| A | B |
|---|
| allegory | a tale wherein the characters represent qualities |
| alliteration | repetition of similar sounds |
| allusion | reference to other literature |
| analogy | a comparison to show similarities |
| foil | a contrasting character |
| anecdote | short story told to make a point |
| antagonist | a character who opposes |
| aphorism | a pointed statement about life |
| apostrophe | figure of speech that addresses an absent person, an animal, or a concept |
| aside | sa short speech directed to the audience |
| assonance | repetition of a vowel sound |
| blank verse | verse in unrhymed imabic pentameter |
| foreshadowing | hints to future events |
| character | a person, force, or thing in a work |
| characterization | how a writer reveals personality |
| chorus | one or more characters who comment on the action |
| climax | point of greatest intensity or interest |
| conflict | a struggle between opposing forces |
| consonance | repetition of a consonant sound |
| couplet | two consecutive lines that rhyme |
| free verse | unrhymed, irregular patterned verse |
| denouement | outcome of the plot |
| dialect | speech of a particular area or group |
| diction | writer's choice of words |
| dramatic irony | reader or audience knows more than characters |
| elegy | poem of mourning |
| epic | long narrative poem of a hero reflecting values |
| epigram | a short, witty statement |
| epigraph | opening quote or motto that makes some point |
| epitaph | an inscription on a gravestone |
| hyperbole | an exaggeration done for effect |
| exposition | provides essential background information |
| fable | a brief story with a moral or lesson |
| falling action | shows a reversal of fortune for the protagonist |
| farce | a farfetched type of comedy |
| dead metaphor | a comparison so used that it seems literal |
| figure of speech | not intended to be taken literally |
| extended metaphor | a metaphor continued thoughout a work |
| implied metaphor | a suggested, not stated comparison |
| flashback | shows an earlier event |
| iamb | a poetic foot (unstressed and stressed) |
| iambic pentameter | five feet of verse (unstressed and stressed) |
| imagery | words or phrases that create mind pictures |
| internal rhyme | rhyme which occurs in a line |
| inversion | reversal of word order |
| irony | contrasts what is stated and what is meant |
| irony of situation | contrasts expected result and actual result |
| verbal irony | speakers says one thing but means another |
| metaphor | a direct comparison using is of dissimilar items |
| metonymy | item replaces the thing it closely represent |
| meter | a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables |
| monologue | a long, virtually uninterrupted speech |
| mood | emotional climate developed by setting |
| motif | a recurring feature |
| sestet | a six-line poem or stanza |
| onomatopoeia | "pow" |
| oxymoron | "sweet sorrow" |
| juxtaposition for contrast | placement of opposites to show contrast |
| parable | short, simple moral lesson |
| paradox | a true statement that seems untrue |
| parody | humorous imitation of a work |
| pathos | arouses pity or sorrow |
| ethos | addresses the reader's moral code |
| logos | uses logic to built trust |
| personification | nonhuman is given human qualities |
| plot | significant order of events |
| point of view | authors choice of narrator |
| protagonist | character with whom the reader sympathizes |
| feet | measured units in meter (syllables) |
| quatrain | a stanza or four-line poem |
| refrain | regularly repeated group of lines |
| rising action | follows the exposition of the plot |
| flat character | one or two trait type |
| satire | makes fun of the weaknesses or wrongdoings of mankind |
| scansion | analysis of meter in verse |
| setting | time and place in a literary work |
| soliloquy | an entended speech delivered alone on stage |
| simile | a comparison using like or as |
| sonnet | a fourteen line poem format |
| stanza | a poem unit of more than one line |
| style | writier's usual choice of words, or word order |
| symbol | when something stands for something else |
| stereotyped character | immediately familiar type |
| synecdoche | parts of a thing suggest the whole |
| theme | an insight about life conveyed in a work |
| tone | writer's attitude toward subject, characters, and readers |
| tragedy | protagonist meets an unhappy end |
| mixed metaphor | "The storm of protest was nipped in the bud." |
| round character | well-developed, many trait type |
