Literary terms from 1st and 2nd semester of my IB English HL class.
Terms : Hide Images
| 161252742 | Tragedy | a serious work, usually a play, in which the main character experiences defeat, brought about by a tragic flaw | |
| 161252743 | Tragic Hero | the main character in a tragedy; in order to fit the definition, the hero must have a tragic flaw, which causes his or her downfall | |
| 161260414 | Allegory | a story in which the characters, setting, and events stand for abstract or moral concepts | |
| 161260415 | Aside | private words that a character in a play speaks to the audience or to another character and that are not supposed to be overheard by others onstage | |
| 161260416 | connotation | all of the meanings, associations, or emotions a word suggests | |
| 161260417 | Denotation | literal definition of a word | |
| 161260418 | Diction | the language style of the writer, choice of words | |
| 161260419 | Dramatic Irony | When the reader knows something the character does not | |
| 161260420 | Epic | a narrative poem that contains a larger than life hero who embodies the values of a particular society | |
| 161260421 | Ethos | Persuasion by credentials. Establishes credibility with the speaker | |
| 161260422 | Foil | a character who sets off another character by strong contrast | |
| 161260423 | Imagery | language that appeals to the senses | |
| 161260424 | Irony | the contrast between expectation and reality | |
| 161260425 | Logos | appeal by logic and reason. Using evidence to support the answer and lead to a conclusion | |
| 161260426 | Motif | person, place, thing, or idea that recurs throughout a work | |
| 161260427 | Paradox | an apparent contradiction that on closer inspection is actually true | |
| 161260428 | Pathos | Persuasion by appeal to Emotion. or interests to arouse sympathy and gain support for an argument | |
| 161260429 | Rhetoric | principals of writing: effectively, eloquently, and persuasively | |
| 161260430 | Rhetorical appeals | persuasive devices by which a writer tries to sway an audience's response to a work | |
| 161260431 | Sarcasm | a kind of particular cutting irony, in which praise is used taunting to indicate its opposite in meaning | |
| 161260432 | Satire | a kind of writing that ridicules human weakness, vice, or folly to bring about social reform | |
| 161260433 | situational irony | when what occurs is different from what is expected to occur | |
| 161260434 | Soliloquy | a long speech in which a character who is usually alone onstage expresses his or her private thoughts or interests | |
| 161260435 | Theme | the central Idea within a story | |
| 161260436 | fiction | literature based on the imagination | |
| 161260437 | short stroy | a tale meant to be read in one sitting | |
| 161260438 | novel | a longer work of fiction | |
| 161260439 | non-fiction | writing based upon fact -- essay, speech, biography | |
| 161260440 | theme | author's central message or insight about life | |
| 161260441 | plot | story line; series of related events | |
| 161260442 | exposition | background information given at the beginning of a story; introduces characters and setting | |
| 161260443 | complication | the onset and development of the major conflict | |
| 161260444 | rising action | events leading to the climax | |
| 161260445 | Crisis/Boiling Point | part of the action where the conflict reaches its greatest tension; a decision or an action to resolve the conflict is undertaken; leads directly to the climax | |
| 161260446 | Climax | consequence of the crisis; the high point of action or tension in a story; no new major developments follow the climax | |
| 161260447 | Falling Action | events after the climax, before the resolution | |
| 161260448 | Resolution/denouement | final outcome of the story; tension and uncertainty are resolved | |
| 161260449 | Freytag's Pyramid | placing a storyline within a visual concept map -- in his case, a pyramid: according to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts -- exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denoument or resolution | |
| 161260450 | Foreshadowing | use of subtle hints or clues to suggest events yet to occur | |
| 161260451 | Flashback | when the author interrupts the plot to relate events of an earlier time period | |
| 161260452 | Suspense | feeling of curiosity or uncertainty about upcoming events | |
| 161260453 | Conflict | struggle between opposing forces | |
| 161260454 | Internal Conflict | conflict within a character; two sides of a character conflict with each other | |
| 161260455 | External Conflict | conflict between characters/forces | |
| 161260456 | Dilemma | situation where a person must choose between two equal alternatives | |
| 161260457 | Point of View | perspective from which the story is told | |
| 161260458 | Narrator | person who tells the story | |
| 161260459 | Unreliable narrator | one whose motives, feelings and opinions affect his or her narration (first person) | |
| 161260460 | First person | story told by a character in the story | |
| 161260461 | Third person | story told by a voice outside the story | |
| 161260462 | Third person limited | perspective focused mainly on one character; reader knows that character's thoughts/feelings | |
| 161260463 | Third person omniscient | reader knows thoughts/feelings of all characters (all-knowing) | |
| 161260464 | Third person objective | reader doesn't know thoughts/feelings of any character | |
| 161260465 | Style | general manner of linguistic expression | |
| 161260466 | Tone | writer's attitude toward her/his audience and/or subject matter | |
| 161260467 | Mood | a feeling that the story suggests (may reflect the tone or may contrast with it) | |
| 161260468 | Voice | a pervasive authorial presence | |
| 161260469 | Prose | written language not presented in lines/verses (excludes poetry) | |
| 161260470 | Register | level of formality | |
| 161260471 | Diction | word choice | |
| 161260472 | Syntax | sentence structure and word order | |
| 161260473 | Denotation | dictionary definition of a word | |
| 161260474 | Connotation | all of the emotions and impressions a word can suggest | |
| 161260475 | Exaggeration/Hyperbole | exaggeration, often used for humor | |
| 161260476 | Understatement | purposeful representation of something as less, or less important, than it is | |
| 161260477 | Dialect | form of language spoken by people in a particular region | |
| 161260478 | Colloquialism | "improper," casual language (slang) | |
| 161260479 | Jargon | language specific to a profession, hobby or activity | |
| 161260480 | Idiom | a phrase which has meaning that is not clear from the meaning of the words in it ("I'm at the end of my rope") | |
| 161260481 | Physical setting | location in which the story takes place (both specific and general | |
| 161260482 | Historical (temporal) setting | past, present, future, time of day/year/season | |
| 161260483 | Cultural setting | values, art, religion, music of the society/culture in which the story takes | |
| 161260484 | Local color | details specific to a particular geographical region | |
| 161260485 | Gothic | barbaric, gloomy, grotesque, distorted, bizarre (from the Middle Ages) | |
| 161260486 | Futuristic | type of science fiction; author takes you to places that do not now exist | |
| 161260487 | Direct characterization | author tells the reader about the character directly | |
| 161260488 | Indirect characterization | author shows the character's characteristics through her/his speech, actions, thoughts/feelings, and other characters' reactions to him/her. | |
| 161260489 | Round character | complex, many-sided | |
| 161260490 | Flat character | simple, two-dimensional | |
| 161260491 | Dynamic character | character changes during a story | |
| 161260492 | Static character | character stays the same during a story | |
| 161260493 | Stereotype/stock | fixed or oversimplified idea of what a type of person or group is like | |
| 161260494 | Protagonist | central character, focus of interest | |
| 161260495 | Antagonist | person, idea or force who opposes the protagonist | |
| 161260496 | Foil | a character who, by sharp contrast, serves to highlight and stress the distinctive temperament of another character | |
| 161260497 | Motif | recurring image, word, action, idea or situation, tying into a theme | |
| 161260498 | Symbol | in literature, something concrete which stands for something abstract | |
| 161260499 | Universal symbol | a symbol recognized by many cultures | |
| 161260500 | allusion | a reference to a famous person, place, thing or event, evoking associations | |
| 161260501 | Irony | strong contrast between expectation and reality; outcome is the opposite of expectation | |
| 161260502 | Situational irony | strong contrast between expectation and reality; outcome is the opposite of expectation | |
| 161260503 | Verbal irony | character says one thing, but means the opposite (sarcasm) | |
| 161260504 | Dramatic irony | when the reader knows something important that a character does not | |
| 161260505 | Simile | comparison of two basically unlike objects using "like" or "as" | |
| 161260506 | Metaphor | comparison of two basically unlike objects without "like" or "as" | |
| 161260507 | Personification | human qualities are given to something that is not human (a type of metaphor) | |
| 161260508 | Imagery | language which appeals strongly to the senses. Includes visual (sight), auditory (sound), gustatory (taste), olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), and kinetic (movement) | |
| 161260509 | Tragedy | a literary work depicting serious events in which the main character who is often high-ranked and dignified, comes to an unhappy end; opposite of a comedy, which ends happily | |
| 161260510 | verbal irony | contrast between what is said and what is meant | |
| 161260511 | allusion | figure of speech which makes brief reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or object (ex: My love for you is as passionate as Romeo's for Juliet) | |
| 161260512 | antithesis | a contrast or opposition of thoughts, usually in two phrases, clauses, or sentences | |
| 161260513 | aphorism | a terse statement of known authorship which expresses a general truth or a moral principle (ex: "All animals are equal but some are more equal than others" from Animal Farm) | |
| 161260514 | apostrophe | addressing someone or something not present as though present (ex: Death, be not proud) | |
| 161260515 | archetype | a universal symbol (ex: green = hope, rebirth, renewal) | |
| 161260516 | cacophony | the use of seemingly harsh, unmusical sounds to bring out the harshness of something | |
| 161260517 | catharsis | Aristotle's word for pity and fear an audience experiences upon viewing the downfall of a hero | |
| 161260518 | chiasmus | Aristotle's word for pity and fear an audience experiences upon viewing the downfall of a hero | |
| 161260519 | colloquialism | the use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone. Colloquial expressions include local and regional aspect (ex: Catcher in the Rye) | |
| 161260520 | conceit | an extended metaphor - two unlike things are compared in several different ways | |
| 161260521 | connotation | the emotional implications a word may carry | |
| 161260522 | consonance | repetition of a consonant sound in two or more words in a line of verse (ex: "but yet we trust that somehow" - the "t" sound) | |
| 161260523 | denotation | the exact definition of a word | |
| 161260524 | diction | an author's specific choice of words | |
| 161260525 | didactic | having the primary aim of teaching or instructing, especially teaching moral or ethical principles | |
| 161260526 | dramatic irony | when the audience or reader knows something that the character does not so that what he says is ironic (EX: Oedipus saying that he wants to catch who caused the plague when we all know that it was HE who caused the plague) | |
| 161260527 | dynamic character | a character who changes dramatically over the course of a work | |
| 161260528 | euphony | a quality or style marked by pleasing sounds | |
| 161260529 | extended metaphor | a metaphor developed at a great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work | |
| 161260530 | extended parallelism | the repetition of words or grammatical elements to achieve cumulative force and rhythm (EX: "the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, to see what he could see/ to see what he could see, to see what he could see..) | |
| 161260531 | figurative language | writing or speech not meant to be taken literally | |
| 161260532 | foil | character who provides a contrast to another character, thus emphasizing the other's traits | |
| 161260533 | hubris | the pride or overconfidence which often leads a hero to overlook divine warning or to break a moral law | |
| 161260534 | imagery | devices which appeal to the senses: visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory, kinetic | |
| 161260535 | irony | contrast between reality and expectation (ex: a fire house burning down) | |
| 161260536 | juxtaposition | a poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and wit | |
| 161260537 | litotes | understatement employed for the purpose of enhancing the effect of the ideas expressed. Contains a negative (ex: that was no small task!) | |
| 161260538 | mask (persona) | a character with a distinct identity created by an author to achieve a particular effect of or to deliver a particular message which reflect the author's viewpoint | |
| 161260539 | metonomy | substituting a word naming an object for another word closely associated with it (ex: pay tribute to the CROWN, crown symbolizing the authority of the king and queen) | |
| 161260540 | mood | the atmosphere of a literary work or the feelings that are elicited in the reader by the author | |
| 161260541 | motif | a main theme or subject | |
| 161260542 | oxymoron | technique used to produce an effect by a seeming self-contradiction (ex: cruel kindness) | |
| 161260543 | paradox | a statement or concept that seems contradictory, unbelievable, or absurd but that may actually be true in fact (ex: war brings peace) | |
| 161260544 | parallelism | refers to the repeated use of phrases, clauses, or sentences that are similar in structure and meaning. Writers use this technique to emphasize important ideas, create rhythm, and make their writing forceful and direct. | |
| 161260545 | pedantic | teaching; instructive (a pedantic tone is usually stuffy and formal) | |
| 161260546 | point of view | the perspective in which a story in told (1st person - I, 2nd person - you, 3rd person - he/she- omniscient narrator) | |
| 161260547 | rhetorical question | a question that expects no answer. It is used to draw attention to a point and is generally stronger than a direct statement | |
| 161260548 | shift | a change of feelings by the speaker from the beginning to the end, paying particular attention to the conclusion of the literature | |
| 161260549 | situational irony | irony which arises from situations as opposed to verbal irony | |
| 161260550 | static character | a character who remains unchanged by the conclusion of a work | |
| 161260551 | stream of consciousness | narrative technique which presents thoughts as if they were coming directly from a character's mind (ex: Catcher in the Rye) | |
| 161260552 | symbol | anything that stands for or represents something else | |
| 161260553 | synecdoche | figurative language in which the part stands for the whole (ex: "nice wheels!" in commenting on a car) | |
| 161260554 | syntax | the arrangement of words in a sentence | |
| 161260555 | tone | the author's attitude towards a subject | |
| 161260556 | understatement | statement in which the literal sense of what is said falls short of the magnitude of what is being talked about | |
| 161260557 | verbal irony | a kind of irony in which words are used to suggest the opposite of their actual meaning | |
| 161260558 | diction | word choice | |
| 161260559 | vernacular | using the native language of a country or place; commonly spoken by the people of a particular country or place (ex: Huck Finn was written in the vernacular of the South) | |
| 161260560 | allusion | a reference to another work of literature, person, or event | |
| 161260561 | antithesis | the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance | |
| 161260562 | aphorism | a short statement of truth or principle; an adage | |
| 161260563 | apostrophe | address to an absent or imaginary person | |
| 161260564 | archetype | a universal symbol | |
| 161260565 | cacophony | harsh, unmusical sounds, used to bring out harshness of something | |
| 161260566 | catharsis | Aristotle's word for pity and fear an audience experiences upon viewing the downfall of a hero | |
| 161260567 | chiasmus | inversion in the second of two parallel phrases (ie. loving to live -- living to love) | |
| 161260568 | colloquialism | A local or regional dialect expression. Slang, informal speaking that generally wouldn't be accepted in formal speech. Gives a work conversational, familiar tone. | |
| 161260569 | conceit | an extended metaphor- two unlike things are compared in several different ways | |
| 161260570 | connotation | the emotional implications a word may carry | |
| 161260571 | consonance | Repetition of a consonant sound within two or more words in close proximity. | |
| 161260572 | denotation | the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression | |
| 161260573 | didactic | instructive (especially excessively); usually for moral or ethical principles | |
| 161260574 | dramatic irony | when a reader is aware of something that a character isn't | |
| 161260575 | dynamic character | a character that changes dramatically over the course of a work | |
| 161260576 | euphony | any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds | |
| 161260577 | extended metaphor | A metaphor developed at great length, occurring frequently in or throughout a work. | |
| 161260578 | extended parallelism | the repetition of words or grammatical elements for cumulative force and rhythm | |
| 161260579 | figurative language | writing or speech that is not meant to be taken literally | |
| 161260580 | foil | character who serves by contrast to contrast another character | |
| 161260581 | hubris | excessive pride or arrogance that results in the downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy | |
| 161260582 | imagery | devices which appeal to the senses | |
| 161260583 | irony | contrast between reality and expectation | |
| 161260584 | juxtaposition | placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast to express feelings of surprise and wit | |
| 161260585 | litotes | a type of understatement in which an idea is expressed by negating its opposite (describing a particularly horrific scene by saying, "It was not a pretty picture.") | |
| 161260586 | mask (persona) | a character with a distinct identity created by an author to achieve a particular effect of or to deliver a particular message which reflect the author's viewpoint | |
| 161260587 | metonomy | Sustitute name, the name of one object is substituted for that of another closely associated with it (crown=queen/king) | |
| 161260588 | mood | the atmosphere of a literary work or the feelings that are elicited in the reader by the author | |
| 161260589 | motif | a main theme or subject | |
| 161260590 | oxymoron | conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence') | |
| 161260591 | paradox | a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. (ex. war brings peace) | |
| 161260592 | parallelism | repeated uses of phrases, clauses, o sentences that are similar in structure and meaning, often used to emphasize important ideas, create rhythm, and make a point (forcefully and directly) | |
| 161260593 | pedantic | teaching; instructive (a pedantic tone is usually stuffy and formal) | |
| 161260594 | point of view | the perspective in which the story is told (1st 2nd 3rd person) | |
| 161260595 | rhetorical question | a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered | |
| 161260596 | shift | a change of feelings by the speaker from the beginning to the end, playing particular attention to the conclusion of the literature | |
| 161260597 | situational irony | an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected (physical, not verbal) | |
| 161260598 | static character | a character that does not change from the beginning of the story to the end | |
| 161260599 | stream of consciousness | a style of writing in which the author tries to reproduce the random flow of thoughts in the human mind | |
| 161260600 | symbol | something visible that by association or convention represents something else. | |
| 161260601 | synecdoche | a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part (nice wheels=nice car) | |
| 161260602 | syntax | the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences | |
| 161260603 | tone | The author's attitude toward the subject | |
| 161260604 | tragic flaw | the character flaw or error in judgement of a hero that leads to his downfall (ex: Oedipus's tragic flaw was his hubris) | |
| 161260605 | understatement | saying less than one means, for effect | |
| 161260606 | verbal irony | saying the opposite of what is meant | |
| 161260607 | vernacular | native language of an area (ex: Huck Finn was written in vernacular) | |
| 161260608 | voice | the "speaker" in a a piece of literature | |
| 161260609 | Adjective | A word which qualifies or modifies the meaning of a noun; as in a 'red hat' or a 'quick fox'. | |
| 161260610 | Adverb | A word which qualifies or adds to the action of a verb: as in 'he ran quickly', or 'he ran fast'. | |
| 161260611 | Alliteration | the repetition of the same sound at the beginning of a word. | |
| 161260612 | Assonance | The word is usually used to describe the repetition of vowel sounds in nieghbouring syllables. | |
| 161260613 | Blank verse | Unrhymed iambic pentameter. Shakespeare's plays are largely blank verse, as are other Renaissance plays. Blank verse was the most popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England. | |
| 161260614 | Clause | A sentence or sentence-like construction included within another sentence. | |
| 161260615 | Conjuction | A word used to connect words or constructions. | |
| 161260616 | End-stopped | A line that has a natural pause at the end (period, comma, etc.). | |
| 161260617 | Enjambed | The running over of a sentence or thought into the next couplet or line without a pause at the end of the line; a run-on line | |
| 161260618 | Euphemism | The substitution of a mild or less negative word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one, as in the use of "pass away" instead of "die." The basic psychology of euphemistic language is the desire to put something bad or embarrassing in a positive (or at least neutral light). | |
| 161260619 | Free verse | Verse that has neither regular rhyme nor regular meter. Free verse often uses cadences rather than uniform metrical feet. | |
| 161260620 | Homophones | Words which sound exactly the same but which have different meanings ('maid' and 'made'). | |
| 161260621 | Irony | A mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation. A writer may say the opposite of what he means, create a reversal between expectation and its fulfillment, or give the audience knowledge that a character lacks, making the character's words have meaning to the audience not perceived by the character. | |
| 161260622 | Lexical set | Words that are habitually used within a given environment. Thus 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...' | |
| 161260623 | Parody | A satiric imitation of a work or of an author with the idea of ridiculing the author, his ideas, or work. The parodist exploits the peculiarities of an author's expression--his propensity to use too many parentheses, certain favorite words, or whatever. The parody may also be focused on, say, an improbable plot with too many convenient events. | |
| 161260624 | Persona | The person created by the author to tell a story. Whether the story is told by an omniscient narrator or by a character in it, the actual author of the work often distances himself from what is said or told by adopting a persona--a personality different from his real one. Thus, the attitudes, beliefs, and degree of understanding expressed by the narrator may not be the same as those of the actual author. Some authors, for example, use narrators who are not very bright in order to create irony. | |
| 161260625 | Personification | The attribution to a non-animate thing of human attributes. | |
| 161260626 | Sarcasm | A form of sneering criticism in which disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise. | |
| 161260627 | Syntax | A term designating the way in which words can be arranged and modified to construct sentences. |
