| A | B |
|---|
| Dramatic irony | Irony involving facts or events are unknown to a character in a story but are known to the reader, audience, or other characters. |
| Situational irony | Irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. |
| in media res | A piece of writing that begins in the middle of the action. |
| Man vs. Man conflict | When one character in a story has a problem with one or more of the other characters. |
| Man vs. Self conflict | When one character has a conflict within himself, such as morals, ethics, decisions, or even against his own characteristics. |
| Man vs. Society conflict | When one character has a problem with a group of people, large or small, and/or has conflict with a society force, such as in a dystopia. |
| Man vs. Nature conflict | When a character has a problem with any force of nature, including setting, weather, etc. |
| Symbols & Motifs | Objects or phenomena that represent a larger abstract idea, especially when recurring or in a pattern. |
| Bildungsroman | A German word for "coming of age", usually a teen's transition to adulthood or sometimes a hero's quest for a specific goal. |
| Direct characterization | The author states or describes a character's traits. |
| indirect characterization | Author subtly reveals the character through actions and interactions. |
| Foil character | A character who is used as a contrast to another more important character; the contrast emphasizes the differences between two characters, bringing out the distinctive qualities in each. |
| Limited Omniscient Narrator | The third person narrator relates the thoughts and feelings of only one character. |
| Omniscient Narrator | A narrator who is able to know, see, and tell all, including the inner thoughts and feelings of multiple characters. |
| Unreliable Narrator | A narrator who account of events appears to be faulty, misleadingly biased, or otherwise distorted. |
| Tragic Flaw | The error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall. |
| Alliteration | Repetition of initial consonant sounds. |
| Allusion | A reference to another work of literature, person, or event. |
| Analogy | A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way. |
| Idiom | A non-literal phrase that has a meaning apart from the meanings of its individual words. |
| Metaphor | A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way. |
| Simile | Figure of speech comparing two things using "like" or "as". |
| Parallelism | Repeating a word, phrase, or clause intentionally, to create rhythm or structure. |
| Personification | Giving human characteristics to something that is not human. |
| Puns | A play on words, using words that have a double meaning or that sound the same but have different meanings. |
| Tone | A writer's attitude, which is revealed through word choice. |
| Mood | Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader. |
