| A | B |
|---|
| abstract language | refers to things preceived through the mind, such as God, love |
| alliteration | the repetition of sounds |
| antagonist | person or force tha opposes the portagonist |
| archetype | the original model |
| ballad | narrative poem that depends on regular verse patterns and strong rhymes for its effect |
| chorus | a company of actors who comment (by speaking or singing in unison) on soceity |
| concrete language | refers to things preceived through the senses |
| dialogue | conversation between two persons or lines spoken by characters in a work of literature |
| drama | dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage |
| epithet | adjective word or phrase used as a noun |
| autobiography | someone's account of his or her own life |
| conflict | a struggle between two opposing forces |
| internal conflict | person verses self |
| denotation | literal or dictionary meaning of a word |
| irony | contrast between what is stated and what is meant or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen |
| exposition | writing that explains a subject or provides information |
| fiction | material that is invented or imagined |
| foreshadowing | clues or hints at important plot developments that are to follow in a story |
| imagery | words or phrases that use description to create pictures, or images in the reader's mind |
| kenning | an elaborate pharse that describes persons things, or events in a metaphorical and indirect way |
| local color | use of specific details describing the speech, dress, customs and scenery associated with a particular region or section of a country |
| metaphor | comparison made between two things which are basically dissimilar, with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them |
| moral | pratical lesson about right and wrong conduct often stated at the conclusion of an instructive story such as a fable |
| myth | story of uncertain origin and authorship that seeks to explain processes of nature, |
| narrative poetry | poetry that tells a story |
| novel | a long fictional narrative written in prose, usually having many characters and a strong plot |
| parable | short simple tale, usually about an ordinary familiar event, from which a moral or religious lesson is drawn |
| paraphrase | a rewording of a text or of a passage from a text, often for the purpose of clarification or simplification |
| personification | a figure of speech in which something nonhuman is given human characteristics or feelings |
| plot | sequence of related events that make up a story or a drama |
| protagonist | the central character in a story or drama, the one whom we, as readers are supposed to sympathize with |
| repetition | the reappearance of a word or phrase, stanza or structure in a literary work |
| rhetoric | art of using language for persuasion |
| rising action | series of events in a drama that lead up to a turning point |
| satire | literary work which mocks or ridicules the stupidity or vices of individuals, groups, institutions, or society in general |
| short story | fictional narrative written in prose, which is shorter than a novel |
| soliloquy | dramatic convention in which a character makes an extended speech while alone on stage |
| stanza | group of related lines that forms a division of a poem or a song |
| subplot | plot in a story or play that is secondary to the main plot |
| symbol | something which maintains its own meaning while at the same time standing for something broader thatn itself |
| tone | attitude a writer takes toward the subject or the reader of a work of literature |
| transcendentalism | a philosophy that basic truths can be reached by intuition |
| understatement | restrained statement in which less is said than is meant |
| allegory | work typically used to convey a literal and abstract meaning |
| allusion | reference to a work of literature, art, music or to a well known historical event, person, or place |
| apostrophe | term used to describe when the speaker addresses an absent or imaginary person |
| aside | dramatic convention in which a character turns to speak a few words, directly to the audience or to another character, but is not supposed to be heard by others on the stage. |
| characters | Persons - or animals or natural forces represented as persons – in a work of literature. |
| comedy | literary work, generally amusing which usually ends happily because the hero or heroine is able to overcome obstacles and get what he or she wants. |
| couplet | a pair successive rhymed lines of poetry |
| diction | writer’s choice of words, particularly for clarity, effectiveness, and precision |
| epic | long narrative poem that usually centers on a single important character who embodies the values of a particular society. |
| figurative language | language that is used to describe one thing in terms of something else; language that is not intended to be taken literally. |
| biography | account of someone’s life, written by another person |
| external conflict | person vs. nature, person vs. person |
| connotation | suggested meanings of a word or phrase; the meanings and feelings that have become associated with the word |
| dramatic irony | device which allows an audience or a reader to know something that a character in a drama or story is unaware of. |
| essay | brief examination of a subject in prose, usually expressing a personal or limited view of the topic |
| falling action | All the action in a play that follows the turning point. |
| flashback | scene in a story or play that interrupts the present action to tell about events that happened at an earlier time |
| hyperbole | saying more than what is literally true, usually for humor or for emphasis |
| irony | contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen. |
| literal language | language that states facts or ideas directly |
| lyric poetry | verse, usually brief, which focuses on the emotions or thoughts of the speaker. |
| motif | recurring feature (such as a name, an image, or a phrase) in a work of literature |
| mood | author or speaker’s attitude toward the subject or theme of a work |
| narration | kind of writing or speaking that relates a series of events. |
| narrator | one who narrates, or tells, a story |
| oxymoron | figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory ideas or terms, such as “living dead”. |
| paradox | statement that reveals a kind of truth, although it seems at first to be a self contradictory and untrue |
| parody | imitation of a piece of literature or music or art, for amusement or instruction. |
| persuasion | kind of speaking or writing that is intended to influence people’s actions. |
| poetry | language arranged in lines with regular rhythm and often with a definite rhyme scheme |
| pun | humorous play on words, using either (1) two or more different meanings of the same word, or (2) two or more words that are spelled and pronounced somewhat the same but have different meanings |
| point of view | vantage point from which a narrative is told |
| resolution | moment in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem when the conflict ends and the outcome of the action is clear |
| rhyme | repetition of accented vowel sounds and all succeeding sounds in words that appear close together in verse |
| romance | term used to describe a medieval tale dealing with the loves and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and ladies and including unlikely or supernatural happenings |
| setting | time and place in which the events of a literary work take place |
| simile | direct comparison made between two unlike things, using a word of comparison such as like, as, than, such as, or resembles |
| sonnet | a lyric poem consisting of fourteen lines |
| style | writer’s characteristic way of writing his or her choice of words, sentence structure, and use of imagery and figurative language |
| suspense | sense of uncertainty or anxiety about the outcome of events in a story or drama |
| theme | main idea expressed in a literary work; the central insight that the work gives us about human life |
| tragedy | literary work dealing with very serious and important themes, in which a dignified tragic figure meets destruction, usually through some personal flaw or weakness |
| turning point | moment of highest emotional intensity in a plot, when the outcome of the conflict is finally made clear to us |
| vernacular | everyday spoken language of people in a particular locality, and writing that imitates or suggests such language |
