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12th Literary Terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Exposition | The essential background information at the beginning of a literary work |
| Rising action | the development of conflict and complications in a literary work |
| Climax | the turning point in a literary work |
| Falling action | results or effects of the climax of a literary work |
| Resolution/denouement | end of a literary work when loose ends are tied up and questions are answered |
| Alliteration | repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” |
| Allusion | a reference to something well-known that exists outside the literary work |
| Antagonist | character that is the source of conflict in a literary work |
| 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 |
| Assonance | repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds: “Anna’s apples,” “the pond is long gone” |
| Characterization | The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities |
| Conflict | struggle between two or more opposing forces (person vs. person; nature; society; self; fate/God) |
| Dialogue | direct speech between characters in a literary work |
| Diction | word choice to create a specific effect |
| Figurative Language | language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non literal language). Includes simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbol) |
| Flashback | the method of returning to an earlier point in time for the purpose of making the present clearer |
| Foreshadowing | hint of what is to come in a literary work |
| Genre | type or category to which a literary work belongs |
| Hyperbole | extreme exaggeration to add meaning |
| Imagery | language that appeals to the five senses |
| Irony - Dramatic… | when the reader or audience knows something a character does not |
| Irony - Situational… | when there is a disparity between what is expected and what actually occurs |
| Irony - Verbal… | when the speaker says one thing but means the opposite |
| Metaphor | an implied comparison between dissimilar objects: “Her talents blossomed” or "Her fist is a boulder." |
| Motif | a recurring feature of a literary work that is related to the theme |
| Onomatopoeia | use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning: “hiss” |
| Oxymoron | phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: “living dead” |
| Personification | figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics |
| Plot | The sequence of events in a literary work |
| Point of view | the vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told… 1st person point of view- the narrator is a character in the story (use of ‘I’) 3rd person point of view- the narrator is outside of the story use of ‘he’ ‘she’ ‘they’ |
| Protagonist | the main character in a literary work |
| Rhyme | repetition of similar or identical sounds: “look and crook” |
| Rhyme Scheme | pattern of rhyme among lines of poetry [denoted using letters, as in ABAB CDCD EE] |
| Setting | The time and place of a literary work |
| Simile | a direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as: “I wandered lonely as a cloud” |
| Soliloquy | a dramatic device in which a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud |
| Speaker | voice in a poem; the person or thing that is speaking |
| Stanza | group of lines forming a unit in a poem |
| Stereotype | standardized, conventional ideas about characters, plots and settings |
| Suspense | technique that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next |
| Symbol/symbolism | one thing (object, person, place) used to represent something else |
| 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. |
| Tone | the author’s attitude toward the subject of a work. |
| Act | A major division in a play. Often, individual acts are divided into smaller units ("scenes") that all take place in a specific location. |
| Adage | A proverb or wise saying |
| Allegory | The term loosely describes any writing in verse or prose that has a double meaning.Typically, an allegory involves the interaction of multiple symbols, which together create a moral, spiritual, or even political meaning. |
| Ambiguity | any wording, action, or symbol that can be read in divergent ways |
| Anachronism | Placing an event, person, item, or verbal expression in the wrong historical period |
| Anaphora | The intentional repetition of beginning clauses to create an artistic effect. For instance, Churchill said, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on the end..." The repetition of "We shall..." creates a rhetorical effect of solidarity & determination. |
| Anecdote | A short narrative account of an amusing, unusual, revealing, or interesting event. A good anecdote has a single, definite point, and the setting, dialogue, and characters are usually subordinate to the point of the story. |
| Anglo-Saxon | Historically, the term refers to a group of Teutonic tribes who invaded England in the fifth and sixth centuries following the departure of Roman legions in 410 CE. Anglo-Saxon is also used to refer to Old English, the language spoken by these tribes. |
| Anti-Fraternal Satire | Medieval satire that points out (in humor or anger) the failings and hypocrisies of bad monks, friars, and nuns in particular and the secular clergy and church officers more generally. See Chaucer's Canterbury Tales |
| Antithesis (plural: antitheses) | Opposite phrases in close conjunction. I burn and I freeze. Express contrary ideas in balanced sentence or opposites: Evil men fear authority; good men cherish it. Can contrast degrees:One small step for a man, one giant leap for all mankind. |
| Apophasis | Denying one's intention to talk or write about a subject, but making the denial in such a way that the subject is actually discussed. |
| Apostrophe | The act of addressing some abstraction or personification that is not physically present: For instance, John Donne commands, "Oh, Death, be not proud." Death, of course, is a phenomenon rather than a proud person. |
| Archetype | Original model from which later copies are made-a character,action,or situation that seems to represent patterns of human life. Include symbol,theme,setting,or character that have common meaning in culture, or the human race. Recur in myth & literature. |
| Argument | An argument is the main statement of a poem, an essay, a short story, or a novel that usually appears as an introduction or a point on which the writer will develop his work in order to convince his readers. |
| Aside | In drama, a few words or a short passage spoken by one character to the audience while the other actors on stage pretend their characters cannot hear the speaker's words. |
| Assonance | Repeating identical or similar vowels (especially in stressed syllables) in nearby words. |
| Epic hero | The main character in an epic poem--typically one who embodies the values of his or her culture. |
Created by:
Room 211
Popular English Vocabulary sets