| 7851749032 | Antecedent action | action that came before the starting point of a work
Example:''Stacy and Brian said they'd bring some ice cream'', 'Stacy and Brian' are the antecedent to the pronoun 'they.'
Source: Study.com | | 0 |
| 7851753105 | Climax | the point of highest interest, the turning point of the plot
Example:A little girl has been looking for her lost dog. She hears a bark coming from around the corner, and she looks around to see . . .
Source: Softschools.com | | 1 |
| 7851756385 | Conflict | the struggle between two opposing forces; may be internal or external, a conflict with nature, a human being, society, or the character's own self
Example:In Hamlet, Hamlet has a conflict with his uncle, whom he suspects of murdering his father in order to be king. Hamlet also has some internal conflict, as he struggles with his own feelings during the play.
Source: Soft Schools | | 2 |
| 7851759690 | Denouement | the falling action of the story, in which the solution or outcome is provided
Example: The denouement of World War II could be seen as the official surrender of Japan in 1945. This comes after the surrender of the Germans in May of 1945 and the horrific "climax" of the atomic bombs being dropped, the moment in which nothing could be the same afterwards.
Source: Literarydevices.com | | 3 |
| 7851763285 | Exposition | introductory material that establishes the setting and mood, as well as the different characters and their relationships
Example:The prologue of Romeo and Juliet gives us information about the conflict between the Montague and Capulet families. Then, we meet Romeo, who is pining for Rosaline, and Juliet, who is supposed to marry Paris. Romeo and his friends decide to mask themselves and attend a party at the Capulets'-when Romeo sees Juliet, the action begins to rise.
Source: Softschools | | 4 |
| 7851766852 | Flashback | antecedent action that is recalled by the character through inner reflection
Example:In a story about a girl who is afraid of heights, there is a flashback to a time when she fell off of the top of a playground as a young child.
Source: Softschools | | 5 |
| 7851771454 | Foreshadowing | the preparation for later plot elements as revealed through action or dialogue
Example:The witches in Macbeth are used to foreshadow that Macbeth is not innocent: "Fair is foul and foul is fair."
Source:Softshadows | | 6 |
| 7851774577 | Resolution | the falling action of a story after the climax
Example:Opportunity after opportunity arises for Hamlet to kill his uncle, and again and again he finds a reason to delay. Finally, though, the uncle hatches a plot to poison Hamlet and succeeds. When Hamlet learns that he himself has been poisoned and will die, he musters the courage and kills his treacherous uncle.
Source: Study.com | | 7 |
| 7851778164 | Rising action | the introduction of the conflict that drives the work
Example:The rising action in Stephenie Meyer's novel Twilight occurs as the Cullen family plays a vampire baseball game where Bella is a spectator. During the play, some rogue vampires, including James, Laurent, and Victoria approach them. James smells Bella, and the action rises. James chases Bella while the Cullen family strives to defend her. This heightened action ultimately creates a huge climax that consequently brings many things to a head, leading to the end.
Source: Literarydevices.net | | 8 |
| 7851781584 | Subplot | a separate line of events that are related in some way to the main plot
Example:Romeo and Juliet follows the love story between the two title characters. The subplot of the long-standing rivalry between their two families (the Montagues and the Capulets) unfolds to increase conflict and add to the drama of these young lovers' forbidden romance. There are scenes depicting the young Montagues (Romeo's friends) fighting with the Capulets (Juliet's cousin and his friends). And there are also scenes in which the older Montagues and Capulets discuss the hatred felt towards the opposing side.
Source:Study.com | | 9 |
| 7851785212 | Allusion | a brief reference to a commonly known historical or literary figure or work.
EXAMPLE: Your backyard is a Garden of Eden (Biblical allusion). Potato chips are my diet's Achilles heel. (Reference to Achilles in mythology)
SOURCE: study.com | | 10 |
| 7851789773 | Analogy | a description or explanation of something unfamiliar through a description of something more familiar
EXAMPLE: Life is like a race. The one who keeps running wins the race and the one who stops to catch a breath loses. What is in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So, Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,"
SOURCE: softschools.net | | 11 |
| 7851792730 | Anaphora | the repetition of the same word or words at the start of two or more lines of poetry.
EXAMPLE: My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.
"Five years have passed; Five summers, with the length of; Five long winters! and again I hear these waters..."
SOURCE: softschools.net | | 12 |
| 7851794347 | Anticlimax | the use of contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas, balancing one against the other in a strong opposition
EXAMPLE: You are riding a roller coaster, and it begins to climb a steep hill slowly. The roller coaster reaches the top of the hill, and you brace yourself to begin a steep drop down the hill. But, the track evens out and you go straight instead of down.
SOURCE: Softschools.com | | 13 |
| 7851796508 | Antithesis | : the use of contrasting words, clauses, sentences, or ideas, balancing one against the other in a strong opposition.
EXAMPLE: Money is the root of all evils: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.
SOURCE: yourdictionary.com | | 14 |
| 7851807765 | Catalog | the use of lists of people, things, or attributes.
EXAMPLE: glory be to God for dappled things-For skies of couple-color as a branded cow, for rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-fire coal chestnut-falls; finches' wings; Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough; And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
SOURCE: britannica.com/ | | 15 |
| 7851814013 | Incongruity | the linking of two incompatible things, often used humorously.
EXAMPLE: What causes incongruity in my life is spending so much of my life unaware of his presence.
SOURCE: yourdictionary.com | | 16 |
| 7851819126 | Incremental Repetition | the use of repetition to effect successive minor changes in order to enhance and intensify the meaning
EXAMPLE: O where ha' you been, Lord Randal, my son? And where ha' you been, my handsome young man?" "I ha' been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon, For I'm wearied wi' huntin', and fain wad lie down." "And wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son? And wha met you there, my handsome young man?" O I met wi' my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon, For I'm wearied wi' huntin', and fain wad lie down."
SOURCE: britannica.com/ | | 17 |
| 7851823164 | Oxymoron | a combination of ostensibly self-contradictory words
EXAMPLE: There was a love-hate relationship between the two neighboring states. The green pasture surrounded by hills was teeming with a deafening silence.
SOURCE: study.com | | 18 |
| 7851823165 | Paradox | a seemingly contradictory statement that is in fact well-founded, pointing toward the truth
EXAMPLE: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others".
SOURCE: sstudy.com | | 19 |
| 7851825334 | Parallelism | the presentation of coordinate ideas in a coordinate manner, developing one element of equal importance with another similar element
EXAMPLE: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness " I'll give my jewels for a set of beads, My gorgeous palace for a hermitage, My gay apparel for an almsman's gown, My figured goblets for a dish of wood.
SOURCE: softschools.com | | 20 |
| 7851827167 | Pun | a play on words based on two similarly sounding words that have different meanings
EXAMPLE: An elephant's opinion carries a lot of weight. A horse is a very stable animal
SOURCE: softschools.com | | 21 |
| 7851833228 | Rhetorical Accent | a stress on what would normally be an unaccented syllable, to clarify the meaning or intention of a sentence
EXAMPLE: Is your writing as transparent as a mixture of comminuted particles of rock with water of varying consistency? Or is it as clear as mud?
SOURCE: Literaryterms.com | | 22 |
| 7851839347 | Rhetorical Question | : a question asked for effect, not to elicit a reply, to which the answer is almost always negative
EXAMPLE: O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" | | 23 |
| 7894378145 | Structure | the plot or plan of a text
EXAMPLE: "Want to order a pizza?" "Sure, why not?"
SOURCE: Literaryterms.com | | 24 |
| 7894383069 | Turn (Volta) | a change in thought signaled by words like but, however, yet, etc.
EXAMPLE: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes, is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
SOURCE: britannica.com/ | | 25 |
