Literary Terms
Terms
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- narrative
- a type of writing that tells a story
- masculine rhyme
- either a one-syllable word or when a 2nd syllable of a 2 syllable word rhymes
- objective POV
- author uses facts NOT feelings to allow the reader to make judgment -1st or 3rd person
- legend
- a true story passed from generation to generation- usually has a hero that sereves a country
- plot
- consist of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution
- parody
- IMITATES a serious topic in a comical or inappropiate way
- eye rhyme
- words that look like they should rhyme but do not sound alike
- internal conflict
- conflict within a character(man vs himself))
- tall tale
- unrealistic, exaggerated fiction- the hero has unrealistic abilities
- editorial
- an article written about or in response to another piece of writing
- apostrophe
- the addressing of an inanimate object or an absent person (cannot answer back)
- parallelism
- a construction of 2 or more thoughts in the same pattern
- cliche (trite)
- an overly used expression
- denotation
- literal meaning/ dictionary meaning
- irony
- the opposite of what you expect (dramatic,verbal,& situational)
- literary ballad
- written to mimick a fold ballad
- internal rhyme
- rhyme inside of a line
- style
- the way a writer writes
- allusion
- reference to a well-known piece of literature, a place, a character etc.
- English sonnet
- Shakespearean- a fourteen line poem written in iambic pentameter and with the set form of ababcdcdefefgg
- connotation
- a suggested meaning of association (emotional, subjective)
- omniscient POV
- written by an all-knowing author-3rd person-the reader gets the thoughts and feelings of MORE than ONE character
- foreshadowing
- clues or hints about what is going to happen
- analogy
- a comparison between two things that are seemingly unalike
- mood
- how the reader is fellling as the piece is read
- narrator
- one who tells the story
- ode
- a long lyrical poem that is serious in subject and treatment of the subject
- turning point
- (crisis)- the main character must make a decision that effects the story's outcome
- meter
- rhyme at regular intervals
- imagery
- vivid description using the 5 senses
- sonnet
- a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameters
- myth
- subgenre of fiction- has to do with gods and godesses
- blank verse
- unrhymed iambic pentameter
- sililoquy
- a speech given by one character on stage expressing the characters thoughts
- verbal irony
- what is said is the opposite of what is meant
- antagonist
- opposition to protagonist
- assonance
- repetition of vowel sounds
- allegory
- characters, places, and concepts are all symbols
- approximate rhyme
- also called "half or slant rhyme"- a sound that sounds alike but is not a certain match of sound
- personification
- giving human characteristics to something that is not human
- climax
- point on plot of highest intensity
- fantasy
- a subgenre of fiction that involves exaggeration of imagination- supernatural characters and occurences
- anachronism
- literally, "out of time"-when characters or events are placed in unlikely setting
- symbol
- one thing stands for something else
- hyperbole
- an exaggeration
- archetype
- a character or image that is seen over again in various pieces of literature
- elegy
- written in pairs of unrhymed lines- used for epitaphs in which the dead speak in first person
- epic
- long narrative poem with a hero's actions usually effecting a nation- the theme deals with a universal human problem
- parodox
- a truth expressed in an apparent contradiction (he that loses his life shall find it)
- fable
- anecdote that teaches a moral and usually has animals for characters
- tragedy
- subgenre of drama- deals with serious, sad, or catastrophic aspects of life
- nonfiction
- writing that is true
- anecdote
- a short incident, ususally humorous
- couplet
- two rhyming lines
- dialogue
- two or more characters speaking
- flat character
- a character that is not developed
- falling action
- part of plot following the climax and before the resolution
- dynamic character
- one who changes
- situational irony
- when the opposite of what one thinks would happen
- farce
- a type of comedy that involves highly exaggerated characters and ludicrous situations-meant to provoke belly laughs
- theme
- the lesson (personal life application)
- monolgue
- one person is speaking
- consonance
- the repetition of consonant sound
- biography
- written about one person by another person
- suspense
- feelings of uncertainty about the outcome of a story
- dramatic structure
- expostion, inciting force, rising action, crisis, falling action, climax, catastrophe (denouement)
- comedy
- drama that focuses on light/happy aspects of life
- genre
- types of literature
- tragic hero
- undergoes a moral struggle that ends in disaster
- characters
- the "who" in the story- examples of type: flat, round, static, and dynamic
- setting
- the place and time of the action (where and when)
- drama
- tells a story with action and dialogue- mimics life
- stanza
- group of related lines containing the same meter and rhyme scheme
- dramatic monologue
- one character on stage giving thoughts and feelings
- fixed form
- a traditional pattern that applies to whole poem (sonnet, limerick)
- paraphrase
- a restatement-a summary
- ballad
- narrative song written in stanza
- lyric
- song-like
- flash back
- represents events that happened before the time that the work opened (maybe a memory or confession format)
- dramatic irony
- the audience and/or other characters are privy to information that another character doesn't know
- free verse
- no rhyme and no meter- follows normal patterns of speech
- folk tale
- a short narrative that is passed down orally- usually by an unknown author
- tragic flaw
- a weakness of defect that brings down the hero
- figurative language
- various literary methods that describe or compare- non-literal
- persuasive
- a type of technical writing in which the author is making a call to action (often involves one or some of the various propaganda techniques)
- caesura
- //-gives pause for expression or emphasis in a long pentameter rhyme
- extended metaphor
- a continuation of the classic metaphor in which comparisons continue to be made about two subjects
- onomatopeia
- the word sounds like its meaning
- conflict
- the problem in the story- a struggle
- reflective
- writing that has to do with remembrances
- metaphor
- comparison where one thing is said to be amother thing that it is not
- overstatement
- over exaggeration (hyperbloe)
- short story
- a narrative that can be easily read in one sitting
- folk ballad
- a poem that is meant to be sung- passed down from generation to generation- origin is usually unknown
- descriptive
- a type of writing that describes (usually employs much imagery)
- science fiction
- a subgenre of fiction- has to do with futuristic setting and ideas such as space, robots, and discoveries not yet made
- static character
- assuming that aa whole category of people have a characteristic that is descriptive of only a few
- feminine rhyme
- the first syllable of a two-syllable word or both syllables of a two-syllable word rhyme
- external conflict
- a conflict outside of the character himself
- significant details
- the five w's and how- used to find the main idea
- aside
- comment made to the audience that other characters are not supposed to hear
- oxymoron
- 2 words that are opposits are used together-a form of figurative ang
- cinquain
- a five line poem with 2,4,6,8,2 syllables
- continuous form
- line upon line without breaks
- fiction
- a genre of literature that is untrue
- direct exposition
- a type of characterization where the author directly descirbes the character
- homereric simile
- a comparison using a compound word such as those Homer used in his epic poems (fleet-footed, wine-dark)
- limerick
- fixed form poem of 5 lines-anapestic-aabba- 1,2,5 rhyme w/ 3 ft and 3 and 4 rhyme with 2
- foot
- the pattern of line in poetry
- historical fiction
- subgenre of fition-the setting or a main event is truly historical but the characters and events are often made up
- indirect revelation
- (indirect characterization) the reader must infer things about the character based on what the author says
- subplots
- an additional plot contained within the main plot of a story
- alliteration
- beginning sounds are the same
- end rhyme
- most popular form of rhyme- occurs at the end of the line
- tone
- the way thewriter intends for the reader to feel as the piece is read
- metonymy
- one term is used to represent something that is closely related to it (the office had a party)
- synecdoche
- a part represents the whole
- simile
- a form of figurative language- a comparison using like or as
- autobiography
- written by the person and is about the person- literally, "self driven"
- figure peoms
- the shape suggests the topic of the poem
- haiku
- a three-lined poem with no rhyme- has 5/7/5 syllables and presents an image or insight
- limited POV
- may be used with 1st and 3rd person- told from thoughts and feelings of only ONE character
- exposition
- the first part of plot where the characters, setting, background information, and usually the problem is all given
- Italian sonnet
- (petrarchan)-14 line poem written in iambic pentameter--abba abba cdc cdc
- idiom
- sayings that are frequently used and have a meaning totally outsied of what is said (break a leg,piceof cake)