Literary Terms Review

a message about life that can be understood by most cultures

form of nonfiction in which a writer tells his or her own life story

an event that occurs that contradicts the expectations of the characters or reader

the repetition of vowel sounds not at the beginning of the word

character that develops over the course of the story

word or phrase that describes a person or thing

the conflict of the story is suddenly resolved when it previously seemed impossible

a turn/shift in a poem 

a figure of speech in which like or as are used to compare two different things

explores social and political structures that are considered dehumanizing and unpleasant

type of fiction that seeks to amuse the reader 

words at the end of the line that rhyme

character in an epic whose behavior and deeds displays qualities valued by society 

sequence of events in a literary work

beginning a story in the middle of the action

a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

most common fatal flaw

writing or speech that attempts to convince the reader to adopt a particular opinion 

the main character struggles with himself or herself

the repetition of a grammatical structure

events leading to the climax

storytelling with a focus on a character dealing with advanced technology, science & the future

depicts every day life

character that does not change over the course of the story

category or type of literature

author's attitude toward subject

the time and place of a story

a punctuation mark (;) indicating a pause that connects two main clauses

the repetition of initial consonant sounds/ used for emphasis

events that follow the climax

form of nonfiction in which a writer tells about another person

the beginning of a story that presents the setting and characters

a fourteen line poem written in iambic pentameter using various rhyme schemes

a character or force in conflict with the main character

there is a contradiction between what the character thinks and what the audience knows is true

a character who provides contrast to another character

the passing of stories, songs, & poems by word of mouth from one generation to another

character struggles with force of nature

a brief story about an interesting, amusing, or strange event told to entertain

character that has many character traits

means by which authors present material that occurred earlier than the present. 

the author directly states a character's traits

the repetition of consonant sounds not at the beginning of a word

the high point of a story

a deliberate exaggeration

character that has few character traits

the main character struggles with an outside force

language used to create pictures in the readers' mind using the five senses

the author's message in a text

detailed comparison that continues for several lines

the author provides clues about a character by describing looks, actions, & what others say

verse written with five feet and unstressed/ stressed syllables 

character struggles against society and their expectations 

related to the content of a newspaper/opinion of the newspaper

sees the world through one character's eyes and reveals only that character's thoughts

used in a literary work to suggest events that have yet to occur; creates suspense and tension.

the arrangement of things following one after the other in time

special patterns of words & ideas that create emphasis or stir emotion, especially in speeches

pattern of rhyming lines

uses credibility or believability to convince 

words are used to suggest the opposite of what is meant

an all knowing narrator that can tell what any character thinks and feels

type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics 

combines fiction, horror, and romanticism 

follows the falling action and concludes the story

a literary work that ridicules the foolishness and faults of individuals

the use of any element of language- a sound, word, phrase- more than once

a struggle between two opposing forces

an error in reasoning

situation provoking great fear

when a character in a story tells the story using "I"

one person or being is in conflict with another

a type of character, situation, or plot that occurs repeatedly throughout literature

telling of a specific instance in an author's life and how it impacted them

a story with two or more levels of meaning-literal and symbolic

character's struggle takes place within his/her own mind

a fictional tale that describes the actions of gods and heroes or explains natural phenomena 

the event that triggers the conflict of a story

prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events

a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as if it is something else

feeling created in the reader

a sentence in writing that identifies the main idea of the text

characteristic that contributes to a character's downfall

the ordinary form of written language

uses emotions or feelings to persuade