Literary Terms and Elements

Question 0

What is Allusion?

Answer 0

Relating to something without fully mentioning it.

Question 1

What is Alliteration?

Answer 1

The repetition of the same sound or syllable.

Question 2

Analogy

Answer 2

A comparison made based on the similarity of two (or more) things.

Question 3

What is an Anticlimax? Define Anticlimactic.

Answer 3

When the conclusion to an interesting series of events is uninteresting

Question 4

What is Irony?

Answer 4

When something is intended to be understood opposite from its literal meaning.

Question 5

What is Dramatic Irony?

Answer 5

When the audience can tell and identify the irony while the characters can not.

Question 6

What is Hyperbole?

Answer 6

An extreme exaggeration.

Question 7

What is Idiom?

Answer 7

A figure of speech.

Question 8

What is Metaphor?

Answer 8

When something is said to be another thing.

Question 9

What is Simile?

Answer 9

When something is compared with another thing using the words “like” or “as.”

Question 10

What is Metrical Poetry?

Answer 10

Poetry that follows a certain patter of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Question 11

What is a Moral?

Answer 11

A lesson of right or wrongdoing in a composition.

Question 12

What is Personification?

Answer 12

When an inanimate object is given human characteristics.

Question 13

What is Poetic Justice?

Answer 13

When one’s actions are awarded or punished

Question 14

What is Rhetoric?

Answer 14

Effective writing.

Question 15

What are Sensory Details?

Answer 15

Details that appeal to one’s senses.

Question 16

What is Synecdoche?

Answer 16

When a part of something is used to represent the whole.

eg. Wheels to represent cars

Question 17

What is Metonymy?

Answer 17

When something that is often associated with another is used to represent it.
(eg. the Crown can represent the Monarch)

Question 18

What is Mood?

Answer 18

One’s feelings when reading the book (happy, sad, excited)

Question 19

What is Tone?

Answer 19

The authors choice of words.

Question 20

What is Atmosphere?

Answer 20

Ones general feeling of the setting (dark, gloomy, bright)

Question 21

What is Digression?

Answer 21

A temporary departure from the topic

Question 22

What is Catharsis?

Answer 22

A release of emotional tensions in writing.

Question 23

What is Antithesis?

Answer 23

Something that is the opposite of another thing (love is the antithesis of hatred).

Question 24

What is Paradox?

Answer 24

A controversial yet valid/true statement.

Question 25

What is Ambiguity?

Answer 25

Uncertainty of meaning.

Question 26

What is Leitmotif?

Answer 26

A recurring theme or idea.

Question 27

What is Zeitgeist?

Answer 27

The mood and setting of a period in history.

Question 28

What is the Dramatis Personae?

Answer 28

A list of characters in a composition.

Question 29

What is the Prologue?

Answer 29

The introductory section to a composition.

Question 30

What is a Synopsis?

Answer 30

A brief summary of events.

Question 31

What is Apostrophe?

Answer 31

A digression for the author to speak to an inanimate object.

Question 32

What is Tragic Irony?

Answer 32

A type of Dramatic Irony where the words and actions contradict what is being said.

Question 33

What is Antecedent Action?

Answer 33

Information that describes the past to help the reader understand the current time.

Question 34

What is Pathos?

Answer 34

A quality that evokes sadness?

Question 35

What is Double Entendre?

Answer 35

A phrase that can be interpreted 2 different ways, one which is often sexual and derogatory.

Question 36

What is a Stock Character

Answer 36

A character created based on common stereotypes.

Question 37

What is Innuendo?

Answer 37

An imitation of an action, person or thing.

Question 38

What is an Allegory?

Answer 38

A symbol, often used to find a hidden meaning.

Question 39

What is a Farce?

Answer 39

An absurd event.