Allegory:
A story in which the characters represent abstract
qualities or ideas.
Ex: In Westerns, the sheriff represents the good,
and
the outlaw represents evil.
Anecdote:
A short, humorous story about a real incident or
person.
Ex: In his first year as president, Barrack Obama
had a prank pulled on him. He is afraid of spiders
and his wife put a tarantula in his office.
Myth:
A legend that embodies the beliefs of people and
offers some explanation for natural and social
phenomena.
Ex: In Greek Mythology, Zeus is the God of the sky
and is the cause of thunder and lightning.
Parable:
A short story that uses familiar events to show an ethical point.
Ex:
A man was beaten and left on the side of a road. People kept passing
by without helping. In the end, his enemy was the one to stop and
help.
The ethical point in this story is to always help others, even if it is not
easy.
Parody:
A humorous, exaggerated imitation of another
work.
Prose:
Writing organized into sentences and
paragraphs. In other words, normal writing—
not poetry.
Satire:
A work that makes fun of something or
someone.
Ex: “Family Guy” or “The Simpsons”
Cliché:
Overused stereotyped expression.
Ex: “What goes around comes around.”
Imagery:
Vivid description that helps the reader imagine how
something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or taste. Most of the
time, it refers to appearance.
Ex: “The young bird’s white, feathered wings fluttered as he
made his way across the night time sky.”
Irony:
Humor based on using words that suggest the
opposite of the literal meaning; sarcasm.
Ex: A man said to his boss, “Sir, may I say
you are as smart as Einstein ever was.”
Oxymoron:
A phrase that contradicts itself.
Ex: jumbo shrimp, frozen hot chocolate, or the
living dead
Paradox:
A seeming contradiction.
Ex: “It was the best of times. It was the
worst of times.” or “I always lie.”
Pathetic Fallacy:
The attribution of human emotions or
characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature.
Ex: Angry sea or Cruel wind
Bandwagon:
A cause that attracts many people.
Ex: When the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley
Cup in 2010, a lot of people “jumped on the
bandwagon” and became fans because they were doing
so well.
Bias:
An inclination that usually is unfair and shows
impartial judgment.
Ex: When the woman voted for the best dancer,
she was biased because she voted for her own
daughter.
Cynical Tone:
- Believing or showing the belief that people are motivated only by
selfish concerns; skeptical.
- Tone is negative or pessimistic.
Ex: “Don’t talk to me about voting. I’m not interested. All
politicians are selfish and corrupt.”
Flag Waving:
An appeal intended to provoke patriotic emotions.
Ex: During the opening ceremonies of the Olympics,
the national anthem will be played in order to excite
fans and get them fired up for their country to win.
Flashback:
A technique in which the author references an earlier
event or scene.
Ex: Hunger Games excerpt:
“I look at Peeta and he gives me a sad smile. I hear
Haymitch’s voice. ‘You could do a lot worse.’”
Foreshadowing:
A technique in which an author gives clues about
something that will happen later in the story.
Ex: He didn’t know what was in store for him, but
would soon find out the truth. He felt a cold chill
as he walked through the dark alley.
Plain folks:
An advertisement or piece of literature that features arguments
in which a person represents themself as a commoner.
Ex: In “Robin Hood”, Robin Hood is an example of a plain folk
because he disguises himself as a commoner and steals from the
rich to give to the poor.
Propaganda:
A form of communication that is aimed at influencing the
attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to
benefit ones self or ones group.
Ex: The famous “Uncle Sam” poster says “I want YOU for the
U.S. Army!”
Reflexive Tone:
Writing that focuses on a belief or idea about life that is
important to the writer. (Usually found in autobiographies and
memoirs.)
Ex: “I really learned that summer how life is short and I
shouldn’t spend it worrying about other people’s problem.”
Subplot:
A line of action secondary to the main story.
Ex: In The Hunger Games, the focus on Katniss
and Gale hunting would be considered a subplot.
Voice:
The author’s style (the quality that makes his or her
writing unique) conveys his or her attitude, personality
or character.
Ex: When voice is used in writing it displays the
author’s personality, view point, age, and gender.
Dramatic Monologue:
A speech in which the narrator addresses a character who never actually appears
in the story.
Ex:
Mom, mom where are you? (Sees something, starts shaking his head in denial.)
No, no, no this isn’t happening. So you see, I’ve been waiting here because my
mom and I are going to New York together. I’m not sure where my mom is,
but I’m sure she’ll be here soon.
Monologue:
A long speech by one character in a play or story.
Ex:
“You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a
one-man wolf pack. But when my sister brought Doug home, I knew he was one of my own. And my
wolf pack, it grew by one. So - there were two of us in the wolf pack.”
Soliloquy:
A monologue in which a character expresses his or her thoughts to the
audience and does not intend the other characters to hear them.
Ex: To be, or not to be--that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them
Theater Essentials:
A script for a play has directions about the lighting,
movements and emotions for the actors to follow.
Ex: In “A Christmas Carol” there are theater essentials
to help the reader visualize the play.
Allusion:
A reference to something or someone, often literary.
Ex: If you were trying to instill confidence in a
friend and said, “Use the force,” that would be an
allusion to “Star Wars.”
Analogy:
A relationship between two objects/ideas that is not immediately obvious.
Ex: Car is to Street as Boat is to Lake
(The car and boat are both vehicles, but a car is driven on a street and a
boat is driven on a lake.)
Also can be shown as:
Car : Street as Boat : Lake
Antithesis:
The direct contrast or opposite of something.
Ex: hope is the antithesis to despair
Aphorism:
A statement of truth or opinion that is short and to the
point.
AKA: a saying, maxim, adage, or cliché
Ex: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
Archetype:
The original model from which all things of the
same kind are copied or based off of.
Ex: Frankenstein or Dracula are archetypes that
have influenced all subsequent horror stories.
Assertion:
Something declared or stated positively, often
with no support or attempt at proof.
Ex: “It will all be okay in the end.”
Colloquialism:
Language that is only appropriate for casual or informal
conversation; slang.
Ex: In the Midwestern states, soft drinks or soda is
referred to as “pop”.
Connotation:
The emotional or cultural meaning attached to a word.
Ex: The actual meaning of the word “snake” is “a
limbless reptile that lives in various climates.” However,
the connotation of “snake” can be a person who is sly
and ruthless.
Denotation:
The dictionary definition/meaning or the literal meaning
of a word.
Ex: The denotation of the word “cheap” is
“inexpensive”, but cheap can have a connotation that
means “a person who does not like to spend money”.
Iconoclast:
A character that attacks cherished beliefs; a
radical.
Ex: Protestors who carry signs that are meant
to defame the president.
Motif:
A theme or pattern that recurs in a work.
Ex: In “Wizard of Oz” Dorothy leaves home and
learns about herself. The theme of “going on a
journey and learning about yourself” continues
with the other characters.
Pun:
The use of a word in a way that plays on its
different meanings.
Ex: Noticing the bunch of bananas, the hungry
gorilla went ape.
Parallelism:
When a writer or speaker expresses ideas of equal worth with
the same grammatical form.
Ex:
“Veni, vedi, vici.”
– Julius Caesar
(Translation: I came, I saw, I conquered.)
Red Herring:
Something intended to divert attention from the real problem
or matter at hand; a misleading clue.
EX: You might find a red herring used in politics to avoid an
issue or in mysteries when a murder suspect may use a red
herring to divert suspicion away from them.
Rhetorical Question:
A question not meant to be answered.
Ex: “Why can’t we just get along?”
Synecdoche:
A figure of speech where a part represents the
whole.
Ex: The “ABCs” are a synecdoche for the
“alphabet”.
Testimony:
A formal statement that is written or spoken.
Ex: When a person is interviewed for their
side of a story it is their testimony.
Validity:
The soundness and justness of an argument.
Word Play:
A witty or clever verbal exchange
Ex: Catchphase, Apples to Apples, Outburst
all use word play in their games.
Assonance:
The repetition of vowel
sounds.
Ex: “Days wane away.”
Blank verse:
Unrhymed lines of poetry
usually in iambic pentameter.
Cinquain:
A stanza with 5 lines
Ex:
Bunny
Quiet, Furry
Munching, Sniffing, Hopping
Asleep in the clover
Rabbit
Consonance:
The repetition of internal or ending consonant
sounds of words close together in poetry.
Ex:
I dropped the locket in the thick mud next to the
bricks.
Couplet:
- A pair of rhyming lines in a poem often set off from the rest of
the poem.
- Shakespeare’s sonnets all end in couplets.
Ex:
Blessed are you whose worthiness gives scope
Being had, to triumph; being lacked, to hope
Dirge:
A poem reflecting on something you miss.
Ex: You may write a dirge about an old
friend or a lost pet.
Elegy:
A poem mourning the dead.
(A EULOGY is a speech given at a funeral in
honor of a person who has passed away –
these are two different things.)
End rhyme:
Rhyming words that are at the ends of their respective
lines—what we typically think of as normal rhyme.
Ex:
I live in a house by the sea
That is where I like to be
Epic:
A long poem narrating the adventures of a heroic
figure.
Ex: In Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus makes a ten
year voyage home after the Trojan War.
Free Verse:
Poetry with no set meter (rhythm) or rhyme
scheme.
Ex:
Fog
by Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Iamb:
A metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable.
Ex :
Come LIVE with ME and BE my LOVE.
There are 8 iambs in the example.
Iambic pentameter:
Ten-syllable lines in which every other syllable is
stressed.
Ex:
“With EYES like STARS upON the BRAVE night AIR.”
(da-DUM- da-DUM- da-DUM- da-DUM- da-DUM)
Internal rhyme:
A rhyme that occurs within one line.
Ex: “He’s king of the swing.”
Limerick:
-A form of humorous verse
- The 1st, 2nd, and 5th lines rhyme with each other and have 7-10 syllables.
-The 3rd and 4th lines rhyme with each other and have 5-7 syllables
-Often starts with “There once was a …”
Ex:
There once was a man from Peru
Who dreamed of eating his shoe,
He awoke with a fright,
In the middle of the night,
And found that his dream had come true!
Lyric:
A type of emotional, songlike poetry.
Meter:
The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in
the lines of a poem.
Ex:
Shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer’s DAY?
Quatrain:
A four-line stanza.
From “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare
“Thus, from my lips by thine my sin is purged”
“Then have my lips the sin that they have took”
“Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged;”
“Give me my sin again.” “You kiss by the book”
Rhyme Scheme:
The pattern made by placing words which end in similar
sounds at the ends of lines.
Ex: Being able to rhyme
in the knick of time.
Is the best
To pass the test.
This rhyme scheme is AABB
Rhythm:
The arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables into a
pattern.
Ex: “The Song of Hiawatha” by Longfellow
By the shore of Gitchie Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
At the doorway of his wigwam,
In the pleasant Summer morning,
Hiawatha stood and waited.
Scansion:
The act of dividing lines of poetry into feet
and meter.
Ex:
/ ^ / ^ / ^ / ^
Double, double toil and trouble
Sestina:
Six stanzas with six-lines each. Then a three line ending (called
an envoi). The end words of the first stanza are repeated in
varied order (see below) as end words in the other stanzas.
Ex:
ABCDEF, FAEBDC, CFDABE, ECBFAD, DEACFB, BDFECA
KEY
Types of Stories - Blue
Figurative Language - Yellow
Writing Techniques – Pink
Theater/Drama – Green
Literary Terms - Orange
Poetry - White
Sonnet:
A fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter. Different kinds of sonnets
have different rhyme schemes.
Ex:
Shakespeare Sonnet #18
Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.