LITERARY TERMS / CONCEPTS

1.     𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 - a story or a tale with two or more levels of meaning - a literal level and one or more symbolic levels. The events, setting, and characters in an allegory are symbols for ideas and qualities.

2.     𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or accented syllables.

3.     𝗔𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 - a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

4.     𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮 - a sound device that repeats a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive clauses or verses.

5.     𝗔𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗱𝗼𝘁𝗲 - a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event.

6.    𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁- a character or force in conflict with a main character, or protagonist. Not all stories contain antagonists.

7.     𝗔𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺 - a general truth or observation about life, usually stated concisely and pointedly. Often witty and wise, aphorisms appear in many kinds of works.

8.     𝗔𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲 - a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person, or a personified quality, object, or idea.

9.     𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲- in a play, it is a speech delivered by an actor in such a way that other characters on stage are presumed not to hear it.

10. 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 - the repetition of vowel sounds in conjunction with dissimilar consonant sounds.

11. 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗱 - a songlike poem that tells a story, often dealing with adventure and romance.

12. 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 - poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. An iamb is a foot consisting of one weak stress followed by one strong stress.

13. 𝗖𝗮𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮 - a pause or a break in the middle of a line of poetry.

14. 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘅 - the highest point of interest or suspense in a literary work.

15. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘁 - an unusual or surprising comparison between two different things.

16. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - an association that a word calls to mind in addition to the dictionary meaning of the word.

17. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 - the repetition of consonant sounds at the ends of words or accented syllables.

18. 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - the objective meaning of a word, independent of other associations that the word brings to mind.

19. 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲 - a conversation between characters. Writers use dialogue to reveal character, to present events, to add variety to narratives, and to arouse their readers’ interest.

20. 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗴𝘆 - a solemn and formal lyric poem about death, often one that mourns the passing of some particular person.

21. 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘆 - a short non-fiction work about a particular subject.

22. 𝗙𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. Short stories and novefs are works of fiction.

23. 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 - writing or speech not meant to be taken literally.

24. 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵 - an expression or a word used imaginatively rather than literally. Many writers use figures of speech - apostrophe, hyperbole, metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, personification, oxymoron.

25. 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 - a section of a literary work that interrupts the chronological presentation of events to relate an event from an earlier time.

26. 𝗙𝗼𝗶𝗹 - a character who provides a contrast to another character.

27. 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 - the use of clues that suggest events that have yet to occur.

28. 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 - poetry that lacks a regular rhythmical pattern or meter.

29. 𝗛𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗲 - a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement, (e.g. There is a garden on her face.)

30. 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 - a word or phrase that appeals to one or more of the five senses.

31. 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘆 - the descriptive: or figurative language used in literature to create word pictures for the reader. These pictures are created by details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell,'or movement.

32. 𝗜𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘆 - a contrast between what is stated and what is meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. In verbal irony, a word or a phrase is used to suggest the opposite of its usual meaning. In dramatic irony, there is a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience knows to be true. In irony of situation, an event occurs that directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, of the reader, or of the audience.

33. 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 - a figure of speech that makes a deliberate understatement to affirm by negating its opposite, (e.g. Barbara Streisand is not a bad singer.)

34. 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿 - the use of characters and details unique to a particular place or geographic area.

35. 𝗟𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗼𝗲𝗺 - a melodic poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker.

36. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿- a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else. It expresses an indirect or implied comparison of two things which are not evidently comparable.

37. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗺𝘆 - a figure of speech that entails using a word that closely relates to a person or thing, (e.g. The pen is mightier than the sword.)

38. 𝗠𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿 - when two metaphors are jumbled together, e.g. the thorns of life rained down on me.

39. 𝗢𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗲𝗶𝗮 - the use of words that imitate sounds, e.g. buzz, hiss, murmur, hum.

40. 𝗢𝘅𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗻 - a figure of speech that combines two opposing or contradictory  ideas, (e.g. freezing fire, cruel kindness)

41. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 - a statement that seems to be contradictory but actually presents a truth. It is surprising or shocking to draw the readers’ attention to what is being said, e.g. ‘Because I could not stop for death/He kindly stopped for me.’

42. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘆 - a humorous imitation of a literary work, one that exaggerates or distorts the characteristic features of the original.

43. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗳𝗶𝗼𝗻 - a figure of speech that gives human traits to inanimate objects or ideas.

44. 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 - writing that ridicules or criticizes individuals, ideas, institutions, social conventions, or other works of art or literature.

45. 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲 - a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two  subjects using (ike or as.

46. 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘁 - a lyric poem composed of 14 iambic pentameter lines focusing on a single theme.

47. 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹 - anything that stands for or represents something else.

48. 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗱𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗲 - a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to pstand for the whole thing, (e.g. No roving foot shall crush thee here.)

49. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 - a central message or insight into life revealed by a literary work.

50. 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗲 - the writer’s attitude toward his or her subject, characters, or audience.

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