Key Terms
The main message, central idea, or, as the College Board calls it, “the meaning of the work as a whole”
What is theme?
The perspective used to tell a story
What is point of view?
The main issue that drives the plot forward
What is conflict?
A comparison using "like" or "as"
What is simile?
A comparison NOT using "like" or "as"
What is metaphor?
An author's choice and use of words
What is diction?
The main character and opposing character
What is protagonist and antagonist?
The clues about something that will happen later in the narrative; often used to create suspense
What is foreshadowing?
Giving human traits, emotions, or actions to non-human things like objects, animals, or big ideas
What is personification?
Using an object, person, color, or situation to mean more than its literal sense
What is symbolism?
Description appealing to the five senses
What is imagery?
A character who does not undergo any significant change in personality or character over the course of a story
What is a static character?
A dramatic turn in thought, tone, or argument
What is shift?
Placing two contrasting elements side by side to highlight their differences
What is juxtaposition?
The use of extreme, obvious exaggeration to make a point, show strong feelings, or add humor.
Ex: His shoes smelled like a dead skunk for a hundred miles.
What is hyperbole?
The attitude, feeling, or emotional view taken by the narrator
What is tone?
A character who undergoes a significant change in personality, character, or outlook (not circumstances, mood, or appearance) over the course of a story
What is a dynamic character?
The interruption of the chronological sequence of a story to show an event that happened in the past
What is flashback?
Repeating the same beginning sound in nearby words. Ex: Seven sisters slept soundly on the sand.
What is alliteration?
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds within nearby words.
Ex: The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
What is assonance?
A recurring element, idea, image, or design that appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature to help develop a central theme
What is motif?
A character with opposite traits to another character, often a main character, in a text; the contrast between the two characters better allows us to understand each of them
What is a foil character?
A mismatch between appearance and reality, expectations and fulfillment, and/or what happens and what would seem appropriate in that situation; a sharp contrast in expectation vs. reality
What is irony?
The repetition of a word or group of words at the start of multiple lines, sentences, or clauses.
Ex: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom...
What is anaphora?
A brief, indirect reference to a famous person, place, event, or work of art.
Ex: Chocolate is my Achilles' heel.
Ex: Don't be such a Scrooge!
What is allusion?