Literary Terms

a question requiring thought to answer or understand

a characters incentive or reason for behaving in a certain manner

the moment in a work in which is a very significant change occurs

light verse consisting of five lines of regular rhythm

the emotional atmosphere of a work

a work in which the protagonist is engaged in a significant struggle and which ends in ruin

long narrative poem written in elevated style about an adventure

an object that is used to represent something else

the point of highest interest in a literary work

the one who tells the story (first or third person, limited or omniscient)

a word formed from the imitation of natural sounds

reflects the characteristics of romanticism (lit. movement 18th century)

example of personification 

harsh, inharmonious, or discordant sounds

the vantage point from which a story is told

a story or narrated account

a narrative passed down from the past, containing historical elements and usually supernatural

a brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters

the art of presenting ideas in a effective manner

the word, phrase, or clause to which pronoun refers

the time place and environment in which an action takes place

the repetition of initial sounds in successive or neighboring words

a formal speech praising person who has died

the quality in a work that promise the reader to feel pity

a major category or type of literature

the customary way language or its elements are used

 define paraphase

harsh, cutting language or tone intended to ridicule 

an indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

the deliberate representation of something as lesser in magnitude

the everyday speech of a particular country or region

the attitude of a writer toward the subject or audience

the subject treated in a paragraph or work

the use of humor to emphasize human weakness

comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

direct comparison of two different things

a real or fictional episode

a reference to something that the author assumes the reader will recognize

a traditional story presenting supernatural characters and episodes that explain natural events

the specialized language or vocabulary of a particular group

the use of figures of speech to create vivid images that appeal to one of the sences

a central idea

placing two elements side by side to present a comparison or contrast

the action of a narrative or drama

a situation that requires a person to decide between two things

conversation between two or more people

language employing one or more figures of speech

use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning

the word choices made by a writer

a humorous imitation of a serious work

a standard theme, element, or dramatic situation that reoccurs

a concise statement that expresses succinctly a general truth or idea

a detail, image, or character type that occurs frequently in literature

a conclusion one draws based on premises or evidence

the implied or associative meaning of a word

a story that concerns an unreal world or contains unreal characters

earlier event into the normal chronological order of a narrative

intentional exaggeration to create an effect

a statement of the meaning or main point of literary work

the presentation of material so a reader can be prepared for future work

a comparison of two things using  "like" or "as"

a play on words

a variety of speech characterized by its own particular grammar

an apparently contradictory statement that actually contains some truth

an expression that has been overused to the extent that its freshness has worn off 

an expression in which two words that contradict each other are joined

the choices a writer makes; the combination of distinctive features of a literary work

a moment of sudden revelation or insight

an expression in a  certain language that cannot be understood from the literal meaning

the primary position taken by a writer or speaker

the arrangement or framework of a sentence, paragraph, or entire work