Literary Terms
abstract/concrete
ad hominem
allegory
alliteration
allusion
ambiguity
anachronism
analogy
anecdote
antagonist
anticlimax
antithesis
antonym
aphorism
apostrophe
archetype
aside
assonance
atmosphere
autobiography
ballad
bibliography
biography
blank verse
burlesque
caesura
caricature
catastrophe
catharsis
character
dynamic
flat
round
static
stock
classicism
cliche
climax
coherence
colloquial
comic relief
conceit
conflict (types)
man vs.____(etc.)
connotation
consonance
controlling image
convention
couplet
crisis
deductive reasoning
denotation
denouement
description
deus ex machina
dialect
dialogue
diary
diction
didactic
dirge
drama
dramatic monologue
editorial
elegy
epic
epigram
epilogue
epithet
essay
eulogy
euphemism
euphony
exposition
expository
fable
fairy tale
farce
figurative language
figures of speech
flashback
foil
folklore
foot
foreshadowing
free verse
genre
haiku
hamartia
hero
hubris
hyperbole
iambic pentameter
idiom
imagery
inductive reasoning
in media res
interior monologue
interlude
inversion
irony (types)
verbal
situational
dramatic
jargon
juxtaposition
literal language
local color
lyric poetry
melodrama
memoir
metaphor
meter
metonymy
monologue
mood
motif
myth
narrative
narrator (types)
naturalism
nom de plume
novel
novella
objective/subjective
ode
onomatopoeia
oration
overstatement
oxymoron
parable
paradox
parallelism
paraphrase
parody
pastoral
pathos
persona
personification
picaresque
plagiarism
plot
poem
poetry
point of view
post hoc reasoning
preface
prologue
prose
protagonist
pseudonym
pun
quatrain
realism
redundant
refrain
regionalism
renaissance
repetition
requiem
resolution
rhetorical question
rhyme
end
external
feminine
internal
masculine
rhyme scheme
rhythm
rising action
romance
romantic
romanticism
saga
sarcasm
satire(types)
scenario
scene
science fiction
sentimentality
sentence (types)
simple
compound
complex
compound-complex
sentence (mood)
declarative
interrogative
imperative
exclamatory
sentence (rhetorical types)
loose
balanced
antithetical
periodic
inverted
natural order
sentence (voice)
active
passive
setting
short story
simile
slang
Socratic
soliloquy
song
sonnet
speaker
spoonerism
stanza
stream of
consciousness
structure
style
subordination
subplot
surrealism
syllogism
symbol
symbolism
synecdoche
synonym
synopsis
syntax
tale
tall tale
theme
thesis
title
tone
tragedy
tragic flaw
transcendentalism
turning point
understatement
unity
universality
usage
utilitarian
verisimilitude
verse
villain
voice (tone)
whimsical
wit
Abstract(/Concrete): General and imprecise in meaning, as opposed to concrete, which has
an exact meaning or example. Abstract words are typically connotative, while concrete
words are typically denotative. Ex: “Learning” is an abstract word, while “college” is
concrete.
Ad hominem: Not based on facts, but rather on emotion, in the sense of an attack. Also,
ad hominem can pertain to an attack on character. Ex: Many Democrats claimed that the
Monica Lewinski scandal was a Republican ad hominem attack on Bill Clinton.
Allegory: A story with a second meaning beneath the surface one. The Wizard of Oz is an
American political allegory. Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is a famous religious
allegory.
Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
of pickled peppers.
Ex: Peter Piper picked a peck
Allusion: A reference to something in previous literature or history. The Grapes of Wrath
title is an allusion to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” song and to a passage in the
Bible.
Ambiguity: The state of having more than one meaning, or it can be an ambiguous
expression. Ex: Ace and Gary on Saturday Night Live, or the multiple meanings of the
scarlet letter.
Anachronism: Something out of place in time. Ex: In History of the World: Part I, Mel
Brooks uses multiple anachronisms, such as Da Vinci’s presence at the Last Supper.
Analogy: A form of comparison that uses something familiar to explain something
unfamiliar; often concrete examples are used to explain abstract ideas.
Anecdote: A brief story about an interesting, amusing or strange event, often used as an
example or support element in an essay
Antagonist: The protagonist’s enemy, or the villain of a work.
Voldemort is the antagonist.
Ex: In Harry Potter, Lord
Anticlimax: Following an eventful event with an uneventful one. Ex: One of the chief
devices of The Sopranos is anticlimax. One moment, Tony is beating up a man who owes him
money, and the next, he is at home feeding a family of ducks which are living in his
swimming pool.
Antithesis: A contrast of two concepts by placing them parallel to each other in a
sentence.
In an argument, the antithesis is the opposite viewpoint of an essay’s
thesis.
Ex: Used often in politics. In George W. Bush’s acceptance speech for
Republican nomination for the presidency in 2000, he bashed the Clinton administration by
saying, “They have not led; we will!”
Antonym: A word opposite in meaning to another word.
ugly
Ex:
Beautiful is the opposite of
Aphorism: A short, witty statement used to reveal a truth about human nature. “Early to
bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” or “Fish and visitors smell in
three days.” Fulfills the 18th century literary motto of “to delight and to instruct.”
Apostrophe: A figure of speech in which something abstract or someone absent or dead is
addressed or something nonhuman is referred to as if it were living. Ex: “Death! Be not
proud, or “Tiger, Tiger, burning bright,/In the forest of the night/What immortal hand or
eye/Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Archetype: An original model or type that serves as a pattern. For example, some say
Huckleberry Finn is the archetype for Salinger’s Holden Caulfield.
Aside:
A line a character says in a play that the other characters on stage are not
supposed to hear. Ex: The stage manager in “Our Town” has a lot of asides. Shakespeare
used the technique as a a way to convey a character’s thoughts, similar to interior
monologue.
Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds. Ex: “the mountain at a given distance”, the
“i” sound is repeated in the words “given” and “distance”
Atmosphere: The dominant tone or mood in a work. Ex: The atmosphere in most of Edgar
Allen Poe’s works is dark and gloomy.
Autobiography: The biography of a person written by himself.
The Autobiography.
Ex: Benjamin Franklin’s
Ballad: A poem or song narrative.
Bibliography: A list of sources used to acquire inormation or used in writing a research
paper.
Biography: A written account of a person’s life. Ex: Abe Lincoln Grows Up by Carl
Sandburg
Blank Verse: Unrhyming poem, usually in iambic pentameter.
Ex: Shakespeare’s writing
Burlesque: a form of satire in which a genre or literary work is mocked or made to
appear ridiculous, often foregoing criticism typical of satire for pure comic or
entertainment value. For example: Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail burlesques
the Arthurian legend.
Caesura: A break or pause in a line of a poem.
while I wondered weak and weary...”
Ex: “Once upon a midnight dreary (pause)
Caricature: A portrait of someone or somthing in which the subject’s features are grossly
exaggerated or distorted with the intent to ridicule.
Catharsis: A release of emotions or tensions usually at the end of a tragedy
Character
Dynamic character: a character who undergoes a permanent change
Flat character: A character who can be summed up in one or two traits
Round character: A complex, multi-dimensional character
Static character: A character who is the same at the end of a story
Stock character: A character who is a stereotype and is easily recognizable by
appearance, behavior or
dress
Classicism: A use of the culture, art, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome as a
model for literature–characterized by form, simplicity, and restrained emotion.
Cliche: An overused expression.
Ex: “Been there, done that” or “A picture is worth a
thousand words”
Climax: The most exciting or highest point in a movie or story.
out her cancer is out of remission in A Walk to Remember.
Ex: When the girl finds
Coherence: The tight relationship between all parts of an effective piece of writing.
Colloquial:
Conversational or informal writing or speaking.
Comic relief: Humor in the midst of serious or tragic literature.
Conceit: An elaborate metaphor usually extended through a poem
Conflict:
man vs. man: Ex: wrestling
man vs. himself: Ex: “The Shining” and “Castaway”
man vs. nature: Ex: “Castaway’
Connotation: The abstract, emotional or suggested meaning of a word
Consonance: repetition of similar consonant sounds. Ex: Jake jumped over Judy’s jump
rope.
Controlling Image: In poetry, the image of description the author refers back to to keep
in the reader’s mind; similar to dominant impression in writing.
Convention: A widely used or accepted technique in art, drama or literature
Couplet: Two lines in a poem that either rhyme or have the same meter. Ex. “he jests at
scars, but never felt a wound.”
Crisis: The conflict or problem in a story.
It is the turning point of the action flow.
Deductive reasoning: A method of reasoning that moves from a general premise to a
specific conclusion; opposite of inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is what we
call logic and what Sherlock Holmes uses to solve crimes. Ex: All your green apples have
been sour. Without tasting it, you infer that the next green apple you choose will be
sour. The basic form of a deductive argument is the syllogism.
Denotation: The dictionary definition of a word, its literal or concrete meaning
Denouement: The solution to the conflict in a story.
Description: a rhetorical mode that uses imagery and details that appeal to the senses
(taste, touch, smell, sight, sound) to create a word picture of something, somebody, or
some idea. An objective description is a neutral, factual description in precise,
concrete language. A subjective description reflects the writer’s attitude or judgement
about the subject being described.
Deus ex machina: An unexpected event, character or device that untangles a plot or “saves
the day, ” a miracle.
Dialect: A form of a language spoken by people in a particular group or region
Dialogue: Conversation between characters in a work of literature
Diary: Daily record of personal experiences
Diction: A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words.
Didactic: Intended to instruct or teach
Dirge: Funeral hymn
Drama: Theatrical presentation; events involving conflicting forces
Dramatic Monologue: Poem or speech in which an imaginary character speaks to a silent
listener
Editorial: Article expressing the opinions of an editor or columnist
Elegy: Literature or speech in honor of someone who has died.
Epic: A work of literature on a national or international scale usually written in
elevated or dignified language. Ex: The Odyssey or The Iliad
Epigram: An aphorism in verse, usually a couplet.
us/To see ourselves as others see us.
O would the power, the gift to give
Epilogue: A short addition at the end of a work of literature, sometimes dealing with the
future of its characters.
Epithet: A term used to characterize a person or thing–often an abusive or contemptutous
term
Essay: A short work of nonfiction writing
Eulogy: A speech or written tribute used to praise
Euphemism: A polite term for an unpleasant concept.
Euphony: Pleasing to the ear
Example: “passed away” for “dead.”
Exposition (Expository): Writing or speech that explains, informs, or presents
information
Fable: A story, usually with a moral, that uses animals as characters
Fairy tale: A fanciful story of legendary characters and creatures, usually intended for
children.
Farce: A type of dramatic comedy characterized by improbable situations and physical
comedy
Figurative language: Imaginative anguage use characterized by figures of speech such as
similes and metaphors; saying one thing but meaning another.
Figures of Speech: Distinct forms of figurative language. Ex: simile, metaphor,
personification, imagery, conceit, paradox, apostrophe, etc.
Flashback: A section of a literary work that interrupts the chronological presentation of
events to relate.
Foil: A character in literature or person who is the opposite in character or viewpoint.
Dr. Evil is the foil of Austin Powers (similar to antagonist)
Folklore: Any aspect of a culture’s crafts, customs, rituals, dialect, and literature
passed orally from generation to generation. Folk literature is called the oral
tradition.
Foot: A unit of meter consisting of an accented and unaccented syllable
Examples are:
iamb: again
trochee: pity
anapest: intercept
dactyl: desperate
spondee: barroom
Foreshadowing: Indicate in advance
Free Verse: Verse without ryhme or regular meter or regular line length Walt Whitman, the
Imagists, and the Beat Generation poets wrote in free verse as well as most 20th century
poets.
Genre: A type of literature.
etc.
Ex: short story, romance, detective story, mystery, novel,
Haiku: Japanese unryhmed poem of three lines
Hamartia: Tragic flaw or error of judgement
Hero: The major figure in a story or drama. In traditional usage hero implies courage or
valor, but in modern usage hero can describe a character who lacls these characteristics.
Protagonist is a neutral term for the major figure in a literary work. Anti-hero is
often used for a major figure who lacks “heroic” qualities.
Hubris: Excessive pride, arrogance
Hyperbole: exaggeration often to a comic effect
Iambic Pentameter: A line of poetry with five iambic feet, each containing one unstressed
syllable followed by one stressed syllable. The most popular meter in English poetry.
Idiom: A regional speech or dialect or a specialized vocabulary used by a group of people
(jargon); abbreviated language; everyday, colloquial language.
Imagery: descriptive and figurative language which creates word pictures for the reader
Inductive reasoning: A form of reasoning in which one moves from specific facts to a
conclusion or generalization. For example: I taste 30 green apples, each are sour, and I
conclude: green apples are sour based on the evidence. Inductive reasoning is scientific
reasoning. You start with the specific and build to a general conclusion. Deductive
starts with the general and uses it to explain the specific.
In media res: starts in the middle
Interior Monologue: A fictional presentation of unspoken thoughts
Inversion: A reversal of sequence or position.
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty…”
Irony: A difference in what is said or written and what is intended. Its “verbal” form
is saying one thing but meaning another
Verbal Irony (sarcasm): Saying something contrary to what it means.
Situational Irony: Events turning out to be the opposite of what is expected
Dramatic irony: Where the reader or audience knows something a character doesn’t know
Jargon: A specific vocabulary of a job or profession or group. Sometimes the term has a
negative connotation if jargon is used to confuse, trick or exclude people.
Juxtaposition: To put side by side; often when two images or ideas are put side by side
which have no apparent or only an implied connection.
Lampoon: In a satire, the use of ridicule to attack persons, groups, institutions and
ideas
Literal language: A precise and exact use of language, often with concrete diction
Local color: a form of writing that conveys the dress, landscape, customs, and dialects
of a particular place
Lyric poetry: poetry of emotion
Melodrama: drama that employs a heavy use of suspense, sensational plot events,
exaggerated emotion, and often a happy ending, e.g. The OC
Memoir: A form of autobiography based on the experiences of the author in the context of
public or historical events in which he or she participated.
Metaphor: A direct comparison between two unlike things without using “as” or “like.”
Ex: Life is a dream.
Meter: A regularly occuring sound pattern in poetry. The number of feet (if regular)
characterizes a line as monometer (one foot), dimeter (two feet), trimeter (three feet),
tetrameter (four feet), pentameter (five feet), etc.
Metonymy: A figure of speech, a form of metaphor, in which a word is used to apply to
something associated with it. For example: Referring to construction workers as “hard
hats” or “I’ve read all of Shakespeare” or “He drank the whole bottle” in which bottle
substitutes for the liquid inside the bottle. “The White House said…”
Monologue:
A long speech made by one person
Mood: The overall atmosphere or feeling created in the reader by a literary work or
passage.
Motif: A dominant or a repeated theme element in a literary work
Narrative: A story
Narrator: Someone who tells a story
Naturalism: a literary philosophy that emphasizes man’s insignificance and inability to
affect his fate in an uncaring or unfriendly universe
Nom de Plume: a pseudonym adopted by a writer
Novel: a long work of fiction
Novella: a short novel
Objective: plain or direct treatment of a subject without showing emotion or judgement.
Journalism and science writing strive for objectivity. Subjective: emotional or
imaginative treatment of a subject with judgement. First person address is subjective
writing.
Ode: A long, formal lyric poem with a serious theme rthat may have a traditional stanza
structure
Onamatopoeia: use of words that imitate sounds.
Ex: snap, crackle and pop
Parable: a story with a religious or moral message.
Oration:
Ex: “The Prodigal Son”
a formal address or speech, such as President Bush’s State of the Union Address
Overstatement: Exaggeration (hyperbole) to emphasize a point.
frying that chicken for me.
Oxymoron:
visible).
Ex: You are a saint for
contradictory terms are combined (such as a deafening silence or darkness
Basically, a two word paradox.
Paradox: A seemingly illogical statement in a literal sense that is nevertheless true or
logical in a figurative sense. Ex: Less is more.
Parallelism: the use of similar grammatical elements in a sentence or sentences.
Parallel structure is an important feature of good syntax. For example: “My favorite
activities are fishing, camping, hiking and the Boston Red Sox.” The previous sentence
lacks parallel structure (correction would be “rooting for the Boston…”;parallel
structure of -ing words is achieved.
Paraphrase: to restate a text in another form, to clarify the meaning, or to make
shorter. Basically, to put in your own words.
Parody: a form of satire achieved by imitating a literary work or artistic creation.
Pastoral: A literary work that idealizes country and rural life
Pathos: an attitude or tone of sympathy, tenderness or sorrow; in rhetoric, pathos is an
emotional appeal to the readers that supplements the ethos (appeal to the readers’
ethics) and logos (appeal to the readers’ logic).
Persona: the role, attitude, personality
purpose
a writer assumes in order to achieve a literary
Personification: The giving of human attributes to things not human.
clock
Ex: The face of the
Picaresque: A long narrative or novel involving clever rogues or rollicking adventures;
often the plot structure is based on the journey motif. The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn is an example.
Plagiarism:
Plot:
To steal and use ideas or writing as one’s own
The design and ordering of events in a literary work.
Poem: A composition in lines and stanzas usually employing a principle of meter
designed to convey a vivid and imaginative sense of experience.
Poetry: a form of composition that employs a principle of meter, written in lines and
stanzas; verse is another term for poetry.
Point of View: (sometimes referred to as narrator), point of view is the rhetorical
perspective that a narrator or speaker takes in a narrative or essay. One could identify
the point of view as objective, subjective, first person, second person, third person,
omniscient, limited omniscient, unlimited, stream of consciousness, etc.
Post hoc reasoning: a logical fallacy that assumes if two events occur in sequence, the
first event caused the second. For example, if a tree falls after a storm, the storm
caused the tree to fall. The tree could have been damaged earlier, partially sawed by
loggers, etc.
Preface: An introductory essay or paragraph from an author or critic that intoduces a
literary work.
Prologue:
An introduction to a literary work
Prose: The ordinary written form of language that is organized, usually, in paragraphs.
Its forms are fiction and nonfiction.
Protagonist: the main figure (character)
Pseudonym: fake author name.
in a literary work.
The pseudonym of Mary Anne Lewes is George Eliot.
Pun: a play on words often using irony or ambiguity.
Ex: A hair salon is named “Sheer
Happiness” or “A Cut Above”
Quatrain: a stanza of four lines.
Realism: a literary philosophy that emphasizes ordinary people in ordinary
circumstances, truth no matter where it leads and a scientific, objective portrayal of
life. Life as most people live it and know it.
Redundant: unnecessary repetition
Refrain: a passage that is repeated at various points in a poem or song.
Regionalism: Another term for local color writing.
Renaissance: a rebirth, often used to characterize a literary or artistic movement (i.e.
Harlem Renaissance)
Repetition: A technique in poetry and prose in which elements are purposely repeated,
usually for emphasis of a theme or thesis or to create a dramatic effect. If done
poorly, the repeated element might be redundant.
Resolution: The outcome of the plot or a conflict in a literary work.
Rhetorical question: A interrogative sentence that needs no answer because the answer is
either obvious or not needed or ambiguous. The author uses it for rhetorical effect as
emphasis or as a call to action. Ex: How many students must suffer before the unfair
tardy policy is changed?
Rhyme: duplication of sounds usually at the end (end rhyme)of a line of verse.
Masculine: rhyme falls on the last syllable in the words (include/intrude)
Feminine: rhyme falls on the penultimate (next to last) syllable (baby/maybe)
Internal: rhyming of words within one line of poetry
Rhyme Scheme:
letters
The arrangement of rhymes in a poem or stanza indicated by alphabet
Rhythm: the modulation of weak and strong (or stressed and unstressed) elements in the
flow of speech, poetry or prose.
Rising Action: the second of five parts of plot structure, in which events complicate
the situation that existed at the beginning of a work, intensifying the conflict or
introducing new conflict.
Romance: A medieval narrative in prose or verse telling of adventures of chivalric
heroes (knights and castles and such)
Romantic: Of, pertaining to, or characteristics of romance or chivalry behavior.
usage of the word associates it with love and courtship.
Modern
Romanticism: a literary philosophy that emphasizes love of nature; focus on self, the
individual; use of the supernatural, the mysterious or the gothic; use of the past; and
idealism.
Saga: A prose narrative of the 12th and 13th centuries recounting historical and
legendary events and exploits in Iceland or Norway. Modern meaning: a long narrative of
a family’s fortunes over a number of generations. Ex: the African-American TV miniseries
Roots.
Sarcasm:
A mocking or an ironic remark
Satire: a genre of literature that criticizes with humor or ridicule.
Scenario:
Scene:
An outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
The place where action occurs or the subdivision of an act in drama
Science fiction: a type of fictional writing based on future possibilities derived from
scientific discoveries.
Sentimentality: excessive emotion in a literary work
Sentence types:
Simple sentence: a sentence having no coordinate or subordinate clauses, a subject and a
verb.
Compound sentence: A sentence of two or more coordinate independent clauses, often
joined by a conjunction
Complex sentence: A sentence with an independent clause and a dependent clause
Compound-complex sentence: A sentence with two coordinate independent clauses and one or
more dependent clauses
Sentence Moods:
Declarative sentence: sentence that states an idea
Interrogative sentence: sentence that asks a question
Imperative sentence: sentence expressing a command
Exclamatory sentence: sentence expressing an emotion
Sentence (Rhetorical types):
A loose sentence makes complete sense if brought to a close beforethe actual ending,
e.g., We reached Edmonton/ that morning/after a turbuent flight/ and some exciting
experiences.
In a balanced sentence, the phrases or clauses balance each other byvirtueof their
likeness or structure, meaning, and/or length, e.g., He maketh me lie down in green
pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
An antithetical sentence is a sentence that contains a contrast. Ex: “Give me liberty or
give me death.” and, “You can sink or swim”
A periodic sentence makes sense only when the end of the sentence is reached, e.g., That
morning, after a turbulent flight and some exciting experiences, we reached Edmonton.
Inverted order of a sentence involves constructing a sentence so the predicate comes
before the subject, e.g., In California grow oranges.
Sentence inversion is a device in which normal sentence patterns are reversed to creat an
emphatic or rhythmic effect. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.…”
Split order of a sentence divides the predicate into two parts with the subject coming in
the middle, e.g., In California oranges grow.
Natural order of a sentence involves constructing a sentence so the subject comes before
the predicate, e.g., Oranges grow in California.
Sentences (voice):
Active voice sentence indicates that the subject is doing something. Ex: “I shall
always remember my first trip to Boston.”
Passive voice sentence indicates that the subject is acted upon. Ex: My first trip to
Boston will always be remembered by me.”
Setting: The time and place of a literary work which also implies the social, political
and historical context of the work.
Short story: a fictional narrative.
Simile: A comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as.”
of chocolates or It’s as cold as a welldigger’s…
Ex: Life is like a box
Slang: a nonstandard vocabulary of a culture or subculture often characterized by figures
of speech
Socratic: The use of questions to generate discussion or research in order to learn about
something.
Soliloquy: a dramatric monologue in which the character appears to be thinking out loud,
communicating inner thoughts and feelings to the audience. An aside is a brief remark to
the audience directly; in fiction the interior monologue is the same thing.
Song: Poetry or verse; usually written for musical purposes.
Sonnet: A fourteen-line lyric focused on a single theme with a set rhyme scheme.
may have variations, but they are usually written in iambic pantameter.
They
Speaker: The speaker is the voice of a poem. The speaker is often the poet, but the
speaker may also be a fictional character or even an inanimate obect or another type of
nonhuman entity. Interpretation of the poem usually depends on the recognition of
characteristics of the speaker.
Spoonerism: An unintentional transportation of sounds of two or more words, as in “ let
me sew you to your seat,” for “let me show you to your seat.”
Stanza: A group of lines in a poem that are considered to be a unit. They often function
just like paragraphs in prose. Each one states and develops a single main idea.
Stream of consciousness: a literary technique in which the author continuously records
in first person narration a person’s thoughts and feelings
Structure: the way the parts of poetry, novels etc. are arramged or put together to form
a whole
Style: the way in which something is said or written
Subordination: use of a dependant clause(s) in a sentence, paragraph, essay
Subplot: a subordinate literary plot, a motif
Surrealism: an artistic philosophy that emphasizes dreams, the subconscious, the absurb,
and fantastic imagery
Syllogism: a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise
and a conclusion. All green apples are sour. This apple is green; therefore, this apple
is sour.
Symbol: something that represents something else by association, resemblance or
convention
Symbolism: Using one thing to represent another. Attributing symbolic meanings or
significance to objects, events or relationships. A dove symbolize peace.
Synecdoche: A more inclusive term is used for a less inclusive term or vice versa (a part
represents the whole or vice versa) An example is “head” for cattle or “law” for
policeman.
Synonym: A word that has a similar meaning to another word in the same language.
Synopsis: A brief statement or outline of a subject. A general view or summary.
Syntax: The way words are put together to form phrases and sentences.
Tale- a narrativive
Tall tale- Stories with events based around real situations but truth is streched often
by the use of hyperbole, overstatement and understatement.
Theme:
Thesis:
an underlying truth or pattern of meaning in a literary work
the controlling idea in an essay, explicit or implied
Title: An identifying name given to a work of art.
Tone: A writer’s attitude towards their subject or audience. Point of view, narrative
style, diction and even syntax help determine the tone or personality of the author.
Tragedy: A work describing a struggle between characters, ending in disaster.
Tragic Flaw: trait of the main character that leads to his or her downfall. (In The
Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s tragic flaw was his love of Daisy.) Hamartia.
Transcendentalism: a form of romanticism that emphasizes intuition and nature as an
agent of achieving a greater spiritual perception of the world. Originated by Ralph
Waldo Emerson and demonstrated by Henry David Thoreau
Turning Point: a decisive moment in a story; point where a very important change occurs.
Understatement: statement that is an intentional underestimate, makes an important
subject seem unimportant, opposite of hyperbole.
Unity: the concept that a literary work is cohesive, complete, and revolves around a
central theme.
Universality: when a theme or an idea in a story or poem applies to all generations. (The
concept of love in Romeo and Juliet.)
Usage: The actual or expressed way in which people write or speeak.
is the author’s word choice, diction.
An example of this
Utilitarian: Stressing the value of practical over aesthetic values.
for the greatest number of people
The greatest good
Verse: Writing arranged according to a metrical pattern This is often light, whimsical
poetry very distanr from serious poetry. An example is an actual piece of poetry
written in blank or free verse.
Villain: A wicked or evil person, a scoundrel.
Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter.
An example of this term is Roger
Voice(tone): The atttitude portrayed to the reader by certain words or phrases the author
writes. An example of this term is the suspenseful or scary tone found in a horror
movie.
Whimsical: A playful, or fanciful form of poetry or diction.
flowing, playful form in poetry.
An example is the free-
Verisimilitude: the quality or appearance of being true or real, the quality of realism
in a work.
Wit:
A quality of cleverness in written or spoken expression.