Literary Terms
Define Symbolism
Symbolism is defined as objects, places, events, or characters that have meaning and significance beyond their physical forms.
Define Allusion
An allusion is a reference to a well-known character, place, or situation in history, music, art, or another work.
Define Allegory
Allegory is a story where characters, events, and places stand for ideas, qualities, or other events.
What is a pun?
Puns are a form of wordplay that utilizes a word's multiple meanings or similar-sounding words to create a humorous or rhetorical effect.
Define characterization. Name the two types.
Characterization is the way an author creates, develops, and portrays a person, creature, or being in a story. There is indirect and direct characterization.
Define Imagery
Imagery uses descriptive words to target all five physical senses rather than just creating a visual picture.
Define Analogy
An analogy is a comparison that shows similarities between two things that are otherwise unalike
Define Biblical Allusion
Biblical Allusion is a reference to a character or story in the Bible.
What is a motif?
A motif is a significant word, phrase, image, description, or idea that is repeated throughout a work related to theme.
Define setting. Name the setting types.
is the time, place, and social environment in which a story takes place. The types are geographical, temporal, cultural, and historical.
Define Irony
Irony is the contrast between what is and what should be.
Define Parallelism
Parallelism is the repetition of a series of words, phrases, or sentences that have similar grammatical structure.
Define Euphemism
Euphemism is a literary device where an indirect, mild, or vague term is used in place of a direct, harsh, or offensive one.
What is a paradox?
A paradox is a situation or a statement that seems to contradict itself, but actually does not.
Define Point of View. Name the types.
Point of view is the lens or perspective the author chooses to tell a story. The POV types are first-person, second-person, third-person limited, third-person objective, and third-person omniscient.
Define Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is the use of clues by the author to prepare audience and build suspense by providing hints of what’s to come
Define Foil
Foil is a character opposite in personality to another character in the story, strong contrast between the two character’s strengths and weaknesses.
Define Antithesis
An antithesis a figure of speech that employs contrasting ideas to emphasize a point or create a specific effect.
What is anthropomorphism?
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or behaviors to non-human entities, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Define conflict. Name the types.
Conflict is the central struggle between opposing forces that moves the plot forward. The types are internal conflict (character vs self) and external conflict (character vs character, character vs society, character vs nature, and character vs fate/supernatural)
Define Satire
Satire is a piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work
Define Epigraph
An epigraph is a short quotation, phrase, or poem placed at the beginning of a book, chapter, or section to suggest the work's theme, tone, or context.
Define Amplification
Amplification is a rhetorical device where a writer expands on a statement or idea to increase its impact and clarity.
What is colloquialism?
Colloquialism is a literary device that uses informal language, such as slang, to create a sense of realism and informality in writing, particularly in dialogue or first-person narration.
Define Plot. List the sequential order of the parts to a plot.
Plot is the sequence of connected events that make up the story of a book. Exposition, Inciting Incident, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.