AMERICAN LITERATURE

50 Common Literary Terms

Fiction

A work that is not based on reality

Drama

A play

Poetry

The writings of a poet that are considered beautiful and graceful; usually written in a specific format

Non-fiction

A story or writing that is based on truth and reality

Characterization

How the character is described in terms of its personality, physical appearance and character.

dialogue

Conversation between two or more characters

monologue

A speech, usually very long, that is give by one character only in the presence of other people

Direct characterization

When the author describes the character for the audience through vivid detail and description

Indirect characterization

When the reader determines what the character is like through inferences made in the reading

Setting

When and where the story takes place

Chronological order

When a written work is ordered from the oldest to the most recent; ordered by date

Epistolary Form

When a work is written in the form of letters

Frame Narrative

A story that is written within another story; similar to a dream within a dream

Point of View

The perspective from which the story is told

Tone

The overall voice that the author portrays in a work

Diction

The word choice a person/ author makes when writing

Rhetoric

The art of writing and argumentation

Syntax

The order in which words appear in a sentence

Mood

The overall feeling or atmosphere the work gives to the reader

Theme

The overall meaning or message a work sends to its audience

End Rhyme

Rhyme that comes at the end of a line in a poem

Internal Rhyme

rhyme between a word within a line and another either at the end of the same line or within another line

Slant Rhyme

Words that do not quite rhyme but are still paired within a poem. Ex. Gain and again

Assonance

the use of words that have the same or very similar vowel sounds near one another. Ex. as in “summer fun” and “rise high in the bright sky”

Alliteration

Repeated consonant sounds Ex. Suzy sells seashells

Blank Verse

un-rhyming verse written in iambic pentameter. It has 10 syllables per line

narrative

A written work that comes in the form of a “story”

Ballad

any light, simple song, especially one of sentimental or romantic character, having two or more stanzas all sung to the same melody.

Lyric

having the form and musical quality of a song, and especially the character of a songlike outpouring of the poet's own thoughts and feelings, as distinguished from epic and dramatic poetry.

Sonnet

a poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, with rhymes arranged according to one of certain definite schemes

Literary Period

The time frame in which a work was written as it portrays the characteristics consistent with other works written in the same time. Ex. Modernism

Stream of Consciousness

a literary style in which a character's thoughts, feelings, and reactions are depicted in a continuous flow uninterrupted by objective description or conventional dialogue

Irony

the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect

Sarcasm

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt

Situational Irony

irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.

Dramatic Irony

Irony in a play in which the audience knows something that the characters do not.

Verbal Irony

When a person says or writes one thing and means another, or uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning.

Satire

the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues

Ex. Family Guy

Figurative Language

Similes, metaphors, imagery, ways to describes things in vivid detail and with comparisons

Simile

A comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’

Metaphor

A comparison that does not use ‘like’ or ‘as’

Hyperbole

Extreme exaggeration

Idiom

an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket

Connotation

The implied meaning of a word

Denotation

The given definition of a word

Cognates

Words from different languages that sound alike because both languages are derived from the same langage.

Ex. Fabuloso and fabulous