Compiled by Judith E. Darling
Garner Senior High School
Spring, 1998
th
Literary Terms for 9 Grade End of Course Test
Term
Alliteration
Allusion
Anecdote
Antagonist
Archetype
Aside
Assonance
Autobiography
Ballad
Biography
Characterization
Cliché
Climax
Conflict
Connotation
Denotation
Dialogue
Dramatic POV
End Rhyme
Epic Poetry
Epithet
Exposition
Falling Action
Fantasy
Fiction
Figurative
Language
First Person
Point of View
Flashback
Foreshadowing
Free Verse
Genre
Hero
Haiku
Historical Fiction
Hyperbole
Iambic
Pentameter
Imagery
Irony
Lyric Poetry
Metaphor
Definition
Repetition of the beginning consonant sound. Ex. Rough and ready, Peter Piper.
Reference to something outside of the work, usually mythical, Biblical, or historical
Short summary of a funny event.
The person or thing that opposes the protagonist. Sometimes called the villian.
A recurring and familiar pattern in literature, like a journey or a wise old man.
When a character in a play speaks to the audience and not to the other characters.
Repetition of an internal vowel sound, as in “How now brown cow.”
A story about a person written by that person.
Poem which tells a story of a person from the past and is often set to music.
An author's account or story of another person's life
The way an author reveals his characters. Can be done directly or indirectly.
A word or phrase that is so overused, like "busy as a bee" or "I slept like a log."
High point in a story, point of most intense interest, and point of no return.
The problem or complication in a story, usually between a person and something
else…either another person, a force of nature, fate, or the person himself.
All the emotions or feelings a word arouses, such as negative feelings about 'pig.'
The literal, dictionary definition of a word.
Conversation carried on by the characters in a work of literature.
A play, in which all events are told as dialogue.
Rhyming words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry.
A long narrative poem about the adventures of an almost superhuman character.
A word or phrase used in place of a person's name to help characterize the person.
The part of a story or play that explains the background or makes conflict clear.
The action that takes place in a story after the climax and that resolves the conflict.
Highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life.
Prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events.
Writing or speech not meant to be interpreted literally. Similes, metaphors, and
personification are examples of figurative language.
Told from the perspective on one character in the story. Designated by the pronoun 'I'.
When a story's sequence is interrupted and a character goes back to an earlier time.
The use of clues that suggest events yet to come.
Poetry that is not written with a regular pattern of rhythm and rhyme.
A French word meaning form or type. Literary genres are novel, essay, poetry, play.
A character whose actions are inspiring or noble, and who overcomes difficulties.
A Japanese form of poetry with three lines of 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables.
Stories that center upon or incorporate some significant historical events.
Exaggerating or stretching the truth for literary effect. "My shoes are killing me!"
A metrical pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables common in poetry and in
Shakespearean plays. The line contains ten syllables in the pattern ~/~/~/~/~/.
Words that describe sights, sounds, movements and recreate sensory experience.
When something is different than it is supposed to be or thought to be. Kinds of irony
include verbal, dramatic, and situational.
Poetry that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker.
Comparison of two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as.'
Compiled by Judith E. Darling
Meter
Monologue
Mystery
Myth
Narrative Poetry
Non-Fiction
Omniscient
Point of view
Onomatopoeia
Oxymoron
Paradox
Parallelism
Personification
Plot
Point of View
Poetic Justice
Prologue
Prose
Protagonist
Pseudonym
Pun
Refrain
Rhyme
Science Fiction
Second Person
Setting
Simile
Soliloquy
Sonnet
Stream of
Consciousness
Stanza
Style
Symbol
Theme
Third Person
Point of View
Tone
Tragedy
Garner Senior High School
Spring, 1998
The repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry.
A speech or performance given entirely by one person or one character.
A story that involves the reader in guessing who committed the crime or deed.
A fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or heroes, or the causes of natural
phenomenon, or both. Myths can be Greek, Roman, Norse, or Celtic in origin.
Poems that tell a story.
Prose that explains ideas or is about real people, places, objects, or events.
When the story is told from the perspective of someone outside of the events but who
knows and reveals all the character's thoughts and feelings.
The use of words that imitate sounds, as in buzz, hiss, or murmur.
Two words used together that contradict each other, as in icy fire or sweet sorrow.
A statement that seems to be contradictory but that actually presents a truth.
Repetition of phrases that have similar grammatical patterns.
Giving human characteristics to a non-human thing or substance.
The sequence of events in a literary work.
The perspective from which a story is told. Types are 1st person, 3rd person limited,
omniscient, stream of consciousness, and dramatic.
When a character 'gets what he deserves.'
The opening lines of a drama that give background information.
The ordinary form of written language, not poetry, drama, or song.
The main character in a literary work who drives the plot forward.
The assumed or false name of an author. Samuel Clemens' pseudonym is Mark Twain.
A play on words when a word has more than one meaning.
The regularly repeated group of lines in a poem or song.
Repetition of sounds at the end of words.
Fictional stories that center upon scientific elements.
Designated by the pronoun 'you.' There is no second person point of view in
storytelling.
Time and place of a literary work.
A comparison of two unlike things using the word 'like' or 'as.' Love is like a rose.
Speech delivered by a character when he is alone on stage.
Fourteen lines of iambic pentameter - a very common form of poetry.
A narrative technique, or point of view, that presents thoughts as if they were coming
straight from a character's mind, with story events and character feelings combined.
A unit or group of lines in poetry that are separated by spaces.
An author's unique way of writing that involves word choice and sentence patterns.
Something seen that stands for something unseen, as a rose for love, flag for a country
Central truth or idea in a story.
When the story is told from the perspective of someone outside of the events of the
story but who reveals only one character's thoughts.
The writer or speaker's attitude towards the subject of the work.
A type of story that portrays the fall of a noble person, usually due to a tragic weakness
or flaw in his/her character.