Genres
1. Fiction
2. Nonfiction
3. Narrative
4. Short Story
5. Novel
6. Biography
7. Autobiography
8. Poetry
9. Drama
10. Legend
Literature Terms
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Character
Protagonist
Antagonist
Dialogue
Setting
Plot
Exposition
Rising Action
Conflict
External Conflict
Internal Conflict
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution
Point of View
First Person
Third Person Omniscient
Third Person Limited
Theme
Mood
Tone
Suspense
Motive
Foreshadowing
Flashback
Allusion
Symbol
Sensory Language
Dialect
Fantasy
Realism
Stereotype
Imply
Infer
Direct Characterization
Indirect Characterization
Poetry Terms
1. Literal Language
2. Figurative Language
3. Simile
4. Metaphor
5. Extended Metaphor
6. Personification
7. Hyperbole
8. Rhyme
9. External Rhyme
10. Internal Rhyme
11. Exact Rhyme
12. Half Rhyme
13. Rhyme Scheme
14. Rhythm
15. Repetition
16. Onomatopoeia
17. Stanza
18. Refrain
19. Alliteration
20. Assonance
21. Literary Ballad
22. Lyric Poem
23. Haiku
24. Quatrain
25. Concrete
26. Free Verse
(2009-2010 TLW)
Genres
1. Fiction: prose (paragraph) writing that tells about imaginary characters and events
2. Nonfiction: prose (paragraph) writing that explains ideas or tells about real people,
places, objects, or events
3. Narrative: writing that tells a story
4. Short Story: a brief work of fiction
5. Novel: a long work of fiction that contains all the elements of a short story but is
developed more fully
6. Biography: a work of nonfiction where the writer tells the life story of another person
7. Autobiography: a work of nonfiction where the person tells his or her own life story
8. Poetry: one of the three major types of literature (beside prose and drama); uses
imaginative and vivid language in verse form
9. Drama: a story written to be performed by actors
10. Legend: a widely told story about the past; loosely based on historical facts; reflects
people’s values and attitudes; each culture has its own legends.
Literature Terms
1. Character: a person or animal who takes part in the action of a literary work
2. Protagonist: the main character in a literary work
3. Antagonist: a character or force in conflict with a main character
4. Dialogue: a conversation between characters
5. Setting: the time, place, and general environment of a story; establishes the mood and
affects the plot
6. Plot: the sequence or order of events in a story
7. Exposition: introduction of setting, characters, and the basic situation at the beginning
of the story
8. Rising Action: a series of events or conflicts that leads a literary work to its climax
9. Conflict: a struggle between opposing forces
10. External Conflict: occurs when a character struggles against some outside force
(person vs. person / person vs. nature / person vs. society / person vs. supernatural)
11. Internal Conflict: a conflict that takes place within the mind of a character
(make a decision / take an action / overcome a feeling)
12. Climax: the crisis or point of most intense action or the “turning point” that
determines the outcome of the story
13. Falling Action: events that occur after the climax and lead to the story’s resolution
14. Resolution: how a conflict is resolved
15. Point of View: the perspective, or vantage point, from which a story is told
16. First Person: narrator is a character in the story and refers to himself or herself with
the pronoun “I”
17. Third Person Omniscient: narrator is not in the story but knows and tells what each
character feels and thinks by using the pronouns “he”, “she”, or “they”
18. Third Person Limited: narrator is not in the story but tells what one character feels
and thinks by using the pronouns “he”, “she”, or “they”
19. Theme: a central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work; a general
statement about people or about life (not a summary of the plot)
20. Mood: the feeling created in the reader by a literary work
21. Tone: the writer’s attitude toward the subject and characters (ex: playful, serious,
sarcastic, etc.)
22. Suspense: a feeling of anxious uncertainty about the outcome of events in a literary
work
23. Motive: a character’s reason for doing something
24. Foreshadowing: hints or clues about events that will occur later in the story
25. Flashback: a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate
an event from an earlier time
26. Allusion: a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of
art
27. Symbol: a concrete or real object used to represent an idea
28. Sensory Language: writing that appeals to one or more of the five senses—sight,
sound, touch, taste, smell
29. Dialect: the form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group
30. Fantasy: highly imaginative writing that contains elements not found in real life
31. Realism: the representation in literature of objects and actions as they actually are;
life as we know it
32. Stereotype: a false idea that all members of a cultural group are the same
33. Imply (implication): the writer suggests something without stating it outright
34. Infer (inference): the reader uses information the writer tells to draw conclusions
about details that are not specifically stated by the author
35. Direct Characterization: the writer tells the reader the character’s traits. (Ex. “Rikki
was brave.”)
36. Indirect Characterization: the writer reveals the character’s personality through the
character’s own words, thoughts, and actions and by what other characters say to or about
him or her
Poetry Terms
1. Literal Language: the actual or dictionary meaning of a word; language that means
exactly what it appears to mean
2. Figurative Language: writing that uses hyperbole, personification, simile or metaphor
to enhance or clarify meaning
3. Simile: a figure of speech that uses the words “like” or “as” to make a direct
comparison between two unlike ideas (Ex. “His hair was like moldy hay.”)
4. Metaphor: a figure of speech that compares two things without using the words “like”
or “as” (ex. “His eyes were hollows of madness.”)
5. Extended Metaphor: a metaphor in which several comparisons are made that point
out a number of similarities
6. Personification: a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics
7. Hyperbole: exaggeration for effect (Ex. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”)
8. Rhyme: the repetition of sounds at the end of words
9. External Rhyme (End Rhyme): rhyming words at the ends of the lines
(Ex. “Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are”)
10. Internal Rhyme: rhyming words within lines
(Ex. “For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams”)
11. Exact Rhyme: words that sound exactly alike (Ex. floor/door)
12. Half Rhyme (Near Rhyme): words whose sounds are similar but not identical
(Ex. pans/hams)
13. Rhyme Scheme: a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem, indicated by lower
case letters; each rhyme sound is assigned a different letter (Ex. aabbcc or ababab)
14. Rhythm: a pattern of beats or stresses in spoken or written language
15. Repetition: the use, more than once, of an element of language like a sound, a word,
a phrase, a line, or a sentence
16. Onomatopoeia: the use of words that imitate sounds (Ex. buzz, hiss, jingle, etc.)
17. Stanza: a formal division of lines in a poem
prose:paragraph:sentence = poetry:stanza:line
18. Refrain: a regularly repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song
19. Alliteration: the repetition of beginning consonant sounds
(Ex. “The Sixth Sheik’s Sixth Sheep’s Sick.”)
20. Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds (Ex. “The fat cat sat on the black mat.”)
21. Literary Ballad: a song-like poem that tells a story, often dealing with adventure and
romance
22. Lyric Poem: a highly musical verse that expresses the observations and feelings of a
single speaker
23. Haiku: a three-line Japanese poem whose subject is nature; 5-7-5 syllables
24. Quatrain: a four-line stanza or poem that rhymes
25. Concrete: a poem with a shape that suggests its subject; the poet arranges the letters,
punctuation, and lines to create an image
26. Free Verse: poetry that has neither rhyme nor regular rhythm nor meter; poet is free
to use unusual spacing, little capitalization, or punctuation
Name _________________________________________
English 7A
Mini-Index of
Literary Elements