Literary Terms
*Do NOT lose this sheet!*
STORY ELEMENTS
Setting: The time and location of the events described in a literary work.
Character: The people or animals that appear in literary works.
Character Traits: The qualities of a character; what a character is like.
Plot: The sequence of events in a literary work.
Conflict: Drama between two opposing forces in a piece of literature.
Man against Self (man struggles with inner issues or making decisions)
Man against Man (problems between two or more characters)
Man against Nature (man struggles against a force of nature, such as a storm)
Man against Society (man struggles against a social issue, such as racial)
Resolution: The part of the story’s plot line in which the problem of the story is resolved or worked out.
Point-of-View: The perspective from which a story is told.
1st Person: (I, me, we…)
2nd Person: (You)
3rd Person Objective: (narrator does not know thoughts or feelings of any character; only a spectator)
3rd Person Limited: (narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character)
3rd Person Omniscient: (narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters)
Genre: Fiction: historical fiction, realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy, mystery/suspense, folktale
Nonfiction: biographies, autobiographies
Poetry and plays may be either fiction-based or nonfiction-based
Theme: A central message, idea, or concern that is expressed in a literary work.
Climax: The highest point of action in a story, often the turning point.
Mood: A prevailing atmosphere or feeling an author creates in the reader.
Tone: The attitude of an author toward the subject that he/she is writing about.
SOUND DEVICES
Rhyme: The repetition of sound, almost always to achieve an effect or to create a rhythm (ex. mean,
screen; tumble, crumble).
Rhythm: The beat or pattern of stressed and unstressed lines.
Alliteration: The repetition of the same/similar consonant sounds at the beginning of words (ex. Sally
sells seashells by the seashore).
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds (ex. The cat had a lot of fun with the bat).
Onomatopoeia: Use of a word which sounds like it means (ex. buzz, hum, zip).
Literary Terms
*Do NOT lose this sheet!*
LITERARY DEVICES
Imagery: Words or phrases appealing to one or more of the five senses helping to create a vivid
description for the reader.
Hyperbole: Use of extreme exaggeration (ex. I tried to call you a thousand times).
Dialogue: A discussion or conversation between two or more characters.
Dramatic Irony: Occurs when the reading audience is aware of something that the character in
the story does not know.
Situational Irony: When the opposite of what is expected happens or when the character you
least expect to do something, does it.
Verbal Irony: A way of saying the opposite of what is meant for dramatic effect (sarcasm).
Simile: A comparison between two things, using “like” or “as.”
Metaphor: A figure of speech in which something is described as if it were something else; a
comparison made without using “like” or “as.”
Personification: Giving human characteristics to non-human things.
Idiom: A word or phrase which means something different from what it says – it is usually a
metaphor (ex. It is raining cats and dogs).
Foreshadowing: An author’s use of hints to give a reader an idea of what may happen next.
Flashback: A literary device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological
order of the story.
Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines two contradictory or opposing ideas.
Paradox: A statement that contradicts itself, yet still makes sense (ex. “They have ears but do
not hear”).
Symbolism: The use of a person, object, place, or idea to represent itself or something beyond.
Allusion: An indirect reference to something the reader is expected to understand without explanation.