Literary Terms: A Review Sheet
Directions: Keep this list in a safe place. Many of terms we have already explored this year. Additionally, you may be familiar with
the terms from prior years. We will continue to add to and build upon this list as the year goes on – hence the blank spaces below!
Literary Element Definition
(parts of a story)
Theme
Characterization
Point of View
A universal message about life, the world, society, or
human nature in a literary work.
The way in which the author develops a character
S ays
T hinks
E effects on others
A acts
L ooks
The perspective from which a story is told
TYPES:
1st Person: narrator is inside the story and is telling it
From his/her perspective telling the story
Person Subjective: narrator is outside the story and
acts only as a reporter
rd
3 Person Limited: narrator is outside the story telling
the events and knows the thoughts and
feelings of only 1 character.
rd
3 Person Omniscient: narrator is outside the story
Telling the events and knows the thoughts and
feelings of at least 2 characters.
The entire story (beginning, middle, end)
-- the sequence of events that take place in a story
The time, place, and social context (condition) in which
events occur in a story
A struggle between opposing forces that acts as the energy
in a literary work
3rd
Plot
Setting
Conflict
Example
Climax
Rising Action
Duration
The turning point in a story
The sequence of events that lead to the climax
The length of time through which the story occurs
Literary Device/ Definition
Technique
(tools author uses
to create meaning)
tone
mood
motif
symbolism
allusion
foreshadowing
imagery/sensory
imagery
allegory
flashback
irony
repetition
dues ex machina
The attitude an author shows towards his or her subject
The atmosphere or feeling created in the reader from a
literary work
A recurring pattern, idea, or image
The use of an object to represent abstract ideas
A brief reference to a literary work, religious or historical
event …
A hint of what is to come later in the story
Use of vivid descriptive language that appeals to the five
senses.
An extended metaphor;
The entire work means something else
Interrupts the sequence of the story to relate an earlier
event, conversation, or scene.
When a situation or event occurs that is the opposite of
what is expected
Recurring words, phrases, or ideas to create emphasis
Latin term meaning “god out of machine”
 creates an unexpected ending and usually
annoys reader
Example
metaphor
simile
personification
descriptive
language
Dialogue
allegory
The comparison of unlike things using the verb “to be”
The comparison of unlike things using “like” or “as”
Giving human qualities to an inanimate (not human)
object
Language that creates a event, character, or a scene.
Conversation between two or more characters
symbolic work: a work in which the characters and
events are to be understood as representing other
things and symbolically expressing a deeper, often
spiritual, moral, or political meaning