Literature and Language Terms
Terms
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- setting
- the time, place and society in which the events of the novel take place
- theme
- the main idea
- plot
- the sequence of events of the story line
- prose
- all language that is not poetry
- characters
- the fictional people in a play or narrative work
- round character
- a complex character
- flat character
- a character who is seen from one side only
- stereotyped or stock character
- a set character who appears repeatedly
- point of view (sometimes called 'narrative viewpoint')
- the way the author chooses to present the story to the reader
- simile
- a comparison between two unlike things using "like" or "as"
- metaphor
- a comparison between two unlike things where one is said to be the other
- personification
- a comparison where an animal or object is given human qualities
- alliteration
- the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in a line
- onomatopoeia
- words which sound like the noise they describe
- rhyme
- similar end sounds to words
- end-rhymes
- occur at the end of a line
- internal rhymes
- occur within a line of verse
- rhythm
- the pace at which a poem moves, the pattern of beats in the lines
- narrative verse
- poetry that tells a story
- ballad
- a poem or song which tells a story in simple, colloquial language
- sonnet
- a 14-lined poem of fixed form
- lyric
- a short poem in which the poet expresses personal feelings
- wings
- area behind curtains on either side of stage where actors wait
- prompt
- person in wings who cues actors on forgotten lines
- properties or props
- small items carried on and off stage by actors
- set
- all the furnishings on the stage for a performance (excluding props)
- director
- the person who decides how the play is to be acted
- soliloquy
- a speech given by a character alone on stage that reveals her thoughts
- aside
- when a character on stage makes a comment intended for the audience and not other characters
- comedy
- a play which entertains the audience and which ends happily for the characters
- tragedy
- a play that traces the career and downfall of an individual
- formal
- situations where slang or colloquial terms would be inappropriate and where, in written language, full sentences are used
- informal
- causal situations where more relaxed language is used
- register
- the tone or level of a particular piece of language
- cliches
- overworked or stale expressions
- slang
- current, popular expressions
- jargon
- either confusing language or technical language relating to a profession or sport
- hyperbole
- exaggeration for effect
- nouns
- naming words
- verbs
- action words
- collective nouns
- words that refer to a group or collection of people or things
- common nouns
- words that are used to name general things
- proper nouns
- names of particular places or things
- pronouns
- words that take the place of a noun (he, she, we, they)
- adjectives
- describing words