Literature terms 1
Two words or phrases used together that have opposite meanings.
What is oxymoron?
Is a figure of speech that plays with words that have multiple meanings, or that plays with words that sound similar but mean different things.
What is a pun?
Is a figure of speech in which a word is pronounced the same way as the sound associated with it.
What is onomatopoeia?
Is a rhetorical device used to compare two things using the words “like,” “as,” or “than.”
What is a simile?
Is a figure of speech, an extreme over-exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally.
What is hyperbole?
Is a figure of speech that implicitly compares two unrelated things, typically by stating that one thing is another (e.g., “that chef is a magician”).
What is a metaphor?
Is a literary device that repeats consonant sounds within nearby words (e.g., “He struck the clock with a quick flick”)
What is consonance?
The central idea of a story or underlying message.
What is theme?
The sequence of events, actions, and conflicts that take place in a story.
What is Plot?
Is a literary device that uses the repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words (e.g., “the need for speed”)
What is assonance?
Is the turning point where the conflict is resolved.
What is the climax?
Is the literal meaning, or "dictionary definition," of a word.
What is denotation?
Is a device that moves an audience from the present moment in a chronological narrative to a scene in the past.
What is flashback?
Includes figurative language to improve the reader’s experience through their senses.
What is imagery?
Is the process of drawing a conclusion from supporting evidence. It’s when you go beyond the evidence and reach some further conclusion.
What is inference?
Is the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences.
What is juxtaposition?
The act of doing or saying something again.
What is repetition?
A contradiction between what happens and what you expect to happen. e.g. The Titanic was touted as an “unsinkable” ship, yet it sank on its first voyage.
What is irony?
Is the first paragraph or paragraphs in which the characters, setting (time and place), and basic information is introduced.
What is expostition?
Is the opposite of the protagonist, or main character. Typically, this is a villain of some kind, but not always!
What is antagonist?
Is just another word for “main character.” An important character in a story or play.
What is protagonist?
Where one thing is meant to represent something else.
What is symbolism?
Is a reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familiar.
What is allusion?
The description and information provided about the characters in a story. Occurs any time the author uses details to teach us about a person.
What is characterization?
Is when a story or plotline ends suddenly or a large plot twist occurs and is left unresolved.
What is cliffhanger?