Y8 Literary Terms Flashcards
Antagonist
Character that is the source of conflict in a literary work.
Alliteration
Repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”.
Allusion
A reference to something well-known that exists outside the literary work - the reference is often indirect and relies on audience knowledge and understanding.
Aside
A dramatic device in which a character makes a short speech intended for the audience but not heard by the other characters on stage.
Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds: “Anna’s apples,” “the pond is long gone”.
Characterization
The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities.
Direct Characterization
Author description.
Indirect characterization
Character’s appearance, speech, thoughts, actions and what other characters think of the character.
Character Types, Flat
One-dimensional, uncomplicated.
Round
Complex and undergo development.
Static
Character remains unchanged emotionally or psychologically throughout the story.
Dynamic
Character undergoes emotional or psychological change.
Conflict
Struggle between two or more opposing forces (person vs. person; nature; society; self; fate/God. ETC…).
Cyclical Structure
A cycle of events in the plot when it begins and ends in the same place or events.
Dialogue
Direct speech between characters in a literary work.
Diction
Word choice to create a specific effect.
Figurative Language
Language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non-literal language). Includes simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and symbolism
Flashback
The method of returning to an earlier point in time for the purpose of making the present clearer.
Foreshadowing
Hint of what is to come in a literary work.
Frame Narrative
A technique storytellers use in which the narrator in one setting tells a story set in another time and place.
Genre
Type or category to which a literary work belongs.
Hyperbole
Extreme exaggeration to add meaning.
Idiom
A combination of words that has a meaning that is different from the meanings of the individual words themselves. It can have a literal meaning in one situation and a different idiomatic meaning in another situation. It is a phrase which does not always follow the normal rules of meaning and grammar.
Imagery
Language that appeals to the five senses.
Dramatic Irony
When the reader or audience knows something a character does not.
Situational Irony
When there is a disparity between what is expected and what actually occurs.
Verbal Irony
When the speaker says one thing but means the opposite.
Metaphor
An implied comparison between dissimilar objects without the use of like or as: “Her talent blossomed”.
Motif
A recurring feature of a literary work that is related to the theme.
Onomatopoeia
Use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning: “hiss”.
Oxymoron
Phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: “living dead” or “jumbo shrimp”.
Paradox
A statement that seems contradictory but may reveal a truth….. ex. “She was alone in the crowd.”Parody - A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.
Personification
Figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics.
Plot
The sequence of events in a literary work.
Point of View
The vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told…
1st person point of View
The narrator is a character in the story (use of ‘I’).
2nd person point of View
The speaker addresses the listener or reader directly, using “you”.
3rd person point of View
The narrator is outside of the story (use of ‘he’ ‘she’ ‘they’)* may be limited or omniscient.
Protagonist
The main character in a literary work.
Rhyme
Repetition of similar or identical sounds: “look and crook”.
Rhyme Scheme
Pattern of rhyme among lines of poetry [denoted using letters, as in ABAB CDCD EE].
Satire
A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
Setting
The time and place of a literary work.
Simile
A direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as: “I wandered lonely as a cloud.”
Soliloquy
A dramatic device in which a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud.
Speaker
Voice in a poem; the person or thing that is speaking.
Stanza
Group of lines forming a unit in a poem.
Stereotype
Standardised, conventional ideas about characters, plots and setting.
Suspense
Technique that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next Symbol / symbolism - one thing (object, person, place) used to represent something else.
Theme
The underlying main idea of a literary work. Theme differs from the subject of a literary work in that it involves a statement or opinion about the subject.
Tone
The author’s attitude toward the subject of a work or toward the audience.
