Alliteration – repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”
Allusion – a reference to something well-known that exists outside the literary work
Analepsis– the method of returning to an earlier point in time for the purpose of making the present clearer (flashback)
Antagonist– character that is the source of conflict in a literary work
Aside – a dramatic device in which a character makes a short speech intended for the audience but not heard by the other characters on stage
Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds: “Anna’s apples,” “the pond is long gone”
Characterization– The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities
Conflict – struggle between two or more opposing forces (person vs. person; nature; society; self; fate/God.
Dialogue – direct speech between characters in a literary work
Diction – word choice to create a specific effect
Figurative Language –language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non-literal language). Includes simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbol)
Foreshadowing– hint of what is to come in a literary work
Genre – type or category to which a literary work belongs
Hyperbole – extreme exaggeration to add meaning
Imagery – language that appeals to the five senses
Interior monologue – the thoughts of a character
Irony – Dramatic… when the reader or audience knows something a character does not
Situational… when there is a disparity between what is expected and what actually occurs
Verbal… when the speaker says one thing but means the opposite
Metaphor – an implied comparison between dissimilar objects: “Her talent blossomed”
Metonomy – where a concrete attribute of a thing stands in for it. For example, the crown for the monarchy.
Motif– a recurring feature of a literary work that is related to the theme
Onomatopoeia – use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning: “hiss”
Oxymoron – phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: “living dead” or “Microsoft works”
Personification – figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics
Plot– The sequence of events in a literary work
Point of view– the vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told…
1st person point of view- the narrator is a character in the story (use of ‘I’)
3rd person point of view- the narrator is outside of the story (use of ‘he’ ‘she’ ‘they’)
Prolepsis – a figure of speech in which a future act or development is represented as if already accomplished or existing. (Flashforward)
Protagonist– the main character in a literary work
Rhyme – repetition of similar or identical sounds: “look and crook”
Rhyme Scheme – pattern of rhyme among lines of poetry [denoted using letters, as in ABAB CDCD EE]
Setting– The time and place of a literary work
Simile – a direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as: “I wandered lonely as a cloud”
Soliloquy – a dramatic device in which a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud
Speaker – voice in a poem; the person or thing that is speaking
Stanza – group of lines forming a unit in a poem
Stereotype– standardized, conventional ideas about characters, plots and settings
Stichomythia – dialogue spoken by two actors in alternating lines
Suspense – technique that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next
Symbol/symbolism – one thing (object, person, place) used to represent something else
Synaesthesia – the mixing of different senses. For example, in Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Blackberry picking’ sound becomes physically tangible: ‘Bluebottles wove a strong gauze of sound’
Synecdoche - a literary device that uses a part of something to refer to the whole.
Syntax – the order of words in a sentence.
Theme – the underlying main idea of a literary work. Theme differs from the subject of a literary work in that it involves a statement or opinion about the subject.
Tone – the author’s attitude toward the subject of a work.
Zeugma – one word qualifying two others with different meanings: she broke his leg and his heart
mrs odriscoll 10W/E 