Literary Terms

Question 1

Alliteration

Answer 1

Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. (tounge twisters)

Question 2

Allusion

Answer 2

Reference to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature. Often indirect or brief references to well-known characters or events.

Question 3

Analogy

Answer 3

Comparison of two or more objects suggesting they are alike in certain respects, they will probably be alike in other ways as well.

Question 4

Aside

Answer 4

Actors speech directed to the audience that is not supposed to be herad by other actors on stage. Used to let the audience know what a character is about to do/what they are thinking.

Question 5

Assonance

Answer 5

Repetition of vowel sounds within a line of poetry

Question 6

Blank Verse

Answer 6

Unrhymed iambic pentameter (rhythm or meter made by the words).

Question 7

Caesura

Answer 7

A pause or a sudden break in a line of poetry.

Question 8

Consonance

Answer 8

repetition of consonant sounds anywhere within a line of poetry.

Question 9

Couplet

Answer 9

Rymed pair of lines in a poem.

Question 10

Dramatic Monologue

Answer 10

Literary device used when a character reveals his or her innermost thoughts and feellings, those that are hidden throughout the story, through a poem or a speech.

Question 11

Elegy

Answer 11

Literary song or poem that expresses sorrow or lamentation, usually for one who has died.

Question 12

Enjambment

Answer 12

In poetry, the running over of a line or thought into the next of verse.
in poetry, the running over of a line or thought into the next of verse.

Question 13

Epigram

Answer 13

Short poem or verse that seeks to ridicule a thought or event, usually with witticism or sarcasm.

Question 14

Epic

Answer 14

Long narrative poem about the edventures of a hero whose actions reflect the ideals and values of a nation or group.

Question 15

Epitaph

Answer 15

A short poem or verse written in memory of someone.

Question 16

Extended Metaphor

Answer 16

Figure of speech that compares two essentially unlike things in great length.

Question 17

Figurative Language

Answer 17

Expressions that are not literally true, such as a simile or a metaphor.

Question 18

Foil

Answer 18

A character who contrasts with another character–usually with the protagonist–in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character.

Question 19

Foot

Answer 19

Unit of meter within a line of poetry.

Question 20

Free Verse

Answer 20

Poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm. Often used to capture the sounds and rhythms of ordinary speech.

Question 21

Haiku

Answer 21

Traditional form of Japanese poetry, usually dealing with nature. A haiku has three lines and describes a single moment, feeling or thing. The first and third lines contain five syllables and the second line contains seven syllables.

Question 22

Heroic Couplet

Answer 22

A couplet consisting of two successive rhyming lines that contain a complete thought.

Question 23

Humor

Answer 23

Quality that provokes laughter or amusement. Writers create humor through exaggerations, sarcasm, amusing descriptions, irony, and witty dialogue.

Question 24

Hyperbole

Answer 24

Figure of speech in which the truth is exaggerated for emphasis or humorous effect.

Question 25

Imagery

Answer 25

Use of words and phrases that appeal to the five senses. Writers use sensory details to help readers imagine how things look, feel, smell, sound, and taste.

Question 26

Irony

Answer 26

Contrast between what is expected and what actually happens.

Question 27

Limerick

Answer 27

Short humorous poem composed of 5 oines that usually has the rhyme scheme aabba, created by two rhyming couplets followed by a fifth line that rhymes with the first couplet. Typically a sing song rhythm.

Question 28

Lyric

Answer 28

Poetry, a song-like poem written mainly to express the feelings or emotions of a single speaker.

Question 29

Metaphor

Answer 29

Figurative language where a comparison is made between two things that are unalike but may have one quality in common. Does not contain an explicit word of comparison like “like or as”

Question 30

Meter

Answer 30

The regular pattern of accented and unaccented syllables.

Question 31

Metonymy

Answer 31

Metaphorical substitution of one word or phrase for another related word or phrase. “The pen is mightier than the sword.” The word penn is used in place of words and the sword to represent the idea of fighting a war.

Question 32

Mood

Answer 32

The feeling that a literary work conveys to readers.

Question 33

Narrative Poetry

Answer 33

Poetry that tells a story. A narrative poem can come in many forms and styles, both complex and simple, short or long, as long as it tells a story. Like friction, narrative poetry contains characters, settings and plot.

Question 34

Ode

Answer 34

A lyric poem of some length, usually of serious or meditative nature and having an elvated style and formal structure.

Question 35

Onomatopoeia

Answer 35

The use of words whose sound suggest their meaning

Question 36

Oxymoron

Answer 36

Form of figurative language combining contradictory words or ideas. (Jumboshrimp)

Question 37

Paradox

Answer 37

Statement that seems to contradict itself but is, nevertheless, true.

Question 38

Parallelism

Answer 38

Use of similar grammatical contructions to express ideas that are related or equal in importance. For example, the sun rises. The sus sets.

Question 39

Personification

Answer 39

Figure of speech where animals, ideas or inanimate objects are given human characteristics.

Question 40

Repetition

Answer 40

A technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or line is repeated for effect or emphasis.

Question 41

Simile

Answer 41

A type of figurative language that makes a comparison between two otherwise unlike objects or ideas by connecting them with the words “like” or “as.”

Question 42

Soliloquy

Answer 42

A speech delivered by a character who is alone on the stage.

Question 43

Sonnet

Answer 43

Distinctive poetic style that uses a system or pattern of metrical structure and verse composition usually consisting of fourteen lines, arranged in a set of rhyme scheme or pattern. There are two main styles of sonnet, the Italian sonnet and the English sonnet.

Question 44

Speaker

Answer 44

The voice that talks to the reader in a poem, as the narrator does in a work of fiction. The speaker in the poem is not necessarily the poet.

Question 45

Stanza

Answer 45

A grouping of two or more lines within a poem. A stanza is comparable to the paragraph in prose.

Question 46

Symbolism

Answer 46

Using something specific to stand for something else, especially an idea. A symbol is a person, place, object or action that stands for something beyond itself. Ex. A dove might represent peace.

Question 47

Synecdoche

Answer 47

A literary technique in which the whole is represented by naming one of its parts. Ex. “You’ve got to come take a look at my new set of wheels.” The vehicle is represented by its parts, or wheels.

Question 48

Tone

Answer 48

The writer’s attitude or feeling about his or her subject.

Question 49

Tragedy

Answer 49

Dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character or characters who are involved in historically or socially significant events. The events in a tragic plot are set in motion by a decision that is often an error in judgment. Succeeding events inevitably lead to a disastrous conclusion, usually death.

Question 50

Understatement

Answer 50

A statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said; the opposite of hyperbole. Understatement is usually used for a humorous effect.

Question 51

Voice

Answer 51

Author or narrator’s distinctive style or manner of expression. Voice can reveal much about the author or narrator’s personality.