Terms : Hide Images
| 3707468346 | abstraction | a concept or value that cannot be seen (love, honor, courage, death) which the author usually trues to illustrate by comparing it metaphorically to a known, concrete object | 0 | |
| 3707468347 | allegory | A narrative in which characters and settings stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities | 1 | |
| 3707469742 | alliteration | It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series. | 2 | |
| 3707469743 | allusion | A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. | 3 | |
| 3707470768 | ambiguity | When an author leaves out details/information or is unclear about an event so the reader will use his/her imagination to fill in the blanks | 4 | |
| 3707472022 | anaphora | A rhetorical figure of repetition in which the same word or phrase is repeated in (and usually at the beginning of) successive lines, clauses, or sentences. | 5 | |
| 3707472023 | antagonist | A character or force in conflict with the main character | 6 | |
| 3707472024 | aphorism | A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life. | 7 | |
| 3707474001 | apostrophe | A figure of speech that directly addresses an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, such as liberty or love. | 8 | |
| 3707474002 | aside | A device in which a character in a drama makes a short speech which is heard by the audience but not by other characters in the play | 9 | |
| 3707474003 | assonance | Repetition of a vowel sound within two or more words in close proximity | 10 | |
| 3707475520 | ballad | A narrative poem written in four-line stanzas, characterized by swift action and narrated in a direct style. A long poem in verse form that tells a story. | 11 | |
| 3707477321 | bildungsroman | A coming of age story; a type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist. | 12 | |
| 3707479681 | blank verse | Unrhymed iambic pentameter | 13 | |
| 3707479682 | cacophony | A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds | 14 | |
| 3707481964 | caesura | A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line. | 15 | |
| 3707483275 | canon | Works generally considered by scholars, critics and teachers to be the most important to study or read, which collectively constitute the "masterpieces" or "classics" of literature. | 16 | |
| 3707483276 | characterization | Actions, dialogue, and narrative description that reveal a sense of a character's personality to the reader. | 17 | |
| 3707484825 | climax | That point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest; usually the point at which the conflict is resolved | 18 | |
| 3707484826 | comic relief | An amusing scene, incident, or speech introduced into serious or tragic elements, as in a play, in order to provide temporary relief from tension, or to intensify the dramatic action. | 19 | |
| 3707486202 | conceit | A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. | 20 | |
| 3707486203 | connotation | All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests | 21 | |
| 3707488098 | convention | Conforming to accepted standards | 22 | |
| 3707490545 | consonance | Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity. | 23 | |
| 3707891725 | cosmic irony | Type of irony where it seems that God or fate is manipulating events so as to inspire false hopes, which are inevitably dashed. | 24 | |
| 3707490546 | couplet | A pair of rhymed lines that may or may not constitute a separate stanza in a poem. | 25 | |
| 3707491623 | dissonance | a harsh and disagreeable combination, especially of sounds | 26 | |
| 3707493446 | Deus ex machina | an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially as a contrived plot device in a play or novel | 27 | |
| 3707493447 | dialect | A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. | 28 | |
| 3707493448 | diction | A writer's or speaker's choice of words | 29 | |
| 3707494894 | denoument | the resolution of the conflict in a story's plot; a final outcome | 30 | |
| 3707496704 | doppleganger | It means double-walker; it is often portrayed as an evil twin; a double or second self; a twin or a shadow of a protagonist; depicts conflict with the soul | 31 | |
| 3707894512 | dramatic irony | Irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. | 32 | |
| 3707496705 | dystopia | an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one | 33 | |
| 3707496706 | elegy | a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. | 34 | |
| 3707498031 | end rhyme | A word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line | 35 | |
| 3707498032 | enjambment | the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. | 36 | |
| 3707500026 | epic | A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society | 37 | |
| 3707500027 | epigram | A concise but ingenious, witty, and thoughtful statement. | 38 | |
| 3707502332 | epigraph | a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of the theme. | 39 | |
| 3707502333 | epilogue | short speech at conclusion of dramatic work | 40 | |
| 3707503554 | epiphany | A moment of sudden revelation or insight | 41 | |
| 3707503555 | epistolary | A novel depicted chiefly through letters; through correspondence | 42 | |
| 3707504720 | euphony | pleasant, harmonious sound | 43 | |
| 3707504721 | exposition | A narrative device, often used at the beginning of a work that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances. | 44 | |
| 3707504752 | fable | A brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters | 45 | |
| 3707507634 | falling action | Events after the climax, leading to the resolution | 46 | |
| 3707509074 | figurative language | Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative and vivid | 47 | |
| 3707509075 | flashback | A method of narration in which present action is temporarily interrupted so that the reader can witness past events | 48 | |
| 3707509076 | flat character | A character who embodies a single quality and who does not develop in the course of a story | 49 | |
| 3707510716 | foil | A character who is in most ways opposite to the main character (protagonist) or one who is nearly the same as the protagonist. The purpose of this type of character is to emphasize the traits of the main character by contrast only | 50 | |
| 3707510717 | folklore | oral tradition of a group; includes proverbs, prayers, common expressions, superstitions, beliefs, narrative tales, and legends | 51 | |
| 3707511751 | foot | A metrical unit composed of stressed and unstressed syllables. | 52 | |
| 3707513402 | iamb | a metrical foot consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable | 53 | |
| 3707513403 | frame tale | A narrative structure in which the external story exists solely to house the primary internal story | 54 | |
| 3707515047 | foreshadowing | A narrative device that hints at coming events; often builds suspense or anxiety in the reader. | 55 | |
| 3707516250 | genre | A category or type of literature (or of art, music, etc.) characterized by a particular form, style, or content. | 56 | |
| 3707516251 | haiku | A japanese form of poetry, consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables | 57 | |
| 3707517640 | heroic couplet | a couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentamenter and written in an elevated style | 58 | |
| 3707517641 | hubris | Excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy | 59 | |
| 3707520137 | hyperbole | A figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion, make a point, or evoke humor | 60 | |
| 3707520138 | idiom | A common, often used expression that doesn't make sense if you take it literally. | 61 | |
| 3707520139 | imagery | Description that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) | 62 | |
| 3707521831 | in medias res | A Latin term for a narrative that starts not at the beginning of events but at some other critical point. | 63 | |
| 3707522917 | internal rhyme | A word inside a line rhymes with another word on the same line | 64 | |
| 3707524202 | inversion | A reversal of the usual order of words. | 65 | |
| 3707524203 | irony | A contrast or discrepancy between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen. | 66 | |
| 3707524204 | memoir | an account of one's personal life or experiences | 67 | |
| 3707525340 | lyric verse | a shorter poem expressing an emotional state in a single, unified impression | 68 | |
| 3707525341 | metaphor | A comparison that establishes a figurative identity between objects being compared without using like or as | 69 | |
| 3707525342 | meter | A regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry | 70 | |
| 3707528048 | metonomy | A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated (such as "crown" for "royalty"). | 71 | |
| 3707529104 | microcosm | the world in miniature; a smaller world that represents a larger world or system | 72 | |
| 3707529105 | motif | A recurring theme, subject or idea | 73 | |
| 3707529106 | monologue | A long speech in a play or story, delivered by a single person, when other characters are present on stage | 74 | |
| 3707529107 | narrator | Person telling the story | 75 | |
| 3707532218 | near rhyme/slant rhyme/approximate rhyme | rhymes created using word with similar, but not identical, sounds | 76 | |
| 3707532219 | novella | a fiction work that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel | 77 | |
| 3707534716 | ode | A lyric poem usually marked by serious, respectful, and exalted feelings toward the subject. | 78 | |
| 3707534717 | onomatopoeia | A word that imitates the sound it represents. | 79 | |
| 3707534718 | paradox | A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. | 80 | |
| 3707535686 | parable | A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson | 81 | |
| 3707535687 | parallelism | The repetition of similar grammatical or syntactical patterns in a paragraph or series of sentences. | 82 | |
| 3707535688 | parody | A work that closely imitates the style or content of another with the specific aim of comic effect | 83 | |
| 3707537196 | pastoral | A poem set in tranquil nature or even more specifically, one about shepherds. | 84 | |
| 3707733764 | personification | A figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human feelings, thoughts, or attitudes | 85 | |
| 3707733765 | prologue | A speech, passage, or event coming before the play or novel | 86 | |
| 3707733766 | prose | written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure. | 87 | |
| 3707735138 | protagonist | Main character in a story | 88 | |
| 3707735139 | pun | A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. | 89 | |
| 3707735140 | quatrain | A four line stanza | 90 | |
| 3707736213 | quintet | 5 line stanza | 91 | |
| 3707736214 | refrain | A line or set of lines repeated several times over the course of a poem. | 92 | |
| 3707737980 | rhyme | Repetition of sounds at the end of words | 93 | |
| 3707737981 | rhyme scheme | A regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem | 94 | |
| 3707739981 | rising action | A series of events that builds from the conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends with the climax. | 95 | |
| 3707739982 | round character | A character who demonstrates some complexity and who develops or changes in the course of a work | 96 | |
| 3707741899 | satire | A literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies. | 97 | |
| 3707741900 | septet | 7 line stanza | 98 | |
| 3707743524 | sestet | 6 line stanza | 99 | |
| 3707743546 | setting | The context in time and place in which the action of a story occurs. | 100 | |
| 3707745598 | short story | A brief work of fiction that can be read in one sitting | 101 | |
| 3707745599 | simile | A comparison of two things using like or as | 102 | |
| 3707745600 | slang | A type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people | 103 | |
| 3707746904 | soliloquy | A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character alone on stage | 104 | |
| 3707746905 | sonnet | 14 line poem in iambic pentameter | 105 | |
| 3707746906 | stanza | A fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem | 106 | |
| 3707748570 | static character | A character that does not change from the beginning of the story to the end | 107 | |
| 3707748571 | stock character | A character type that appears repeatedly in a particular literary genre, one which has certain conventional attributes or attitudes, such as the witch, the damsel in distress, etc. | 108 | |
| 3707748572 | style | The author's choices regarding language, sentence structure, voice, and tone in order to communicate with the reader. | 109 | |
| 3707748573 | symbolism | A person, place or object which has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well | 110 | |
| 3707750359 | synechdoche | A figure of speech in which a part of something us used to represent the whole, or occasionally, the whole is used to represent a part. Examples: To refer to a boat as a "sail"; to refer to a car as "wheels"; to refer to the violins, violas, etc. in an orchestra as "the strings". | 111 | |
| 3707750360 | synesthesia | When one kind of sensory stimulus the subjective experience of another. Ex: The sight of the red ants makes you itchy. In literature, __________ refers to the practice of associating two or more different senses in te same image. Red Hot Chili Pepper's song title,"Taste the Pain" is an example. | 112 | |
| 3707751532 | syntax | Language rules that govern how words can be combined to form meaningful phrases and sentences | 113 | |
| 3707751533 | theme | A message about life or human nature that the writer shares with the reader. | 114 | |
| 3707752813 | tragedy | A dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction. | 115 | |
| 3707752814 | tragic flaw | A weakness or limitation of character, resulting in the fall of the tragic hero. | 116 | |
| 3707752815 | tone | A writer's attitude toward his or her subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization on the sentence and global levels. | 117 | |
| 3707754283 | verisimilitude | the appearance of being true or real | 118 | |
| 3707897705 | verbal irony | A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant | 119 | |
| 3707755758 | villanelle | A 19 line form using only two rhymes and repeating two of the lines according to a set pattern | 120 |
