Literary Terms
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Cards (103)
- AllegoryA literary work in which characters, objects, or actions represent abstractions
- AlliterationThe repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words
- AllusionA reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize
- AnalogyA comparison of two different things that are similar in some way
- AnaphoraThe repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of consecutive lines or sentences
- AsideA speech or short comment that a character delivers directly to the audience
- AppositiveNouns or noun phrases that follow or come before a noun, giving more information about it
- AnecdoteA brief narrative that focuses on a particular incident or event
- AntithesisA statement in which two opposing ideas are balanced
- ApostropheA figure of speech in which one directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or some abstraction
- ArchetypeA detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature and myth and is thought to appeal in a universal way to the unconscious and to evoke a response
- AssonanceIn poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible
- AnachronismA thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned
- Authorial IntrusionA literary technique authors may use to communicate directly with their reader, speaking to them as themselves rather than through the guise of a character's dialogue to comment on the story
- Balanced sentenceA sentence in which words, phrases, or clauses are set off against each other to emphasize a contrast
- BathosInsincere or overly sentimental quality of writing/speech intended to evoke pity
- ChiasmusA statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary")
- ClicheAn expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off
- ClimaxThe point of highest interest in a literary work
- Complex sentenceA sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent
- Compound sentenceA sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions
- ConceitA fanciful, particularly clever extended metaphor
- Concrete DetailsDetails that relate to or describe actual, specific things or events
- Cumulative sentenceA sentence in which the main independent clause is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases
- Declarative sentenceA sentence that makes a statement or declaration
- DialogueConversation between two or more people
- DictionThe word choices made by a writer
- DidacticHaving the primary purpose of teaching or instructing
- DilemmaA situation that requires a person to decide between two equally attractive or equally unattractive alternatives
- EllipsisThe omission of a word or phrase which is grammatically necessary but can be deduced from the context
- EpiphanyA moment of sudden revelation or insight
- EuphemismAn indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant
- Exclamatory SentenceA sentence expressing strong feeling, usually punctuated with an exclamation mark
- FableA brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters
- FantasyA story that concerns an unreal world or contains unreal characters; a fantasy may be merely whimsical, or it may present a serious point
- Figurative LanguageLanguage employing one or more figures of speech (simile, metaphor, imagery, etc)
- FlashbackThe insertion of an earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative
- ForeshadowingThe presentation of material in such as way that the reader is prepared for what is to come later in the work
- GenreA major category or type of literature
- HomilyA sermon, or a moralistic lecture