Literary Terms Review

An introductory section or scene in a work that contains information that enlightens the plot

An introduction to a book that sates its goals or intentions

Repetition of words, phrases, or sentence that have the same grammatical structure or state similar idea

Type of writing that ridicules human weakness in order to bring about social reform; uses exaggeration

An additional piece of information printed at the bottom of a page

A statement or situation that seems to be a contradiction but reveals the truth

Repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonants sounds in words that are close together

The serious weakness that causes the main characters downfall

Struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a single character

A figure of speech involving two contradictory terms

Two consecutive lines of poetry that form a unit

A short introduction to a book’s subject matter

The dictionary definition of a word

Play, novel, or other narrative depicting serious and important events, in when the main character meets unhappy ends

A method of organizing information by showing where things are located

Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together

A short note or supplement placed alongside a main text

Story in which characters and settings stand for abstract ides or moral qualities

A re-write of a passage in your own words including details and points

A struggle between a character and an outside force

When what actually happens is the opposite of what is expected

A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning

A quality of writing meaning that is is easily understood

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter (10 syllables with alternating stress)

A quality of writing meaning that it is logical and consistent

The writer tells the reader what a character is like

Uncertain; able to be interpreted in a number of different ways

A long speech in which a character in a play who is alone onstage expresses private thoughts or feelings

Th act of putting all the different sources of information together in order to give a better understanding

An expression specific to a particular language that means something different from the literals meaning of the words

Quality of writing meaning that it works together to form a whole

The pattern of end rhymes occurring in a poem

A method of organizing information by putting details into related groupings

Series of related events that make up a story or drama

In a play, words spoken by a character directly to audience/another character but not overheard by others on stage

Reader must put together clues to figure out what characters are like

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

A summation of information clearly and in as few words a possible

A method of organizing information by ranking details

The arrangement of details in the order in which they occurred

The narrator plays no part in the story and focuses on the thoughts and feelings of only one character

Repetition of an accented vowel sound and all sounds following them in words close together

The narrator plays no part in the story but can tell the reader the thoughts and feelings of all characters

Any organizational pattern that writers use to make their meaning clear

Occurrence of the same or nearly the same word, phrase, or pattern

Reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing known from literature, history, religion, myth, etc.

A set of instructions or rules used to evaluate a work

A story’s atmosphere or the feeling it evokes in the reader

The central idea or insight about human life revealed by a work of literature; the revelation for the reader to discover

A summary of a text usually about one-third the length of original and containing all major points

Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests meaning

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences

Mask or voice taken on by the writer; used when written in first-person POV but speaker is not literally the author

Time and place of a literary work

When the audience knows something important that the character does not know

A brief statement of the main point of something

Musical quality in language produced by repetition

Repeated word, phrase line, or group of lines

A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words

The attitude a writer takes toward a subject, character, or reader

The person or force that blocks the main character

Very brief account of a particular incident often used to point out truths about life

The main character

An account written by a writer who did not participate directly in the events described

A comparison made between to things to show how they are alike

A translation or explanation of a word, phrase, or passage

An analysis of a literary work in order to reveal its meaning

A speaker says one thing but means the opposite

List of books or documents referred to in a scholarly work

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

A long narrative speech directed at other characters on stage

Character who serves as a contrast to another character to emphasize their differences

A concluding section in a book, typically by a person other than author

An original, firsthand account of an event; autobiography

The narrator is a character in the story