| A | B |
|---|
| allegory | a narrative in which characters and settings stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities |
| alliteration | repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds usually at the beginning of words that are close together in a poem |
| allusion | reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or pop culture |
| ambiguity | an element of uncertainty in a text, in which something can be interpreted in a number of different ways |
| analogy | comparison made between two things to show how they are alike in some respects |
| anecdote | very, very brief story, usually told to make a point |
| aside | words that are spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character but that are not supposed to be overheard by the others onstage |
| assonance | repetition of similar vowel sounds that are followed by different consonant sounds |
| author | the writer of a literary work |
| autobiography | an account of the writer's own life |
| ballad | song that tells a story |
| biography | an account of a person's life, written or told by another person |
| blank verse | poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter |
| character | person in a story, poem, or play |
| climax | moment of great emotional intensity or suspense in a plot |
| comedy | in general, a story that ends happily |
| comic relief | comic scene or event that breaks up a serious play or narrative |
| conflict | struggle or clash between opposing characters or opposing forces |
| connotation | all the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words, in addition to their literal dictionary definitions, or denotations |
| couplet | two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme |
| description | type of writing intended to create a mood or emotion or to re-create a person, a place, a thing, an event, or an experience |
