| A | B |
|---|
| Allusion | a literary reference to a familiar person, place, thing, or event |
| Allegory | a story in which people, things, and actions represent an idea or a generalization about life |
| Analogy | a comparison of two or more similar objects, suggesting that if they are alike in certain respects, they will probably be alike in other ways as well |
| Antagonist | the person or thing working against the protagonist, or hero, of the work |
| Characterization | the method an author uses to reveal characters and their personalities |
| Epigram | a brief, witty saying or poem often dealing with its subject in a satirical manner (cliche, saying) |
| Figurative Language | language used to create a special effect or feeling |
| Hyperbole | an exaggeration or overstatement |
| Metaphor | a comparison of two unlike things in which no word of comparison is used |
| Simile | a comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as |
| Flashback | returning to an earlier time in a story for the purpose of making something in the present more clear |
| Foreshadowing | giving hints or clues of what is to come later in a story |
| Irony | using a word or phrase to mean the exact opposite of its literal or normal meaning |
| Point of View | the vantage point from which the story is told {1st person (I); 3rd person (he/she} |
| Protagonist | the main character or hero of the story |
| Satire | a literary tone used to make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting or changing the subject of the attack |
| Soliloquy | a speech delivered by a character when he or she is alone on stage; it is as though the character is thinking out loud |
| Blank Verse | an unrhymed form of poetry; each line normally consists of 10 syllables in which every other syllable is stressed |
| Parallelism | the use of phrases, clauses, or sentences that are similar or complementary in structure or in meaning |
| Imagery | the use of words to create a certain picture in the reader's mind |
| Free verse | poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme |
| Internal rhyme | occurs when the rhyming words appear in the same line of poetry |
| End rhyme | the rhyming of words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry |
| Sonnet | a poem consisting of 14 lines of iambic pentameter |
| Plot | the sequence of events or actions in a short story, novel, play, or poem |
| Theme | the statement about life that a writer is trying to get across in a piece of writing |
| Aside | a short speech spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience |
| Monologue | an extended speech by a character in a play, short story, novel or poem |
| Dialect | The characteristic speech of a particular region or social group |
| Aphorism | a pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life |
