9th Grade Literary Terms
Literary Term
Alliteration
Definition
The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words
allusion
Reference to a statement, a person, a place or an event from literature, history,
religion, myth, politics, sports, science or the arts.
Analogy
A literary analogy is a comparison in which the subject is compared point by point
to something far different, usually with the idea of clarifying the subject by
comparing it to something familiar. Analogies can provide insights and also imply
that the similarities already present between the two subjects can mean even more
similarities
A direct address to a person, thing, or abstraction, such as "O Western Wind," or
"Ah, Sorrow, you consume us."
In a play, words spoken by a character directly to the audience or to another
character but not overheard by others on the stage.
The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or prose, as
in "I rose and told him of my woe."
An opinion about whether a group, person, or idea is good or bad, which influences
how you deal with it.
Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Apostrophe
aside
Assonance
bias
blank verse
Characterization
climax
colloquial diction
conflict
connotation
Consonance
couplet
credibility
denotation
diction
dissonance
dramatic irony
The way an author presents characters. In direct presentation, a character is
described by the author, the narrator or the other characters. In indirect presentation,
a character's traits are revealed by action and speech.
The most important or exciting events that come near the end of a story or
experience.
Language that is used in informal conversations.
Struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces or emotions: internal conflict
(person vs. self) and external conflict (person vs. person, person vs. nature, person
vs. society)
All the meanings, associations or emotions that word suggests.
Consonance is the repetition, at close intervals, of the final consonants of accented
syllables or important words , especially at the ends of words, as in blank and think
or strong and string or Lady lounges lazily and Dark deep dread
Two consecutive lines of poetry that form a unit, often emphasized by rhythm or
rhyme.
The quality of deserving to be believed and trusted.
To represent or mean something.
Writer’s or speaker’s choice of words; style.
The use of discordant sounds either to create an unpleasant effect or to create an
interesting variation from what is rhythmically expected
dynamic character
epiphany
Irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the
audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.
Changes in some important ways as a result of the story’s action.
A profound realization.
ethos
exposition
The set of ideas and moral attitudes belonging to a person or group.
Type of writing that explains, gives information, or clarifies an idea; basic situation
falling action
figurative language
flat character
foil
foreshadow
formal diction
Free verse
hyperbole
iambic pentameter
idiom
imagery
irony
juxtaposition
logos
metaphor
meter
mood
Motif
Onomatopoeia
oxymoron
paradox
Parallelism
pathos
personification
persuasiveness
plot
It is also the term for the first part of a plot (the basic situation), which presents the
main characters and their conflicts.
The part of a literary plot that occurs after the climax has been reached and the
conflict has been resolved.
Speech or writing that departs from literal meaning in order to achieve a special
effect or meaning, speech or writing employing figures of speech (e.g. simile,
metaphor, personification, hyperbole, etc.)
An easily recognized character type in fiction who may not be fully delineated but is
useful in carrying out some narrative purpose of the author.
A secondary character who serves as a contrast to another character
To use clues to hint at events that will occur later in the plot
Language used for official or serious situations, or for when you do not know the
people you are with very well.
Poetry without a regular pattern of meter or rhyme. The verse is "free" in not being
bound by earlier poetic conventions requiring poems to adhere to an explicit and
identifiable meter and rhyme scheme in a form such as the sonnet or ballad.
Overstatement or exaggeration for the sake of emphasis
Line of poetry made up of five iambs.
A common figure of speech whose meaning is different from the literal meaning of
its words
Language that appeals to the senses.
Contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality.
The act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for
comparison or contrast
Rational argumentation appealing to logic or reason
Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without using
a connective word such as like, as, than or resembles.
A generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.
The atmosphere of emotional condition created by the piece within the setting.
Mood refers to the general sense or feeling which the reader is supposed to get from
the text; it does not, as a literary element, refer to the author’s or character’s state of
mind. (Not that mood is a literary element, not a technique; the mood must
therefore be described or identified. It would be incorrect to simply state, “The
author uses mood.”) The mood of Macbeth is dark, murky, and mysterious, creating
a sense of fear and uncertainty.
A recurring important idea or image. A motif differs from a theme in that is can be
expressed as a single word or fragmentary phrase, while a theme usually must be
expressed as a complete sentence. Often times, a motif helps to develop the theme
through a work.
The use of words that sound like what the mean, such as “gulp” and “hiss”.
A combination of words that seem to mean the opposite of each other (e.g. a sad joy,
a wise fool)
A statement or situation that seems strange or impossible because it contains two
ideas or qualities that are very different but both true (e.g. "They have ears but hear
not.")
Use of similar or identical language, structures, events or ideas in different parts of a
text.
The quality that a person or a situation has that makes you feel pity or sadness
Type of metaphor in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were
human.
A quality in writing designed to change the way a reader or listener think or acts.
Series of related events that make up a story or drama.
Point-of-view
The perspective from which the story is told.
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premise
quatrain
refrain
relevancy
repetition
resolution or denouement
rhyme scheme
rhyming couplet
rising action
round character
setting
simile
Situational irony
social relevancy
soliloquy
sonnet
stanza
static character
subject (of poem)
sufficiency
symbolism
tension
theme
The most obvious point of view is probably first person or "I."
The omniscient narrator knows everything, may reveal the motivations,
thoughts and feelings of the characters, and gives the reader information.
With a limited omniscient narrator, the material is presented from the
point of view of a character, in third person.
The objective point of view presents the action and the characters' speech,
without comment or emotion. The reader has to interpret them and uncover
their meaning.
A narrator may be trustworthy or untrustworthy, involved or uninvolved
A formal statement or idea that you think is true and used as a base for developing
other ideas.
A stanza or poem of four lines, usually with alternate rhymes.
A line or set of lines at the end of a stanza or section of a longer poem or song--these
lines repeat at regular intervals in other stanzas or sections of the same work.
Sometimes the repetition involves minor changes in wording.
Bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinent: a relevant remark.
The repeating of words, sounds, phrases, lines, or elements of syntax. Repetition
can either emphasize or decrease the meaning of the repeated words, phrases, or
lines.
The final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
The pattern of rhymed lines in a poem.
A pair of successive lines of verse, a pair of rhymes and are of the same length.
A related series of incidents in a literary plot that build toward the point of greatest
interest.
A character in fiction whose personality, background, motives, and other features
are fully delineated by the author.
Time and place of a story or play.
Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things by
using a connective word such as like, as, than, or resembles.
A contrast between what a reader or character expects and what actually exists or
happens. The unexpected twist in the outcome of “The Gift of the Magi” by
O.Henry is an example of situation irony.
An idea that relates to what is current. Plato’s Crito has social relevancy since it
discusses civic duty and we are currently at war with Iraq.
Long speech in which a character who is alone on stage expresses private thoughts
or feelings.
Fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in iambic pentameter
An arrangement of lines of verse in a pattern usually repeated throughout the poem.
Typically, each stanza has a fixed number of verses or lines, a prevailing meter, and
a consistent rhyme scheme. A stanza may be a subdivision of a poem, or it may
constitute the entire poem
A literary character that remains basically unchanged throughout a work.
That which forms a basic matter of thought, discussion, investigation.
As much as you need for a particular purpose.
When a person, place, thing or event stands for something beyond itself.
The feeling that exists when people do not trust each other and may suddenly attack
each other or start arguing.
The central idea or insight revealed by a work of literature.
tone
tragedy
Understatement
Verbal irony
The attitude a writer or speaker takes toward the reader, audience, subject, or a
character.
A tragedy is a dramatic work that presents the downfall of a dignified character
(tragic hero) or characters who are involved in historically or socially significant
events. The events in a tragic plot are set in motion by a decision that is often an
error in judgment (tragic flaw) on the part of the hero. Succeeding events are
linked in a cause-and-effect relationship and lead inevitably to a disastrous
conclusion, usually death. Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a
tragedy.
A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker says less than what he or she means;
the opposite of exaggeration
Verbal irony exists when someone knowingly exaggerates or says one thing and
means another.