Literary Terms Vocabulary

a story with a hidden meaning, typically moral or political

“Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution.”

the repetition of initial consonant sounds

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers demonstrates alliteration.”

an indirect reference to something outside the text

“Calling someone a 'Scrooge' is an allusion to Dickens.”

something placed in the wrong historical period

“A wristwatch in a Roman epic would be an anachronism.”

repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

“Churchill's 'We shall fight' speech uses powerful anaphora.”

the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times is an antithesis.”

a concise statement expressing a general truth

“Actions speak louder than words is a common aphorism.”

a universal symbol or character type recurring across cultures

“The hero's journey is a common archetype in mythology.”

emotional release or purification through art

“The tragedy provided catharsis for the audience.”

the final resolution of a plot

“The denouement revealed the murderer's identity.”

the choice and use of words in speech or writing

“The author's formal diction suited the historical setting.”

a mournful poem lamenting the dead

“Auden wrote an elegy for W.B. Yeats.”

a sudden realization or insight

“The character's epiphany changed the course of the story.”

a mild expression substituted for a harsh one

“Passed away is a euphemism for died.”

hints about future events in a narrative

“The dark clouds foreshadowed the coming tragedy.”

excessive pride leading to downfall

“The king's hubris ultimately destroyed his kingdom.”

deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or effect

“I've told you a million times is hyperbole.”

expression of meaning through opposite words or outcomes

“A fire station burning down is a classic example of irony.”

placing two elements close together for contrasting effect

“The juxtaposition of wealth and poverty highlighted inequality.”

a recurring theme or element throughout a work

“The green light serves as a leitmotif in The Great Gatsby.”

understatement by denying the opposite

“Saying 'not bad' when you mean 'good' is litotes.”

mistaken use of a word for a similar-sounding one

“Saying 'for all intensive purposes' instead of 'intents and purposes' is a malapropism.”

a direct comparison between two unlike things

“Life is a journey is a common metaphor.”

substituting the name of an attribute for the thing itself

“The pen is mightier than the sword uses metonymy.”

a recurring element that has symbolic significance

“Water is a motif representing rebirth in the novel.”

a combination of contradictory terms

“Deafening silence and living dead are oxymorons.”

an imitation for comic effect or ridicule

“The film was a parody of action movie clichés.”

a quality that evokes pity or sadness

“The orphan's story was full of pathos.”

attributing human qualities to non-human things

“The wind whispered through the trees is personification.”

ordinary written language, as opposed to poetry

“The novel is written in elegant prose.”

the main character in a story

“Hamlet is the protagonist of Shakespeare's play.”

the use of humor or irony to criticize or expose

“The article was a satire of corporate culture.”

a comparison using 'like' or 'as'

“Her eyes sparkled like diamonds is a simile.”

a speech revealing a character's thoughts to the audience

“Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' is a famous soliloquy.”

using a part to represent the whole or vice versa

“All hands on deck uses synecdoche.”

the arrangement of words and phrases in sentences

“Yoda's unusual syntax makes his speech distinctive.”

a common or overused theme or device

“The chosen one is a familiar fantasy trope.”

the appearance of being true or real

“The historical details added verisimilitude to the novel.”

the spirit or mood of a particular period

“The music captured the zeitgeist of the 1960s.”

a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something

“The antagonist plotted against the hero at every turn.”

a phrase, quotation, or poem at the beginning of a document or component

“The novel began with an epigraph from Dante.”