Literary Terms

Hum. I English - College Prep

Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds in words
Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Allusion: A reference to another literary, artistic, or musical work that the reader is likely to be
familiar with
*Antagonist: The principal character in opposition to the protagonist or hero
Example: In The Most Dangerous Game, General Zaroff is the antagonist.
Autobiography: An account of a persons life written by that person
Biography: An account of a persons life written by another person
*Characterization: The process by which an author brings an imaginary person or creature to
life by using descriptions of physical appearance, gestures, thoughts and feelings, speech and
behavior, and interactions with other characters
*Connotation: The surrounding emotional feelings associated with a word
Example: The word cuisine means cooked or prepared food; however, it has a connotation of
elegance and sophistication.
*Denotation: The dictionary definition of a word
Dialect: A form of language spoken by people of a certain region or group
Dialogue: A conversation between two or more characters
*Diction: Word choice intended to convey a certain effect
Fable: A short narrative that makes a cautionary point (moral) and often employs animals as
characters that speak and act like humans
Example: Tortoise and the Hare
Fiction: A story invented by imagination; not a true story
*Figurative Language: Language that is expanded beyond its usual literal meaning; for
example, simile, metaphor, and personification (most common)
Flashback: A part of the plot that moves back in time and then returns to the present
Foreshadowing: Clues that hint at what is going to happen later in the story
Example: In The Most Dangerous Game, the pistol shots that Rainsford hears on his yacht
foreshadow the evil type of hunting that is taking place on the island and the fact that he will
become the hunted.
Genre: A kind of writing based on its style, form, and content
Example: novel, short story, folktale, myth, poem, play, or non-fiction

*Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which an exaggeration or the obvious stretching of the truth
is used to emphasize strong feeling or to create a humorous effect
Example: I could sleep for a year. This book weighs a ton.
*Imagery: A set of mental pictures; language that appeals to the five senses
Example: I spot the hills/With yellow balls in autumn./I light the prairie cornfields/Orange and
tawny gold clusters
Theme in Yellow by Carl Sandburg
Irony: Incongruity between what actually happens and what might be expected to happen
Example: Rainsford swims back to the castle and surprises General Zaroff instead of
drowning.
*Metaphor: A direct comparison of unlike things without using like or as
Example: Morning is a new sheet of paper for you to write on.
-Metaphor by Eva Merriam
Moral: The lesson or principle contained in or taught by a fable, story, or event
Example: Slow and steady wins the race from Tortoise and the Hare
Myth: A traditional, typically ancient, story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or
heroes that serves to explain aspects of the natural world, customs, or ideals of society
Non-fiction: True story
Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds they describe
Example: buzz, bang, plop, crackle, moo, smack, pow, wham, or quack
Oxymoron: A rhetorical figure in which contradictory terms are combined
Example: deafening silence, cruel kindness, icy hot, or jumbo shrimp
*Personification: Giving human characteristics to a non-human entity
Example: The clock is running.
Plot: Events in the story; what happened in the story
*Point of view: The vantage point from which a story is told
Example: First person (author uses I), third person limited (author uses he, she, or they, but is
limited to a complete knowledge of one character), or third person omniscient (author uses he,
she, or they and is all-knowing)
*Protagonist: The main character or hero in a piece of work
Example: Priscilla or Rainsford
Pun: A play on words that are identical or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings
Example: In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio is dying and says, Ask for me tomorrow, and you
shall find me a grave man.
Satire: A literary device used to ridicule or make fun of human vices or weaknesses

*Setting: The time and place in which a literary work takes place
*Simile: The comparison of two unlike things using like or as
Example: And an orange moon rises/To lead them, like a shepherd, toward dawn.
-Stars by Gary Soto
*Story Structure:
*Exposition: Background information that establishes the setting and
describes the
situation of the story; it is intended to explain something that might otherwise be difficult to
understand
*Rising Action: Series of conflicts or struggles that build up a story moving toward a climax
*Climax: The point of highest tension within a story; the turning point in a story
Example: In The Most Dangerous Game, the climax occurs when Rainsford and the
reader discover that General Zaroff hunts humans.
*Falling Action: The events that occur after the climax of the story
*Resolution: The portion of the story in which the conflict is resolved
*Conflict: The problem or struggle between opposing forces in a story that triggers the
action; there are five basic types of conflict: person against person, person against society,
person against nature, person against self, and person against fate
*Theme: The authors statement in a literary work
*Symbol: A person, place, thing, or event used to stand for something abstract such as an
idea or emotion
Syntax: The order of words in a sentence
*Tone: Refers to the authors attitude toward the subject, characters, or reader