| 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 |