Creative Writing Literary Terms

A term used to describe an author’s use of vivid descriptions.

Which of the following is second person?

A character in a text who the protagonist opposes

A resonant figure found in many cultures and time periods

A narrative work or writing style that mocks or mimics another genre or work.

An intermediate-length (between a novel and a short story) fictional narrative

The perspective (visual, interpretive, bias, etc.) a text takes.

The “falling action” of a narrative, when the climax and central conflicts are resolved and a resolution is found

Mocks, ridicules, or pokes fun at a person, belief, or group of people in order to challenge them

An address to “a dead or absent person, or an abstraction or inanimate object”

When a text references, incorporates, or responds to an earlier piece (including literature, art, music, film, etc.)

Reflects the writer's attitude toward the subject matter or audience

Which of the following IS NOT a type of genre?

A story that an author encloses around another narrative to provide background information and context

Refers to an instance in which the author or narrator justifies his or her goals

The ways individual characters are represented by the narrator or author of a text.

A short written composition in prose that discusses a subject or proposes an argument

A figure of speech that substitutes a quality, idea, or object associated with a certain thing for the thing itself.

A protagonist of a story whose failings humanize or convey message

Refers to saying one thing and meaning the opposite

Novel that depicts an individual’s coming-of-age through self-discovery and personal knowledge

Any character, event, or device suddenly introduced to resolve the conflict

Usually located at the beginning of a text, this introduces characters, setting, background

An author’s diction, syntax, tone, characters, and other narrative techniques.

A novel comprised primarily of letters sent and received by principal characters.

Spoken exchanges between characters in a dramatic or literary work, usually between two or more speakers.

The specific language an author, narrator, or speaker uses to describe events and interact with other characters.

Which of the following is an example of an epithet?

"In medias res" literally means...

A mode of writing in which the author traces his or her thoughts verbatim into the text.

A kind of literature.

An object or element incorporated into a narrative to represent another concept or concern