| A | B |
| simile | A comparison between two distinctly different things, using the word "like" or "as" |
| personification | A figure of speech where animals, ideas or objects are given human characteristics |
| fiction | A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact |
| symbol | A person, place, thing, or an event that has meaning in itself and stands for something beyond itself as well; it can signify something else |
| irony | A term that suggests some sort of discrepancy between appearance and reality; says one thing and means another |
| biography | An account of a person’s life written or told by another person |
| metaphor | An imaginative comparison between two unlike things in which one thing is said to be another thing |
| hyperbole | An overstatement or exaggeration |
| dialogue | Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative |
| science fiction | Fiction that deals with the influence of real or imagined science on society or individuals; many of the events recounted are within the realm of future possibility |
| fantasy | Imaginative fiction featuring esp. strange settings and grotesque characters; things happen that can not happen in real life |
| flashback | Interruption in the present action of the plot to show events that happened at an earlier time |
| point of view | The angle or perspective from which a story is told |
| autobiography | The angle or perspective from which a story is told |
| antagonist | The character that contends with or opposes another character |
| plot | The events or main story in a literary work |
| theme | The general idea or insight about life that a work of literature reveals |
| foreshadowing | The introduction of clues early in a story to suggest or anticipate significant events that will develop later |
| resolution | The last part of the story when the characters’ problems are solved and the story ends |
| characters | The people or animals in a work of fiction or drama |
| narrator | The person who tells the story |
| climax | The point of highest dramatic tension or a major turning point in the action; the most emotional or suspenseful moment in story |
| protagonist | The main character in a literary work |
| alliteration | The repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words |
| conflict | The struggle between persons or forces in a work of drama or fiction |
| setting | The time and place in which the events of a work of literature take place |
| dialect | The way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain geographical area or a certain group of people |
| nonfiction | Writing that deals with real people, things, events, or places |