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Literary Terms and Techniques

Alliteration- repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or accentedsyllables. Writers use alliteration to emphasize ideas and to create pleasing sounds.

Allusion- a reference to a well-known person, place, or event, literary work, or work ofart. By using allusions, writers can bring to mind complex ideas simply and easily.

Apostrophe- a figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent person ora personified quality, object or idea. This technique is often used to add emotional

intensity.

Assonance- the repetition of similar vowel sounds.

Blank Verse- poetry or drama written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Caesura- a pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry.

Climax- the turning point or high point in a plot.

Connotation- an association that a word calls to mind in addition to the dictionary

meaning of the word.

Characterization- the way in which an author develops the personality of a character.

Conflict- a struggle between opposing forces.

Consonance- the repetition of consonant sounds at the ends of words or accentedsyllables.

Couplet- a two-line stanza.

Denouement- that portion of the plot that reveals the final outcome of its conflicts or the

solution of its mysteries.

Deus ex machine (god from the machine)- the resolution of a plot by use of a highlyimprobable chance or coincidence.

Dialect- the form of language spoken by people in a particular region or group.

Dialogue- a conversation between characters.

Diction- a writer or speakers word choice. Diction is part of a writers style.

Dilemma- a situation in which a character must choose between two courses of action,both undesirable.

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Exposition- As a mode of communication, it is writing or speech that explains, informs,

or presents information. In terms of the dramatic structure of a literary work, the

exposition occurs in the beginning of the piece and acts as an introduction of the maincharacters, the plot, and the setting.

Figure of Speech- way of saying one thing and meaning another.

Foil- a character who provides a contrast to another character.

Flashback- a section of a literary work that interrupts the chronological presentation of

events to relate an event from an earlier time.

Foreshadowing- a textual clue in a literary work to an upcoming event or characterchange.

Free Verse- poetry that lacks a regular rhythmical pattern or meter.

Gothic- refers to the use of primitive, medieval, wild, or mysterious elements in

literature.

Hyperbole- a deliberate exaggeration or overstatement.

Imagery- words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses. Writers useimagery to create word pictures and other sense experiences for the reader.

Irony- In verbal irony, a word or phrase is used to support the opposite of its usualmeaning. In dramatic irony, there is a contradiction between what a character thinks and

what the audience or reader knows to be true. In irony of situation, an event occurs that

directly contradicts the expectations of the characters, the reader, or the audience.

Lyric Poem- a poem that expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker.

Metaphor- a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were

something else. It is an implied comparison such as the long sleep of death.

Meter- the rhythmical pattern of a poem determined by the arrangement of stressed andunstressed syllables.

Metonymy- the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant. For,example in the line Life spilled from the wound, the metonymy lies in the fact that life

is meant to signify blood.

Monologue- a speech delivered entirely by one person or character.

Mood- the atmosphere or feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage.

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Motivation- a reason that explains a characters thoughts, feelings, actions, or speech.

Narration- writing that tells a story.

Narrative Poem- a story in the form of verse.

Narrator- a speaker or character who tells a story.

Omniscient Point of View- an all-knowing third person narrator.

Onomatopoeia- the use of words that imitate sounds.

Oxymoron- a figure of speech that combines two opposing or contradictory ideas, suchas freezing fire.

Paradox- a statement that seems to be contradictory but that actually presents a truth.

Parallelism- the repetition of a grammatical structure. For example, the lines What do

we want of these men?/What do we want of ourselves? contain the parallel use of thephrase What do we want of Writers use parallelism to emphasize and link ideas.

Parody- a humorous imitation of a literary work, one that exaggerates or distorts the

original.

Personification- a figure of speech in which a nonhuman subject is given human

characteristics.

Plot- a sequence of events in a literary work; the arrangement of the action.

Point of View- the perspective or vantage point from which a story is told.

Refrain- a repeated line or group of lines in a poem or song.

Rhyme Scheme- a regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem.

Rising Action- that part of the plot in a story that leads up to the climax. During therising action, suspense increases as complications of the conflict develop.

Satire- writing that ridicules or criticizes individuals, ideas, or institutions, socialconventions, or other works of art or literature.

Simile- a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two subjects usinglike, as, orthan.

Setting- the time and place of the action.

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