Alliteration – repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”
Allusion – a reference to something well-known that exists outside the literary work – the reference is often indirect and relies on audience knowledge and understanding
Antagonist - character that is the source of conflict in a literary work
Aside – a dramatic device in which a character makes a short speech intended for the audience but not heard by the other characters on stage
Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds: “Anna’s apples,” “the pond is long gone”
Characterization- The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities. Direct characterization=author description/Indirect characterization= character’s appearance, speech, thoughts, actions and what other characters think of the character
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Character Types:
- Flat:one-dimensional or one-sided
- Round:multidimensional
- Static: character remains unchanged emotionally or psychologically throughout the story
- Dynamic: character undergoes emotional or psychological change
Conflict - struggle between two or more opposing forces (person vs. person; nature; society; self; fate/God. ETC…)
Dialogue - direct speech between characters in a literary work
Diction - word choice to create a specific effect
Figurative Language –language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non-literal language). Includes simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and symbolism
Flashback - the method of returning to an earlier point in time for the purpose of making the present clearer
Foreshadowing - hint of what is to come in a literary work
Genre – type or category to which a literary work belongs
Hyperbole – extreme exaggeration to add meaning
Idiom - a combination of words that has a meaning that is different from the meanings of the individual words themselves. It can have a literal meaning in one situation and a different idiomatic meaning in another situation. It is a phrase which does not always follow the normal rules of meaning and grammar.
Imagery – language that appeals to the five senses
Irony
- Dramatic… when the reader or audience knows something a character does not
- Situational… when there is a disparity between what is expected and what actually occurs
- Verbal… when the speaker says one thing but means the opposite
Metaphor – an implied comparison between dissimilar objects without the use of like or as: “Her talent blossomed”
Motif - a recurring feature of a literary work that is related to the theme
Onomatopoeia – use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning: “hiss”
Oxymoron – phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: “living dead” or “jumbo shrimp”
Paradox – a statement that seems contradictory but may reveal a truth….. ex. “She was alone in the crowd”.
Parody - A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule
Personification – figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics
Plot- The sequence of events in a literary work
Point of view- the vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told…
- 1st person point of view- the narrator is a character in the story (use of ‘I’)
- 2nd person point of view- the speaker addresses the listener or reader directly, using "you"
- 3rd person point of view- the narrator is outside of the story (use of ‘he’ ‘she’ ‘they’)* may be limited or omniscient
Protagonist- the main character in a literary work
Rhyme – repetition of similar or identical sounds: “look and crook”
Rhyme Scheme – pattern of rhyme among lines of poetry [denoted using letters, as in ABAB CDCD EE]
Satire -A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
Setting- The time and place of a literary work
Simile – a direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as: “I wandered lonely as a cloud”
Soliloquy - a dramatic device in which a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud
Speaker – voice in a poem; the person or thing that is speaking
Stanza – group of lines forming a unit in a poem
Stereotype- standardised, conventional ideas about characters, plots and settings
Suspense – technique that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next
Symbol / symbolism – one thing (object, person, place) used to represent something else
Theme – the underlying main idea of a literary work. Theme differs from the subject of a literary work in that it involves a statement or opinion about the subject.
Tone – the author’s attitude toward the subject of a work or toward the audience