5. 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

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1 Literary Terms 1. Allegory: a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. Ex: Animal Farm is an extended metaphor for the Russian Revolution. Many of the animals and events in the story symbolize leaders and events in the Russian Revolution. 2. Alliteration repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: Ex: To lie before us like a land of dreams" (Bradbury). 3. Allusion a reference to something well-known that exists outside the literary work. Ex: Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone. I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run (Taylor Swift s words refer to Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet). 4. Antagonist- character that is the source of conflict in a literary work 5. 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 6. Assonance repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds: the pond is long gone 7. Characterization- The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities 8. Climax- the highest point of tension and turning point in a literary work 9. Conflict - struggle between two or more opposing forces (person vs. person; nature; society; self; fate/god) 10. Connotation: The meaning of the word that carries ideas and feelings Ex: (House vs. Home) the word home carries a comforting connotation 11. Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds within the words of a specific line (not at the beginning of the words: middle/end) Ex: someone rapping, gently tapping, tapping at my chamber door (Poe) 12. Denotation: the meaning of the word is strictly literal as found in the dictionary 13. Dialect: A regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar and diction employed by specific people as distinguished from other persons geography or social status

2 14. Dialogue - direct speech between characters in a literary work 15. Diction - Word choice including the vocabulary used, the appropriateness of the words, vividness of the language 16. Dynamic Character: A character that undergoes change in the story 17. Epic hero: a larger-than-life figure from history or legend 18. Epic Poem: a long narrative poem that recounts the actions, adventures, and travels of a heroic figure, called the epic hero. 19. Epithet: an adjective or adjective phrase used to point out a characteristic of a person or thing. 20. Ethos: An Aristotle appeal to the ethics/credibility of the speaker. 21. Exposition- The essential background information at the beginning of a literary work 22. External Conflict: conflict between a character and an outside force 23. Falling action- results or effects of the climax of a literary work 24. Figurative Language language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non-literal language). Includes simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbol) 25. Flashback- the method of returning to an earlier point in time for the purpose of making the present clearer 26. Flat character: character with few personality traits 27. Foreshadowing- hint of what is to come in a literary work 28. Homeric simile: extends a comparison with elaborate descriptive details that can fill several lines of verse. Found in The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer. 29. Iambic Pentameter: a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable a. Ex: what-light-through-yon-der-win-dow-breaks 30. Genre type or category to which a literary work belongs

3 31. Hyperbole extreme exaggeration to add meaning Ex: He lived a thousand times in that one minute (Connell). 32. Imagery vivid language that appeals to the five senses 33. Internal Conflict: conflict within the character 34. Irony a. Dramatic when the reader or audience knows something a character does not b. Situational when there is a disparity between what is expected and what actually occurs c. Verbal when the speaker says one thing but means the opposite 35. Logos: An Aristotle appeal to the logic of the audience. Concerned with facts, figures, statistics, etc. 36. Metaphor a comparison of two unlike things not using like or as. Ex: Her talent blossomed Time is money. 37. Meter (poetry): the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse 38. Monologue: a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. 39. Mood: is the general atmosphere or predominant emotion created by the author s words 40. Motif- a recurring feature of a literary work that is related to the theme or symbolism 41. Onomatopoeia use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning: hiss 42. Oxymoron phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: living dead or Microsoft works 43. Paradox: a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. Ex: the mechanical hound slept, but it did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the fire house (Bradbury). 44. Pathos: an Aristotle appeal to the emotion of the audience. 45. Personification figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics

4 46. Plot- The sequence of events in a literary work 47. Point of view- the vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told i. 1 st person point of view- the narrator is a character in the story (use of I ) ii. 3 rd person point of view- the narrator is outside of the story (use of he she they ) 48. Prologue: (Greek πρόλογος prologos, from the word pro (before) and lógos, word) is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. 49. Protagonist- the main character in a literary work 50. Pun: a play on words (usually words with 2 meanings) Ex: Ask of me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man (Shakespeare). 51. Repetition: repeating words or phrases for effect 52. Resolution/denouement- end of a literary work when loose ends are tied up and questions are answered. 53. Rhetoric: The art of persuasion 54. Rhetorical Question: A question asked without expecting an answer. Used for affect. Ex: Do you want Jones to come back? (Orwell) 55. Rising action- the development of conflict and complications in a literary work 56. Round Character: A character with multiple personality traits 57. Rhyme repetition of similar or identical sounds: look and crook 58. Rhyme Scheme pattern of rhyme among lines of poetry [denoted using letters, as in ABAB CDCD EE] 59. Rhyming Couplet: A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter. 60. Satire: A literary work in which vices, follies or abuses are held up to ridicule by pointing out the difference between how things are and how they ought to be 61. Setting- The time and place of a literary work

5 62. Shakespearean sonnet: a sonnet consisting three quatrains and a concluding rhyming couplet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme pattern abab cdcd efef gg. 63. Simile a direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as: I wandered lonely as a cloud 64. Soliloquy - a dramatic device in which a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud 65. Sonnet: A poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line. 66. Stanza group of lines forming a unit in a poem 67. Static Character: A character that does not change throughout the story 68. Stereotype- standardized, conventional ideas about characters, plots and settings 69. Style: the writer s characteristic manner of employing language. 70. Suspense technique that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next 71. Symbol/symbolism one thing (object, person, place) used to represent something else 72. Syntax: the arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence. 73. 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. 74. Tone the writer or speaker s attitude toward a subject, character, or audience, and it is conveyed through the author s choice of words and detail. Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, indignant, objective, etc. 75. Tragic Flaw: often a characteristic that has helped him or her achieve success. Ex: pride, ambition, jealousy, self-doubt, or anger. 76. Tragic Hero: a person of great ability who often comes to grief because of a fault within his or her character. Additional Terms:

Language Arts Literary Terms

Language Arts Literary Terms Shires Memorize each set of 10 literary terms from the Literary Terms Handbook, at the back of the Green Freshman Language Arts textbook. We will have a literary terms test