Literary Terms Quizzes
Week 1
Acronym - using the first letters of all important words and assembling them in order to shorten the thing it is trying to say
i.e. LOL > laugh out loud
Alliteration - the emphasis on a certain sound (letter) through repetition of it in different words simultaneously.
i.e. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Allusion - Refers to something outside of the given piece of writing
Analogy - A comparison between unfamiliar and more familiar relationships in order to establish a better understanding of what things are like in a given situation
Antecedent action - An event that has to happen in order for another event to follow.
Apostrophe - A character physically speaking to an abstract idea
i.e. "Life, why do you love to screw with me"
Archaic Language - Writing in a manner that seems to be old fashioned for the time period in which it was written. This may be done in a mere phrase throughout a character's whole vocabulary. This can be used to create a more detailed personality.
Archetype - A typical character that seems to exhibit the universal norms of human nature.
Cliché - An overused, worn out phrase or word.
Aside - A character (usually briefly) talks to the audience
Assonance - Repetition of a sound or vowel
i.e. I might ride my bike
Anecdote - a short and interesting story often within a story made to demonstrate a point
Antagonist - the one against the protagonist. They need to add conflict to the story in order to create a powerful climax.
Ballad - A type of poem arranged in quatrains and a rhyme scheme of ABAB and it's a narrative, it tells a story.
Blank Verse - An un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter.
Character Foil - A character that widely contrasts another character in order to further highlight traits
Climax - Highest or most intense point in the development/resolution of a story
Coherence - Something logical or consistent that makes sense
Colloquialism - The use of informal language or slang in writing.
Conceit - a type of metaphor that connects two unlike things in a clever way i.e. “two lovers with the legs of a draftsman’s compass.”
Concrete Poetry - Poetry that creates the shape of whatever it corresponds with.
Connotation - Connotation refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Words carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings, in addition to their literal meanings or denotations. i.e. For instance, “Wall Street” literally means a street situated in Lower Manhattan, but connotatively it refers to wealth and power.
Context - Circumstances or events creating background for writing.
Controlling Idea - Contains the opinion of the audience because it is the thing that will make you develop an opinion.
Consonance - Basically repetition of consonance
Week 2
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Couplet - the little duos that rhyme in poetry
Convention - defining characteristics of a certain type of writing piece.
Denotation - the literal dictionary definition of a word as is.
Denouement - the final overall outcome of a story. i.e. the denouement of romeo and juliet is that the montagues and capulets feel guilty because their kids died because of this feud that doesn't have any known reason for its existence.
Hyperbole - an extreme exaggeration
Flashback - a chronological interruption in a story where we are taken back as an audience to an earlier event to provide solidarity to the story.
Euphemism - polite, indirect expressions that replace terms that are considered harsh. It's like pc but for regular vocab
Dynamic Character - a character that undergoes an important inner change
Deus Ex Machina - a device where an impossible concept or character comes in order for the concept res to occur
i.e. If in a suspense novel the protagonist suddenly finds a solution to his dilemmas because of divine intervention.
Diction - Word choice
Didacticism - explicit morals or choice of what you want the reader to get from the piece.
Direct Characterization - a way of revealing the personality of a character with adjectives and direct description.
Dilemma - a perplexing situation in which both possibilities seem to have pros and cons and the "right" answer does is not black and white.
Elegy - poem written in separated couplets, typically in honour of the deceased.
Dramatic Irony - a type of irony in which the audience knows more than the characters do.
Eulogy - a piece of writing written in honour of deceased
Exposition - it introduces the story and brings us a background for our story
1st Person POV - using pronouns "I" or "we" in storytelling which indicates a direct experience with the story.
Figurative Language - using figurative speech in order to make the piece more effective.
Flat Character - a character that doesn't seem to change much as a person in the time between the beginning and the end of the story
Free Verse - poetry that is free from limitations of certain "types" of poetry.
Foreshadowing - telling part of the story on a smaller scale before truly showing the event on the correct scale.
In Medias Res - starting shit of with some crucial event that will later mean the whole world.
Imagery - using figurative language to describe certain concepts, visuals, or objects.
Indirect Characterization - describing a character through behaviour over adjectives.
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Literal Meaning - Following the given words very closely and exactly.
Lyric - A collection of verses and choruses.
Limited Omniscient POV - The narrator knows what's up in the minds of the characters, but only some of them, not all of them.
Malapropism - The incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound.
Juxtaposition - a technique where two or more ideas, places, and/or characters are placed side by side for the purpose of comparison and contrast.
Metaphor - comparison between two things without the use of "like or as"
Metonymy - using an object in place of the name of the thing, but the object is not part of the thing. i.e. "the crown" instead of saying king
Synechdoche - using a part of a thing as a name for a whole thing. i.e. "threads" instead of just saying clothes.
Mood - a literary element that evokes emotion. It's usually expressed in the atmosphere and/or background events.
Monologue - a long speech made by one person.
Motivation - the reasoning behind a certain character's actions or behaviour.
Narrative Poetry - a form of poetry that literally tells a story.
Narrator - the voice that the author takes to tell the story.
Objective POV - With the objective point of view, the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. The narrator never discloses anything about what the characters think or feel, remaining a detached observer.
Omniscient POV - our narrator knows what everyone thinks and feels
Octet - A group of eight lines of verse.
Onomatopoeia - click! clack! skyyyyaaahhh! prrrr poom!
Oxymoron - a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction
Paradox - It is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly, but which may include a latent truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. A paradox is often used to make a reader think over an idea in innovative way.
Plagarism - using someone's work without giving them any credit.
Parallelism - Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning, or meter. Parallelism examples are found in literary works as well as in ordinary conversations.
Personification - giving an inanimate object human traits.
Plot - literally what's happening in the story.
Point of view - Point of view is the angle of considering things, which shows us the opinion or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation. In literature, point of view is the mode of narration that an author employs to let the readers “hear” and “see” what takes place in a story, poem, or essay.
Prologue - Prologue comes from the Greek term prologos, which means “before word,” is an opening of a story that establishes the setting, and gives background details.
Protagonist - A protagonist is the central character or leading figure in poetry, narrative, nove,l or any other story. A protagonist is sometimes called a “hero” by the audience or readers. The word originally came from the Greek language, and in Greek drama it refers to the person who led the chorus. Later on, the word started being used as a term for the first actor in order of performance.
Prose - Prose is a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech, and ordinary grammatical structure, rather than rhythmic structure, such as in the case of traditional poetry.