Lit Terms I
The essential background information at the beginning of a literary work.
Exposition
a summary of a selection that is not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice
objective summary
repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”
alliteration
repetition of similar or identical sounds: “look and crook”
rhyme
The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities
characterization
An extended metaphor, where the entire story or poem has a secondary symbolic meaning
allegory
the main character in a literary work
protagonist
the reason behind what an author writes, not the main idea of the story.
a dramatic device in which a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud
soliloquy
language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non-literal language). Includes simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbol)
figurative language
repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds: “Anna’s apples,” “the pond is long gone”
assonance
a direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as:“I wandered lonely as a cloud”
simile
direct speech between characters in a literary work
dialogue
one thing (object, person, place) used to represent something else
symbol/symbolism
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
irony
the literal meaning of a word—the meaning you would find in a dictionary
denotation
technique that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next
suspense
conveyed indirectly without words or speech: implicit, implied, understood, unsaid, unspoken
inferred
the turning point in a literary work
climax
phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: “living dead” or “pretty ugly”
oxymoron
language that appeals to the five senses
imagery
the development of conflict and complications in a literary work
rising action
use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning: “hiss”
onomatopoeia
a reference to something well-known that exists outside the literary work
allusion
a technique an author uses to convey to the reader a meaning with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective or to effectively transmit the author’s message to the reader
rhetorical devices