Literary Terms (Part 3)

Question 1

the use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; or, the incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs

Answer 1

irony

Question 2

when the audience or the reader knows details or information that the characters within the story or drama do not know

Answer 2

dramatic irony

Question 3

a mismatch between what the reader thinks may happen and how the event or story actually is resolved; a surprise ending with a twist

Answer 3

situational irony

Question 4

a type of dialogue in which what is being said has a hidden or secondary meaning to what is meant. This device can be used to achieve foreshadowing.

Answer 4

verbal irony

Question 5

a narrative handed down from the past, containing historical and often supernatural elements

Answer 5

legend

Question 6

a narrator who presents the story as it is seen and understood by a single character and restricts information to what is seen, heard, thought, or felt by that one character

Answer 6

limited narrator

Question 7

a poem written to express feelings or emotions (the most common category for poems)

Answer 7

lyric poem

Question 8

a nonfiction story about certain moments or parts of an author’s life

Answer 8

memoir

Question 9

a direct comparison of two di fferent things

Answer 9

metaphor

Question 10

the rhythm or syllable pattern in lines of poetry; the beat of the words

Answer 10

meter

Question 11

one character speaking to himself or directly to the audience

Answer 11

monologue

Question 12

the emotional quality the reader experiences from the words, images, and descriptions created by the writer

Answer 12

mood

Question 13

a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that recurs in various works

Answer 13

motif

Question 14

a traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that help explain natural events myth

Answer 14

myth

Question 15

a poem that tells a story

Answer 15

narrative poem

Question 16

a story or narrated account

Answer 16

narrative

Question 17

the one who tells the story; the speaker; may be first-person (a character living the story) or third-person (a character watching the story unfold), limited or omniscient

Answer 17

narrator

Question 18

stories that include characters, settings, and events that are based on fact. All three must be accurate and true for a piece to be considered nonfiction

Answer 18

nonfiction

Question 19

a narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters

Answer 19

omniscient narrator

Question 20

a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds

Answer 20

onomatopoeia

Question 21

an expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined

Answer 21

oxymoron

Question 22

an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth

Answer 22

paradox

Question 23

a humorous imitation of a serious work

Answer 23

parady

Question 24

giving human qualities or characteristics to non human objects or creatures

Answer 24

personification

Question 25

the sequence or order of events

Answer 25

plot

Question 26

the perspective from which the story is told

Answer 26

point of view

Question 27

non-poetry; most writing falls into this category (short stories, novels, nonfiction, etc.)

Answer 27

prose

Question 28

the main character of the plot who is usually considered the hero or positive individual

Answer 28

protagonist

Question 29

a play on words, often achieved through the use of words with similar sounds but dierent meanings (i.e., In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio says, “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.” Grave carries the double meaning of serious/sad and dead.)

Answer 29

pun