The main character in an epic poem-typically one who embodies the values of his or her culture.
Example:
Beowulf
What is an epic hero?
100
The action in the story.
What is plot?
100
A comparison that uses "like" or "as"
Example:
I'm as hungry as a wolf.
Our love shines bright like a diamond.
What is a simile?
100
A pair of rhyming lines in a poem often set off from the rest of the poem
What is a couplet?
100
The use of one thing to represent another.
Example:
A dove represents peace.
Winter represents death or old age.
What is symbolism?
200
The main character of a novel, play, or story.
What is a protagonist?
200
The central idea of a work that states a truth about the nature of human beings.
What is theme?
200
A direct comparison that doesn't use "like" or "as"
Example:
He is a rock because nothing can hurt his feelings.
Her tears were fast rivers flowing down her face.
What is a metaphor?
200
A long poem narrating the adventures of a heroic figure.
Examples:
The Odyssey
Beowulf
What is an epic?
200
A theme or pattern that recurs in a work.
What is a motif?
300
A character who represents a certain type of person.
Example:
Daniel Boone represents the early American frontiersman.
What is an archetype?
300
A technique in which an author gives clues about something that will happen later in the story.
What is foreshadowing?
300
Giving objects human characteristics
Example:
The trees waved in the breeze to the people passing by.
The flames reached for the child hovering in the corner.
What is personification?
300
A short narrative or reference that serves to teach by way of example in medieval literature.
Example:
The Pardoner's Tale
The Wife of Bath's Tale
What is an exemplum?
300
The emotional atmosphere of a given piece of writing.
What is mood?
400
A character that serves by contrast to emphasize opposing traits in another character.
Example:
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Laertes the unthinking man of action is a foil to the intelligent but reluctant Hamlet.
What is a foil?
400
The means by which an author establishes character. An author may directly describe the appearance and personality of character or show it through action or dialogue.
What is characterization?
400
The repetition of first consonants in a group of words
Example:
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
What is alliteration?
400
A work that makes fun of something or someone.
What is satire?
400
The narrative point of view whether it's in first or third person.
What is voice?
500
The character in conflict with the protagonist in a novel, play, or story.
Example:
Grendel is in conflict with Beowulf.
What is an antagonist?
500
The struggle between the opposing forces in a story that creates the plot.
Examples:
Internal (within one character)
External (among or between characters, society, and/or nature)
What is conflict?
500
A reference to something or someone often literary, historical, or scientific.
Example:
"Use the force" is a reference to "Star Wars."
What is an allusion?
500
An idealized code of rules and social behavior that attempted to civilize the brutal activity of warfare.
Examples:
Sparing women and children in warfare
Protecting the church
Honesty and bravery
Loyalty
What is chivalry?
500
The author's attitude toward his or her subject.
Examples:
Optimistic
Pessimistic
Angry