Literary Terms

Question 1

Used by poets, novelists, and other writers to appeal to the reader’s five sense.

Answer 1

What is imagery?

Question 2

A figure of speech in which a thing– an idea or an animal– is given human attributes.

Answer 2

What is personification?

Question 3

A literary term where you use “like” or “as” to compare to different things and show a common quality between them.

Answer 3

What is Simile?

Question 4

A comparison between unrelated things without using comparative terns (such as, but not limited to, like or as).

Answer 4

What is metaphor?

Question 5

Basically a reference to something else. It’s when a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an earlier part of the current work.

Answer 5

What is allusion?

Question 6

In literature, ____ are often characters, settings, images, or other motifs that stand in for bigger ideas. Authors often use ____ (or “____”) to give their work with more meaning and to make a story be about more than the events it describes. This is one of the most basic and and widespread of all literary techniques.

Answer 6

What is symbolism?

Question 7

A ____ is a symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story. ___ can be symbols, sounds, actions, ideas, or words.

Answer 7

What is a motif?

Question 8

____ is a figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely and obviously exaggerates to an extreme.

Answer 8

What is hyperbole?

Question 9

____ is a literary device that involves intentionally using a word or phrase for effect, two or more times in a speech or written work.

Answer 9

What is repetition?

Question 10

________, also known as _____, is when phrases in a scentence have similar or the same grammatical structure. In its most basic usage, _____ provides a phrase with balance and clarity. _____ also serves to give phrases a pattern and rhythm.

Answer 10

What is parallelism?

Question 11

Literature’s answer to karma. When characters (good or bad) get what’s coming to them.

Answer 11

What is poetic justice?

Question 12

The author’s implicit attitude toward the reader or the people, places, and events in a narrative.

Answer 12

What is tone?

Question 13

The way the narrative makes the reader feel.

Answer 13

What is mood?

Question 14

When a character struggles with their own opposing desire or belief.

Answer 14

What is internal conflict?

Question 15

When the protagonist’s central conflict is with an outside force.

Answer 15

What is external conflict?

Question 16

The central character in a text.

Answer 16

What is a protagonist?

Question 17

The person or force that opposes the protagonist and often impedes on their ability to overcome the core conflict.

Answer 17

What is an antagonist?

Question 18

The physical and social context in which the action of a story occurs. The major elements of ____ are the time, place, and social environment that frames the characters.

Answer 18

What is a setting?

Question 19

The central meaning or dominant idea in a literary work. A ____ provides a unifying point but is NOT the actual subject of the story. A ____ is not a topic or a message. A _____ is the author’s commentary on a subject.

Answer 19

What is a theme?

Question 20

Climax
———————-
Rising Action Falling Action
__________________——————— ———————-________________
Exposition Denoument/Resolution

Answer 20

Freytag’s Pyramid of Plot

Question 21

Auditory Imagery

Answer 21

Sound

Question 22

Tactile Imagery

Answer 22

Touch

Question 23

Visual Imagery

Answer 23

Sight

Question 24

Olfactory Imagery

Answer 24

Scent

Question 25

Gustatory Imagery

Answer 25

Taste

Question 26

This happens when a (hu)man comes into conflict with nature.

Answer 26

Conflict With Nature

Question 27

This conflict happens with the thinking and subsequent actions of the people that do not match and create a conflict between them.

Answer 27

Conflict With Another Person

Question 28

This happens when the main protagonist comes into conflict with the social setup, norms, traditions, and conventions.

Answer 28

Conflict With Society

Question 29

The part of the narrative that provides necessary background information about the characters and their circumstances. Includes what has gone on before, the relationship between chaarcters, the development of a theme, and the introduction of a conflict.

Answer 29

Exposition

Question 30

The part of the narrative plot where complications arise and create conflict for the protagonist.

Answer 30

Rising Action

Question 31

The moment of greatest emotional tension in a narrative, usually the marking of the turning point.

Answer 31

Climax

Question 32

The part of the plot where the tensions diminish and the conflict begins to resolve.

Answer 32

Falling Action

Question 33

The conclusion of the plot’s conflicts and complications. Also known as resolution. Literally means the loose ends are tied up.

Answer 33

Denouement

Question 34

Told with pronouns “I”, “me”, and “we”. The character(s) tell(s) the story of what happens to them.

Answer 34

First Person POV

Question 35

Told with pronoun “you”.

Answer 35

Second Person POV

Question 36

Told ith “he”, “she”, “they”.

Answer 36

Third Person POV

Question 37

An all-knowing narrator who is not a character in the story and who can move from place to place and pass back and forth through time. ____ narrators can report the thoughts and feelings of the characters, as well as their words and actions.

Answer 37

Omniscient

Question 38

The process by which the writer reveals the personality of character.

Answer 38

Characterisation

Question 39

____ tells the audience what the personality of the character is.

Answer 39

Direct characterisation

Question 40

Shows things that reveal the personality of a character.

Answer 40

Indirect Characterisation.

Question 41

Methods of Indirect characterisation

Answer 41

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