowel sounds within non rhyming words.

Question 4

Characterization

Answer 4

The way a writer creates and develops characters’ personalities

Question 5

protagonist

Answer 5

the positive force of the story

Question 6

antagonist

Answer 6

the negative force of the story

Question 7

connotation

Answer 7

set of associations implied by a word in addition to its literal meaning

Question 8

denotation

Answer 8

the most specific or direct meaning of a word, in contrast to its figurative or associated meaning

Question 9

dialogue

Answer 9

written conversation between two or more characters

Question 10

dialect

Answer 10

a form of language that is spoken in a particular geographic area

Question 11

diction

Answer 11

the author’s word choice

Question 12

fable

Answer 12

a brief tale used to illustrate a moral or teach a lesson

Question 13

farce

Answer 13

light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect

Question 14

allusion

Answer 14

an instance of indirect reference

Question 15

hyperbole

Answer 15

a figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for humorous effect

Question 16

irony

Answer 16

a special kind of contrast between appearance and reality

Question 17

metaphor

Answer 17

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things which are unlike

Question 18

onomatopoeia

Answer 18

the formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to

Question 19

oxymoron

Answer 19

a rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined

Question 20

paradox

Answer 20

seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true

Question 21

personification

Answer 21

a figure of speech in which human qualities are given to an object, animal, or idea

Question 22

simile

Answer 22

a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using the words like or as

Question 23

symbolism

Answer 23

the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

Question 24

flashback

Answer 24

an account of a conversation, an episode, or an event that happened before the beginning of a story

Question 25

foil

Answer 25

a character with a striking contrast to another character

Question 26

foreshadow

Answer 26

a writer’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in a story

Question 27

genre

Answer 27

category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form or content

Question 28

hubris

Answer 28

overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance

Question 29

idiom

Answer 29

a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements

Question 30

imagery

Answer 30

descriptive words or phrases that recreate sensory experiences for the reader

Question 31

malapropism (pun)

Answer 31

ludicrous misuse of a word, especially be confusion with one of similar sound

Question 32

mood(aka atmosphere)

Answer 32

the feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

Question 33

parable

Answer 33

a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson

Question 34

parody

Answer 34

a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an other or a work for comic effect or ridicule; a mockery done in jest

Question 35

plot

Answer 35

sequence of events in a story

Question 36

exposition

Answer 36

the first stage of a plot in a typical story

Question 37

setting

Answer 37

the time or place of the action of a story

Question 38

conflict

Answer 38

a struggle between opposing forces

Question 39

rising action

Answer 39

the stage in a plot in which the conflict develops and story events built towards a climax

Question 40

climax

Answer 40

the point of maximum interest or tension

Question 41

falling action

Answer 41

this follows the climax and shows results of the important action

Question 42

denouement

Answer 42

the resolution of a plot

Question 43

point of view

Answer 43

method of narration

Question 44

first person narrative

Answer 44

the narrator is a character in the story

Question 45

second person

Answer 45

the story is talking using the words “you, your, or you’re”

Question 46

third person limited

Answer 46

the narrator only tells the opinion of 1 character

Question 47

third person omniscient

Answer 47

all points of view are shared in the story

Question 48

satire

Answer 48

literary technique in which ideas, behaviors, or institutions are ridiculed

Question 49

soliliquy

Answer 49

a speech in which a character speaks his own words

Question 50

spoonerism

Answer 50

transposition of sounds of two or more words, especially a ludicrous one

Question 51

stereotype

Answer 51

a conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image

Question 52

theme

Answer 52

an underlying message about life or human nature that the writer wants the reader to understand

Question 53

tone

Answer 53

author’s attitude about his or her subject