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LITERARY TERMS- DEFINITIONS
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LITERARY TERMS- DEFINITIONS
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LITERARY TERMS- DEFINITIONSallegory - Answers- Characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities; the
writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface story.
alliteration - Answers- In poetry or prose, the repetition of consonant sounds at the
beginning of words or within words. Used for unity, emphasis, and musical effect.
allusion - Answers- A passing reference to historical or fictional characters, places, or
events, or to other works that the writer assumes the reader will recognize. Commonly
made to the Bible, the works of Shakespeare, and Greek mythology.
analogy - Answers- A comparison of similar things, often for the purpose of using
something familiar to explain something unfamiliar.
antagonist - Answers- The force that opposes the protagonist. An antagonist can be a
character or even a force of nature. Antagonists are not necessarily "bad," just opposite
of the protagonist.
antihero - Answers- A central character (protagonist) who lacks traditional heroic
qualities and virtues (such as idealism, courage, steadfastness, intelligence, and
bravery.)
aphorism - Answers- A statement of a principle of truth, usually an observation about
life; a maxim. Often used to characterize or develop theme in literature.
archetype - Answers- A specific type of character that recurs consistently enough in life
and literature to be considered universal.
assonance - Answers- The close repetition of middle vowel sounds between different
consonant sounds; used within a line of poetry for unity or rhythm.
cacophony - Answers- Harsh, clashing, or dissonant sounds; the opposite of euphony.
Produced by combinations of words that require a quick, explosive delivery.
chaismus - Answers- A grammatically balanced statement of contrasting or opposing
ideas in which the second half of the statement inverts the word order of the first half.
cliché - Answers- Any expression that has been used so often it has lost its freshness
and precision.
climax - Answers- The moment of highest intensity in a story, after which nothing can
be the same.
conflict - Answers- The struggle between opposing forces that determines the action in
a story. There are two main types: internal and external.
, connotation - Answers- The associations, images, or impressions carried by a word, as
opposed to the word's literal meaning. Opposite of denotation.
consonance - Answers- The close repetition of identical consonant sounds before and
after differing vowel sounds, used to create emphasis and unity.
couplet - Answers- In poetry, two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme and are written
with the same pattern of stressed/ unstressed syllables (meter.)
denotation - Answers- The exact dictionary definition of a word. Opposite of
connotation.
dialect - Answers- The version of a language spoken by people of a region or social
group.
diction - Answers- Word choice.
dystopia - Answers- The opposite of a utopia; an undesirable imaginary society, usually
futuristic.
ethos - Answers- The Greek philosopher Aristotle divided our means of persuasion into
three types. This type is used when a writer or speaker tries to persuade his audience
by appealing to authority (his own or another's.)
euphony - Answers- The opposite of cacophony, this refers to a succession of sweetly
melodious sounds that create smoothly flowing prose or poetry.
fable - Answers- Usually a short, simple story designed to illustrate a moral lesson,
most often featuring animals as characters who exhibit human frailties.
figurative language - Answers- Language that contains figures of speech such as
metaphor, simile, personification, and hyperbole meant to be interpreted imaginatively
rather than literally.
flashback - Answers- Flashbacks occur in literature and film when the story includes
scenes from the past, creating a non-linear narrative.
foil - Answers- A character that is the opposite of another character in a story. Foils help
to define and highlight character traits in others by contrast.
foreshadowing - Answers- In literature, the technique of giving hints or clues to suggest
or prepare for events that occur later in the work; creates suspense and makes final
outcomes seem inevitable.
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