| A | B |
|---|
| allegory | a story in which the characters represent abstract qualities or ideas |
| alliteration | repetition of initial consonant sound-Sad Sally sat by the sea |
| allusion | a reference to something or someone that the reader should know |
| antagonist | a major character who opposes the protagonist or main character |
| assonance | the repetition of vowel sounds |
| atmosphere | the overall feeling of a work, related to one and mood |
| blank verse | unrhymed lines of poetry, usually in blank verse |
| characterization | the means by which the author develops a character |
| climax | the highest point in a literary work |
| conflict | opposition between 2 forces-internal or external |
| contrast | to explain how two things differ |
| couplets | a pair of rhyming lines in a poem |
| denouement | the falling action and resolution |
| elegy | a poem mourning the dead |
| end rhyme | rhyming words that are at the ends of their respective lines |
| epic | a long poem narrating the adventures of a heroic figure |
| fable | a story that illustrates a moral, often using animals as the characters |
| figurative language | language that does not mean exactly what it says |
| first person point of view | the narrator refers to himself as "I" |
| foreshadowing | the author gives clues about something that will happen later in the story |
| free verse | poetry with no set meter(rhythm) or rhyme scheme |
| genre | a kind of style, usually art or literature |
| hyperbole | a huge exaggeration |
| iambic pentameter | 10 syllable lines in which every other syllable is stressed |
| imagery | the use of description that helps the reader imagine how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes |
| internal rhyme | a rhyme that occurs within one line-"He's the king of swing." |
| situational irony | when you expect one thing and something else happens |
| verbal irony | when you say one thing but you mean something else |
| literal language | language that means exactly what it says |
| lyric | a type of poetry that expresses the poet's emotions |
| metaphor | a comparison that doesn't use "like" or "as"--He is a rock. |
| meter | the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in the lines of a poem |
| monologue | a long speech by one character in a play or story |
| mood | the emotional atmosphere of a given piece of writing |
| motif | a theme or pattern that recurs in a work |
| myth | a legend that embodies the beliefs of people and offers some explanation for natural or social phenomena |
| onomatopoeia | the use of words that sound like what they mean, such as "buzz" |
| oxymoron | a phrase made up of two seemingly opposite words. --"Cruel kindness" |
| paradox | a statement that appears to contradict itself |
| parody | a humorous, exaggerated imitation of another work |
| prose | ordinary form of written and spoken language-not poetry |
| protagonist | the main character in a literary work |
| pun | the use of a word in a way that plays on its different meanings |
| quatrain | a 4 line stanza |
| rhetorical question | a question not meant to be answered |
| sarcasm | language that conveys a certain idea by saying just the opposite |
| satire | a work that makes fun of someone or something |
| simile | a comparison using "like" or "as" |
| soliloquy | a monologue in which a character expresses his/her thoughts alone on stage |
| sonnet | a 14 line poem |
| stanza | a section of poetry separated from the sections before and after it |
| subplot | a line of action secondary to the main story or plot |
| symbolism | something that stands for something else--dove is a symbol of peace |
| theme | the central idea of a work |
| tone | the author's attitude toward his or her subject |
| voice | the narrative point of view, whether it is in the first, second, or third person |
