Literary Terms
Critical Thinking
Literary Terms-3
Literary Terms-4
Literary Terms-5
100

It occurs when situation turns out in a way that is completely opposite of what is expected.

What is situational irony

100

An oversimplified conception or image, usually of a group of people, giving them all a set of characteristics, without consideration for individual differences.

What is a stereotype

100

Example: Jumbo shrimp

What is an oxymoron

100
The highest point of intensity in a short story.
What is the climax
100
Example: Don't judge a book by its cover.
What is a cliché
200

A speaker says the opposite of what she means.

What is verbal irony. 

200

The word sounds like what it describes.

What is onomatopeia

200

A humorous word or phrase that depends on a double meaning, either from a second meaning of the same word, or from the meaning of another word with a similar sound.

What is a pun

200
A technique used in which a writer will plant clues or subtle indications about events that will happen later in the narrative.
What is foreshadowing
200
Something that stands for something more than itself.
What is a symbol
300

The implied attitude of the writer toward the subject or the audience.

What is the tone

300

Example: I'm going to die if I don't get to see Lady Gaga in concert this year.

What is hyperbole

300

A story or poem that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral.

What is an allegory

300
The insight about life that is revealed in a literary work.
What is theme
300
A difference between what happens and what would be expected to happen.
What is situational irony. Example: A student studies for days for an English test, but sleeps in the morning of the test, shows up late for class, and fails the test.
400

A statement that is self-contradictory but still reveals a truth.

What is a paradox

400

The specialized language, often technical terms, of a particular group or profession.

What is jargon

400
A disappointing end to an exciting or impressive series of events.
What is an anti-climax
400
A sudden perception, interpretation, or enlightenment experienced by a character in literature.
What is an epiphany
400
Example: He was no Michael Jordan, but he could shoot a basketball.
What is an allusion
500

An address, usually in poetry, to someone, or even to a personified thing or abstract idea that is not present.

What is an apostrophe

500

A type of poem that does not have any regular, recurring pattern of rhythm or rhyme.

What is free verse

500
Example: Freedom weeps, wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps
What is personification
500
A relatively short narrative poem, written to be sung, with a simple and dramatic action
What is a ballad (rarely taught in school, but often comes up as a distractor on the exam)
500
Example: Oprah did okay
What is an understatement
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