Here's all of the literary terms we need to know. You're welcome.
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| 290042539 | Allegory | extended metaphor in which a person, abstract idea, or event stands for itself and for something else, usually a moral or spiritual concept more significant than the actual narrative | |
| 290042540 | Alliteration | the repetition of consonant sounds in a sequence of words ("dew drops") | |
| 290042541 | Allusion | a brief, indirect reference to a historical or literary (or other artistic) figure, event, or object | |
| 290042542 | Ambiguity | the state of having more than one possible meaning | |
| 290042543 | Anapest | a foot where a stressed syllable follows two unstressed syllables ("understand") | |
| 290042544 | Antagonist | the character or force which opposes the protagonist | |
| 290042545 | Anti-hero | a protagonist who lacks the characteristics that would typically make him/her a hero/ heroine | |
| 290042546 | Apostrophe | a figure of speech in which someone or some entity (usually absent), some abstract quality or a nonexistent personage is directly addressed as though present ("Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!") | |
| 290042547 | Archetype | an image, descriptive detail, plot pattern, or character type that frequently occurs in literature, myth, folklore, or religion and can be universally recognized | |
| 290042548 | Aside | a remark directed to the audience that characters onstage don't hear | |
| 290042549 | Assonance | the repetition of internal vowel sounds ("each evening") | |
| 290042550 | Ballad | a narrative poem that tells a story and imitates traditional folk styles | |
| 290042551 | Bildungsroman | a novel dealing with the development of a young person, usually from adolescence to maturity | |
| 290042552 | Blank verse | unrhymed iambic pentameter | |
| 290042553 | Cacophony | language that is harsh-sounding and difficult to pronounce | |
| 290042554 | Cadence | the rhythmical movement of writing when it is read aloud | |
| 290042555 | Caesura | a pause within a line of poetry that contributes to the line's rhythm | |
| 290042556 | Canon | works generally considered by scholars to be essential for study | |
| 290042557 | Catastrophe | the conclusion of a tragedy which involves the death of the hero (usually after the climax) | |
| 290042558 | Catharsis | the release of emotions by the audience at the end of a tragedy | |
| 290042559 | Chorus | a group of characters in Greek tragedy who comment on the action of a play without participation in it | |
| 290042560 | Climax | the moment of great tension in a story which marks the turning point | |
| 290042561 | Comic relief | a humorous scene or incident that alleviates tension in a serious work | |
| 290042562 | Complication | the part of the plot in which the entanglement caused by the conflict develops; the knot to be untied during the resolution | |
| 290042563 | Conceit | an extended metaphor with complex logic that governs an entire poem or passage | |
| 290042564 | Conflict | the struggle within the plot between two opposing forces | |
| 290042565 | Connotation | the emotional implications and associations that a word may carry | |
| 290042566 | Consonance | also known as slant rhyme; words like "worth"/"breath" or "poem/same" | |
| 290042567 | Couplet | two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme and have the same meter | |
| 290042568 | Crisis | a turning point in the action of a story that leads to the climax | |
| 290042569 | Criticism | the analysis, study, and evaluation of individual works of art, as well as the formulation of general principles for the examination of such works | |
| 290042570 | Dactyl | one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables ("desperate") | |
| 290042571 | Denouement | French word used to describe the falling action of a story | |
| 290042572 | Deus ex machina | an improbable means by which an author too easily resolves a story | |
| 290042573 | Diction | simply put, word choice | |
| 290042574 | Dirge | a song expressing mourning or grief (as would be performed at a funeral) | |
| 290042575 | Dissonance | harsh and inharmonious sounds which cause a marked breaking of the poetry | |
| 290042576 | Dramatic irony | a discrepancy between what a character believes/says and what the audience knows | |
| 290042577 | Dynamic character | a character who undergoes some kind of change due to the action in the plot | |
| 290042578 | Elegy | a mournful lyric poem written to commemorate someone who has died | |
| 290042579 | End rhyme | rhyme that comes at the end of lines | |
| 290042580 | End-stopped line | a poetic line that has a pause at the end, often with punctuation | |
| 290042581 | English sonnet | type of poem written in abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme | |
| 290042582 | Enjambment | when a thought in poetry continues to the next line; also called a "run-on line" | |
| 290042583 | Epic | a long narrative poem characterized by elevated language and heroic deeds | |
| 290042584 | Epilogue | a concluding statement in a play made to the audience | |
| 290042585 | Epiphany | an event in which the essential truth or nature of something (person/situation/object) is suddenly perceived | |
| 290042586 | Epithet | adjective expressing a quality/attribute considered characteristic of a person/thing ("swift-footed Achilles") | |
| 290042587 | Euphony | language that is pleasing to hear ("cellar door") | |
| 290042588 | Exposition | narrative device that provides background and information about characters | |
| 290042589 | External rhyme | a rhyme scheme composed of lines using end rhyme | |
| 290042590 | Farce | a form of humor featuring slapstick comedy and extravagant dialogue | |
| 290042591 | Feminine rhyme | words that rhyme and are both stressed on the first syllable ("butter/gutter") | |
| 290042592 | Flat character | a character with only one or two qualities; not psychologically complex | |
| 290042593 | Foil | a character who, by contrast, illuminates the distinctive traits of another | |
| 290042594 | Foot | the metrical unit by which a line of poetry is measured | |
| 290042595 | Foreshadowing | Hints of what is to come in the action of a play or a story | |
| 290042596 | Free verse | a poetic style that doesn't follow established patterns of meter, rhyme, and stanza | |
| 290042597 | Haiku | Japanese poem consisting of three phrases of 5, 7, then 5 syllables, usually involving nature or the juxtaposition of two different images or ideas | |
| 290042598 | Hamartia | the tragic flaw or misfortune that brings about a hero's downfall | |
| 290042599 | Hero | the central character who engages the reader's interest and empathy | |
| 290042600 | Hubris | excessive pride or self-confidence that leads to a character's downfall | |
| 290042601 | Hyperbole | a bold exaggeration | |
| 290042602 | Iamb | a poetic foot where one stressed syllable follows an unstressed syllable ("Nicole") | |
| 290042603 | Imagery | words, phrases, or figures of speech that address the senses | |
| 290042604 | In medias res | the common strategy of beginning a story in the middle of the action | |
| 290042605 | Internal rhyme | where words rhyme within the line ("Sam McGee was from Tennessee...") | |
| 290042606 | Italian sonnet | a type of sonnet which is divided into an octave | |
| 290042607 | Juxtaposition | arrangement of two or more ideas/characters/actions/settings/phrases/words side-by-side for the purpose of comparison, contrast, rhetorical effect, suspense, or character development | |
| 290042608 | Litotes | an understatement meant for rhetorical effect ("I was not a little upset") | |
| 290042609 | Lyric | type of poem that expresses the emotions/thoughts of a single speaker | |
| 290042610 | Masculine rhyme | words that rhyme and are both stressed on the 2nd syllable ("contend/defend") | |
| 290042611 | Measure | a metrical grouping (such as a type of foot) | |
| 290042612 | Metaphor | a direct comparison of two unlike things ("my love is a red, red rose") | |
| 290042613 | Meter | rhythmic patterns of stress in a poem | |
| 290042614 | Metonymy | substitution of one word for another object/ idea to symbolize that object/idea ("the pen is mightier than the sword")The substitution of one word for another object or idea which it | |
| 290042615 | Monologue | a speech by one person directly addressing an audience | |
| 290042616 | Motif | a pattern in literature, specifically the recurrent presence of certain character types, objects, settings, or situations | |
| 290042617 | Octave | a poetic stanza of eight lines, usually forming part of a sonnet | |
| 290042618 | Ode | a formal lyric poem that expresses lofty emotions about a serious subject | |
| 290042619 | Onomatopoeia | words that are spelled how they sound | |
| 290042620 | Oxymoron | the combination of contradictory terms to produce a paradoxical effect ("jumbo shrimp") | |
| 290042621 | Paradox | a statement that seems to be contradictory but actually makes sense | |
| 290042622 | Parody | a literary or artistic work that imitates the style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule | |
| 290042623 | Pastoral | a poem involving rustic people or a rural setting; in a contemporary sense, a means of expressing complex ideas in a simple way | |
| 290042624 | Pentameter | a line of poetry consisting of five feet | |
| 290042625 | Persona | a speaker created by the writer to tell a story or speak in a poem | |
| 290042626 | Personification | endowing animals, ideas, abstractions, and inanimate objects with human qualities or human form | |
| 290042627 | Picaresque | a usually structureless and episodic chronicle marked by realism and uninhibited expression | |
| 290042628 | Poetic justice | when the outcome is the logical and necessary result of the actions and principles of major characters; an apt symmetry of fortune ("the hangman is hanged") | |
| 290042629 | Point of view | the vantage point from which the author tells a story | |
| 290042630 | Prologue | the opening speech or dialogue of a play that provides an exposition | |
| 290042631 | Prose | the ordinary language people use in speaking and writing (as opposed to verse) | |
| 290042632 | Protagonist | the chief character in a work (also known as the hero/heroine) | |
| 290042633 | Pyrrhic foot | a foot of two unaccented syllables, occurring most often as variants in iambic verse (in "the evil that men do", "-il that" is such) | |
| 290042634 | Quatrain | a four line stanza | |
| 290042635 | Refrain | one or more words repeated at intervals in a poem ("nevermore" in "The Raven") | |
| 290042636 | Repetition | the repeating of lines to create a certain effect | |
| 290042637 | Reversal | the point at which the action of the plot turns in an unexpected direction for the protagonist | |
| 290042638 | Round character | a complex, fully developed character who reflects human experience | |
| 290042639 | Satire | a literary work that criticizes human misconduct and ridicules vices, stupidities, and follies | |
| 290042640 | Scansion | the process of measuring stresses in a line to find a metrical pattern | |
| 290042641 | Sestet | a stanza with exactly six lines | |
| 290042642 | Sestina | a fixed form of poetry consisting of 36 lines made famous by E. Bishop | |
| 290042643 | Simile | comparison between two unlike things using like or as | |
| 290042644 | Soliloquy | a dramatic speech in which a character "thinks aloud" | |
| 290042645 | Spondee | a poetic foot consisting of two stressed syllables ("death row") | |
| 290042646 | Stanza | a grouping of lines in poetry | |
| 290042647 | Static character | a character who doesn't change or grow throughout the work | |
| 290042648 | Stock character | a flat, stereotypical character, such as the "dumb blonde" | |
| 290042649 | Strophe | a structural division of a poem with stanzas of varying line-length, usually in an ode or free verse poem | |
| 290042650 | Symbolism | the use of a word/phrase/description which represents a deeper meaning than the word itself | |
| 290042651 | Synecdoche | figure of speech where the whole signifies the part or part signifies the whole ("Nice wheels!") | |
| 290042652 | Syntax | the ordering of words into meaningful patterns of language | |
| 290042653 | Syzygy | two coupled feet serving as a unit, usually as part of iambic pentameter ("land's_sharp") | |
| 290042654 | Tableau | an interlude during a scene when all performers on stage freeze in position, then resume action as before | |
| 290042655 | Theme | a message or truth about life conveyed by the author through events in the story; not simply the subject of a literary work, but rather a statement that the text seems to be making about that subject | |
| 290042656 | Thesis | an assertion put forward as a premise to be proved with supporting evidence; must be arguable and not merely factual | |
| 290042657 | Tone | the attitudes implied in a literary work toward the subject and the audience | |
| 290042658 | Tragedy | traditionally a story that recounts an important individual's downfall | |
| 290042659 | Tragic flaw | often used interchangeably with the term hamartia; leads to hero's downfall | |
| 290042660 | Trochee | a poetic foot consisting of one stressed then one unstressed syllable ("Mitchell") | |
| 290042661 | Trope | the use of a word or phrase in a sense other than the literal (metaphor, irony, etc.) | |
| 290042662 | Verbal irony | a figure of speech where a person says the opposite of what she means (sarcasm) | |
| 290042663 | Verisimilitude | the semblance of truth or reality in literary works | |
| 290042664 | Verse | a line of metrical writing, a stanza, or poetry in general | |
| 290042665 | Villanelle | form of poetry used by Thomas in "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" | |
| 290042666 | Volta | the turn in thought from problem to solution in a sonnet |
