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Voice
The way the writer or speaker uses words and tone to express ideas as well as his or her persona or personality
Syntax
The arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence; the way in which words are put together to make meaningful elements such as phrases, clauses, and sentences
Conflict
A struggle or problem in a story.
Mood
The atmosphere or general feeling in a literary work
External Conflict
Occurs when a character struggles against outside forces. This force may be another character, a societal expectations, or something in the physical world
Internal Conflict
Occurs when a character stuggles between opposing needs or desires or emotions within his or her own mind
Persona
The voice assumed by a writer to express ideas and beliefs that may or may not be his or her voice.
Plot
The sequence of related events that make up a story or novel
Symbolism
Using an object, animal, event, person, place etc. to not only represent itself but also stand for something else on a figurative level
Attitude
An author's feelings toward a subject
Allusion
A reference made to a well-known person, event, or place from history, music, art, or another literary work
Imagery
The use of a word or phrase that appeals to one of more of the five senses and creates a picture
Figurative Language
Imaginative language or figures of speech not meant to be taken literally
Argument
A form of writing that presents a particular opinion or idea and supports it with evidence
Theme
A writer's central idea or main message about life
Synthesis
The act of combining ideas from different sources to create, express, or support a new idea
Narrative pacing
The speed at which a narrative moves
Counterclaim
A position taken by someone with an opposing viewpoint
Perspective
A way of looking at the world or a mental concept about things or events, one that judges relationships within or among things or events
Tone
A writer's or speaker's attitude toward a subject character, or audience
Refutation
The reasoning used to disprove an opposing viewpoint
Claim
A position statment (or thesis) that asserts an idea or makes an argument for a specific purpose
Artifact
An object made by a human being, typically an item that has cultural or historical significance
Ethos
Appeal to authority
Pathos
Appeal to emotion
Logos
Appeal to logic
Dramatic Irony
The audience knows something a character does not know
Verbal Irony
Saying the opposite of what you mean
Situational Irony
A situation in which the outcome is the opposite of what is expected
Simile
Comparing two unlike things using like or as
Hyperbole
Dramatic exaggeration
Pun
A joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word
Personification
Giving a non-human thing human qualities
Connotation
An idea or feeling a word evokes in addition to its literal meaning
Denotation
The literal meaning of a word
Tragic Flaw (hamartia)
A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a hero
Shakespearean Tragedy
A noble, yet flawed, protagonist is placed in a stressful situation and meets a fatal end
Tragic Hero
A person of noble birth who is fated to destruction or doom
Direct Characterization
Specifically revealed traits about a character that are given in a direct or straightforward mannerr
Indirect Characterization
Showing a characters traits or personality through that character's speech, actions and appearance
Allegory
A story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning
Central Symbol
An object in a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning
Motif
A repeated idea, object or symbol in a story that can be used to interpret a theme from that story
Alliteration
The repitition of initial consonant sounds in words that are close together
Analogy
A comparison between two things for the purpose of drawing conclusions on one based on its similarities to the other
Anaphora
The repitition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of two or more clauses or lines
Antagonist
The character who opposes or struggles against the main character
Aphorism
A short statement expressing an opinion or general truth
Aside
A short speech spoken by an actor directly to the audience and unheard by the other actors on stage
Assonance
The repitition of similar vowel sounds in accented syllables, followed by different consonant sounds, in words that are close together
Blank Verse
Unrhymed verse
Cliche
An overused expression or idea
Climax
The point at which the action reaches its peak; the point of greatest interest or suspence in a story; the turning point at which the outcome of a conflict is decided
Couplet
Two consecutive lines of verse with end rhyme; usually expresses a complete unit of thought
Deductive Reasoning
A process of using general information from which to draw a specific conclusion
Dialogue
The words spoken by characters in a narrative or film
Drama
A play usually about a serious topic or situation
Dynamic Character
In literature, one who changes in response to the events of a narrative
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor that extends over several lines or throughout an entire poem
Fallacy
False or misleading argument
Flashback
An interruption in the sequence of events to relate events that occured in the past
Foil
A character whose actions or thoughts are juxtaposed against those of a major character in order to highlight key attribues of the major character
Free Verse
Poetry without a fixed pattern of meter or rhyme
Genre
A kind of style of literature or art, each with its own specific characteristics.
Iambic Pentameter
A rhythmic pattern of five feet (or units) of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
Inductive Reasoning
A process of looking at individual facts ot draw a general conclusion
Juxtaposition
The arrangment of two or more things for the purpose of comparison
Literary Theory
The attempt to establish principles for interpreting and evaluating literary texts
Memoir
An autobiographical account of the personal experiences of the author
Meter
A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry
Monologue
A dramatic speech delivered by a single character in a play
Narrative
A story about a series of events that includes character developement, plot structure, and theme
Narrator
The person telling the story
Ode
A lyrical poem expressing feelings or thoughts of a speaker, often celebrating a person, event, or a thing
Onomatopoeia
Words whose sound suggest their meaning
Oxymoron
Words that appear to contradict each other
Paraphrase
To briefly restate ideas from another source in one's own words
Parenthetical Citations
Used for citing sources directly in an essay
Paradox
A statement that contains two seemingly incompatible points
Parody
A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule
Point of View
The perpective from which a narrative is told, that is, first person, third-person limited, or third-person omniscient
Prologue
The introduction or preface to a literary work
Prose
Ordinary written or spoken langauge, using sentences and paragraphs, without deliberate or regular meter or rhyme
Protagonist
The central character in a work of literature, the one who is involved in the main conflict in the plot
Proverb
A short saying about a general truth
Quatrain
A four-line stanze in a poem
Repetition
The use of any element of language-a sound, a word, a phrase, a line, a stanze-more than once
Resolution (Denouement)
The end of the play, story, or novel in which the main conflict is finally resolved
Rhetoric
The art of using words to persuade in writing or speaking
Rhyme
The repetition of sounds at the end of words
Rhythm
The pattern if stressed and unstressed syllables in a sooken or written langauge, especially in poetry
Rising Action
The movement of a pot toward a climax or moment of greatest excitement
Satire
A manner of writing that mocks social conventions, actions, or attitudes with wit and humor
Setting
The time and place in which a story happens
Solliloquy
A long speech delivered by an actor alone on the stage representing his or her internal thoughts
Sonnet
A fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter and following a strict pattern of rhyme
Stanza
A group of lines, usually similar in length and pattern, that form a unit within a poem
Subplot
A secondary or side story that supports the main plot and usually involves minor characters
Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole or vice-versa
Thesis
The main idea or point of an essay or article
Valid
believable or true
Verify
To prove or confirm that something is true
