LITERARY TERMS - sheffield.k12.oh.us



LITERARY TERMS 2

LITERARY TERMS WITH DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES

Allegory: a story in which people, things, and happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning (used to teach idea, moral or principle) (LWW, Terrible Things, Beauty and the Beast )

(LWW-pg. 38 pretty poor sport)

Alliteration: Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words.

(Sally sells seashells by the seashore…,playful puppy, Peter Piper…, rough and ready)

Analogy: a likeness in specific ways between things that are otherwise unlike

(ie: comparing the movement of a baseball player to a ballet dancer)

Characterization: The method an author uses to create a fictional person. May be done through description of physical appearance, speech, actions, and inner thoughts or through revealing attitudes and reactions of other characters.

(She was a shy little girl with blonde pigtails and brown eyes. Her smile went from ear to ear.)

LWW professor (p 1-2), Tumnus (8), Edmund (26 inner thoughts) dwarf (27)

(He had orange hair with many freckles)

Connotation: The associations and added meanings surrounding a word that are not part of the literal dictionary meaning of a word.

(Motorcoach vs. bus)(unusual vs. strange) (speaks a lot vs. bigmouth) (young vs. kidish) (crowd vs. mob) (house vs. home) (wife vs. bride)

Denotation: The exact dictionary meaning of a word.

(Motorcoach vs. bus)(unusual vs. strange) (speaks a lot vs. bigmouth) (young vs. kidish) (crowd vs. mob) (house vs. home) (wife vs. bride)

Fiction: A literary work that is not true

(Summer of the Monkeys, Holes, Harry Potter…)

Figurative Language: Language expanded beyond its ordinary literal meaning. (not to be taken literally)

(includes simile, metaphor, hyperbole, idiom…)

Flashback: Interruption in the action of the story, play or work of nonfiction to show an episode that happened at an earlier time (usually necessary info to plot).

(I remember the old days…, dream, dialogue, recollection) (my Grandpa and I heard the rumble of a train engine in the distance which reminded him of being in war.) (I can still remember the night 3 years ago…)

Foreshadowing: An author’s use of hints or clues to suggest events that will occur later in a narrative.

(nothing could go wrong on such a perfect day) (My dad gave me a look as if to say “just you wait until later”) (The day was looking great or so I thought.)

LWW…b/c she knew it was very foolish to shut…(p. 5, 24, 49)

…I can always get back if anything goes wrong…(24)

… still wanted Turkish delight (p. 37, 38, 46)

Hyperbole: An exaggerated statement used especially as a figure of speech to heighten effect.

(I could eat a horse, I could sleep for a year, I have given you a million clues, I will love you until all the seas run dry., She was so thin that when she tried to drink lemon-aide, she slipped through the straw.)(Did you see how far that ball went? I crushed it)

Idiom: an expression with a meaning other than the literal meaning of the word

(get lost, henpecked, at the helm, chew the fat, keep your chin up, what the doctor ordered, on a short leash, he put his foot in his mouth)

Imagery: Concrete words or details that appeal to the senses (sight, sound, touch, smell and taste, or to internal feelings). Similar to Sensory Words. Language that causes a scene to flash before the reader’s eyes or senses.

(hot, buttery popcorn, cold dark, damp basement) (The dew melted off the grass that early spring morning at camp.)

Inference: A reasonable conclusion drawn by the reader or viewer from hints, or implications, provided by the author.

(Mingler loved the conductor, Fanya lived, Melissa Dumas is pregnant, Pigman’s wife is dead) (We found out that John had the same red paint as the graffiti on the wall)

Inversion: The reversal of the usual order of words in a sentence to create a special effect or to provide emphasis. Speaks like Yoda in Star Wars.

(The river is dark brown ( Dark brown is the river.) (Pale is the February sky.) (These lessons he learned from the past.) (Happy was the girl with blonde pigtails.)

Irony: The contrast between what is expected, or what appears to be, and what actually is.

(Firehouse burning down, Eric’s grandma wanting to straighten house before Germans invaded. Get up late, spill milk on my dress, dog pukes on my shoes…it’s going to be a great day) (“What a sweet brother you are”, Stephanie said as he slammed the door in her face.)

Metaphor: A figure of speech that involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things without using “like”, “as” or “than”.

(Night is a cavalier dauntless and bold. The classroom is a cage. The hungry girl wolfed down her food. Julie was a snail. The floor was a sheet of ice.) (“Fame is a bee. It has a song. It has a sting. Ah, too, it has a wing.” By Emily Dickenson)(The teacher chimed the roll call.) (Alice was drowning in tears.)(My dog is a pig in mud.)

Mood: The total feeling of a literary work. The choice of setting, details, images...contribute to mood. Moods can be happy, sad, scary, tense, gloomy excited…

(feeling in the locker room after game was won/lost.)

(Playing for Time—serious, sad)

Nonfiction: A literary work that is true. A piece of writing that tells about people, places, or events that exist, that are happening, or that have existed or happened in the past

autobiography, biography…(Child Called It, Diary or Anne Frank)

Onomatopoeia: a word that sounds like what it means (crash, sizzle, buzz)

Oxymoron: combination of contradictory words, words that don’t fit together

(cruel kindness, sweet murder, She was pretty ugly. )

Personification: giving human characteristics to an animal or an object

(The sun smiled down on us.)(The rain danced on my windshield.)(The horse sang out his sad song.)

Plot: A series of related events selected by the author to present and bring about the resolution of some internal or external conflict. (should include 1--situation established, 2--conflict or problem 3—rising action, 4--events bring about a climax ‘or character taking decisive action, 5--the conflict is resolved) (example—see picture)

Point of View: The relationship between the narrator and the story he/she tells.

1.First person--narrator can only reveal personal thoughts and feelings or what he/she is being told. (I, me, us)

2. Third person objective--narrator is an outsider who can report only what he/she sees/hears. (they, them, she, he)

3. Third person limited--narrator is an outsider who sees into the mind of one of the characters). (they, them, she, he)

4. Omniscient--the narrator is an all-knowing outsider who can enter the minds of more than one of the characters. (they, them, she, he)

Propaganda: A persuasive technique that appeals to one’s emotions. Cannot be measured.

(Buy a Ford. Be an American.)

Rhyme: Repetition of syllable sounds (end rhymes, or internal rhymes when rhymes occur within the lines)

(mad-bad, rough-tough, sheep-sleep, old-cold)

Rhythm: A series of stressed and unstressed sounds in a group of words. May be regular or varied.

(say-say o playmate. I never saw a purple cow, I hope I never see on, but I can tell you anyhow, I’d rather see than be one. Along came the doctor, Along came the nurse, along came the lady with the alligator purse. Any jump rope saying)

Satire: A literary work in which the author ridicules the vices or follies of people and society, usually for the purpose of producing change in attitude or action.

(Political cartoon)

Setting: The time, place and general environment in which the events of a narrative occur.

Where and when the story takes place

(on a warm sunny day in a field. On a cold dark, windy December night)

Sensory words: Words appealing to the 5 senses (sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch)

Similar to Imagery

(hot buttery popcorn)

Simile: A figure of speech that involves like or as or than to point out similarities between 2 basically unlike things. (The cake was as light as a feather.)(People looked like snakes) (The storage room is like an underground tomb) (My life is a roller coaster.) (She was a hungry as a wolf.) (The man’s soul was darker than night)(The house seemed to bloom atop the hill like a daffodil in April.)

LWW-horrid solid hoofs like a wretched horse’s (p 17) LWW-like royal robes (p 52)

Stereotype: A fixed generalization idea about a character or setting.

(All bikers are druggies. cowboys in westerns, dizzy cheerleaders, wicked stepmother in fairy tales)

Symbol: A person, place, event or object that has a meaning in itself but also suggests other meanings.

(rose in Beauty and the Beast, Aslan in LWW, a flag, a wedding ring)

Theme: The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work (implied or directly stated).

Think of music and lyrics

(death, good vs. evil, poverty vs. wealth, rebellion, growing up…)

Tone: The authors expressed attitude toward the subject in a literary work (shown through stetting, choice of words, portraying characters...). Different from mood which is atmosphere.

(Don’t move an inch unless I tell you to. Please stay in your seats for now.)

LITERARY TERMS

Alliteration:

Characterization:

Connotation:

Denotation:

Figurative Language:

Flashback:

Foreshadowing:

Hyperbole:

Imagery:

Inference:

Inversion:

Irony:

Metaphor:

Mood:

Plot:

Point of View:

Rhyme:

Rhythm:

Satire:

Setting:

Simile:

Stereotype:

Symbol:

Theme:

Tone:

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