Literary Terms 1
Repetition of initial sounds.
Alliteration
The most intense, exciting, or important point of the story.
Climax
What happens is vastly different from what the reader expected to happen.
Irony
The smartest boy on the island. Due to his obesity and asthma, he is also the weakest of the biguns.
Piggy
If you bowled a perfect game, what would your score be?
300
A reference to something (a book, a movie, a poem, a speech, etc.).
Allusion
The final part of a story in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.
Denouement
A comparison of two unlike things (NOT using “like” or “as”).
Metaphor
An abused character that finds friendship and companionship while trying to figure out who he was.
Trad
Which volcano covered the Roman city of Pompeii under the ashes?
Mount Vesuvius
Statements that are not literally true, but that achieve poetic effect.
Figurative Language
Text surrounding words that provide significance and communicate meaning; historical and cultural factors surrounding events that give them significance.
Context
Words whose sounds suggest their meaning.
Onomatopoeia
The largest and most physically powerful boy on the island. Despite his size and strength, he shows no signs of wanting to dominate others and is preoccupied with being rescued.
Ralph.
What is rapper Eminem’s real name?
Marshall Mathers
Details that provide hints as to what will happen later in the story.
Foreshadowing
The underlying universal idea the author hopes to communicate by his story; the author’s message; the author’s thoughts on his leading subject.
Theme
Giving non-human objects or creatures human characteristics.
Personification
A rational and reliable companion to Milo, characterized by loyalty and wisdom.
Tock
How many bones are in the human body?
206
A description that appeals to one or more of the five senses.
Imagery
The sequence of events in a story; the simple story line without all the details.
Plot
Something that stands for more than itself.
A young prodigy who finds solace in unlikely friendships after a devastating tragedy.
Willow Chance
What is the name for a group of porcupines?
A prickle.