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PCS English
Literary Terms
Term | Definition |
---|---|
alliteration | series of words have the same letter or sound (example: She sells sea shells by the sea shore.) |
allegory | a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one (Animal Farm is an allegory) |
allusion | a reference to something else |
antagonist | a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another opponent; adversary (example: Jack in Lord of the Flies is an antagonist.) |
argument | an exchange of opposing views |
character | a person/animal in a novel |
characterization | description of a character, can be either what they look like (short, tall, skinning, brown hair) or describe a trait (honest, brave, funny) |
citation | giving credit to a quotation |
claim | statement that is true; can either be factual or opinion |
conflict | a struggle between two opposing forces (examples: man vs. himself, man vs. society, man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. supernatural) |
contrast | describe the difference between two items |
dialect | language of people, may be based on location, social status and race |
dialogue | conversation |
dramatic irony | reader knows something, but the character in the book does not know |
direct characterization | the author states a character's trait |
evidence | used to support a claim |
exposition | introduce background information on events, characters, setting |
external conflict | struggle between character and outside force (nature, another character, society) |
flashback | a section of a literary work that interrupts the chronological presentation of events to relate an event from an early time |
foreshadowing | hints at an important plot developments to come |
hyperbole | exaggerates an idea |
illusion | a reference to something else |
imagery | appeals to our sense of smell, sight, taste, touch or hearing |
indirect characterization | we read the words/thoughts/actions of a character; we read descriptions of a character's appearance; we read what other characters are thinking |
irony | a situation that ends up differently than one would have expected |
metaphor | comparison of two dissimilar things |
mood | reader has emotional feelings as they read |
motif | subject, idea or concept that is present throughout the whole story |
narrator | person who tells the story |
onomatopoeia | word whose sound imitates its meaning (example: whoosh, drip, pop) |
personification | giving human qualities to a non-human object (example: The leaves waved in the wind) |
plot | the events that make up the story |
point of view | manner in which the story is narrated (first person - "I", third person - "he" or "she" |
propaganda | used to influence ideas of society |
rhetorical question | question that is asked to make a point, but does not need to be answered |
setting | time and place of a story |
simile | a direct comparison between two subjects using either "like" or "as" |
situational irony | when something happens that is different that what is expected |
symbol | something that stands for something else (example: the conch in Lord of the Flies symbolizes order) |
symbolism | something that stands for something else |
thesis | sentence giving main point of essay |
theme | main point of story |