Literary Terms

Question 1

A narrative or description in which the characters, plCES, nd other terms are symbols

Answer 1

Allegory

Question 2

An approximate rhyme in which initial consonant sounds are the same

Answer 2

Alliteration

Question 3

A reference to mythology, history, or literature

Answer 3

Allusion

Question 4

The one with whom the protagonist comes into conflict within a novel or story

Answer 4

Antagonist

Question 5

A compact statement expressing a truth

Answer 5

Aphorism

Question 6

The repetition of vowel sound

Answer 6

Assonance

Question 7

Words addressed to an inanimate object as if it were alive or to an absent person as if he were present

Answer 7

Apostrophe

Question 8

A short narrative song written in stanzas

Answer 8

Ballad

Question 9

The earliest type of ballad

Answer 9

Folk ballad

Question 10

Consciously written by a poet in imitation of the folk ballad

Answer 10

Literary ballad

Question 11

A four-line stanza in which the first and third lines have eight syllables and the second and fourth lines have six syllables

Answer 11

Ballad stanza

Question 12

Unrhymed iambic pentameter

Answer 12

Blank verse

Question 13

Incorrect spelling often used for humorous effect

Answer 13

Cacography

Question 14

A close investigation or study of a literary character

Answer 14

Character analysis

Question 15

Telling the reader directly what the character is like

Answer 15

Direct exposition

Question 16

Allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions

Answer 16

Indirect revelation

Question 17

Imaginary persons who carry out the plot in a story or novel

Answer 17

Characters

Question 18

One who undergoes some changes and is different at the end of the story

Answer 18

Dynamic character

Question 19

One who remains essentially the same throughout the story

Answer 19

Static character

Question 20

A portrait of a specific person

Answer 20

Character sketch

Question 21

The point of highest intensity in a story or poem

Answer 21

Climax

Question 22

A type of figurative language which includes metaphors, similes, personification, and their various forms

Answer 22

Comparison

Question 23

A strongly exaggerated simile or metaphor

Answer 23

Conceit

Question 24

An elaborate metaphor used by the renaissance love poet to compare his mistress or his love for her to an object of nature

Answer 24

Petrarchan conceit

Question 25

An analogy used by the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century, usually comparing ones spiritual qualities to a common physical object

Answer 25

Metaphysical conceit

Question 26

A struggle between opposing forces

Answer 26

Conflict