Literary Terms

Literary Terms for 8th Grade Alliteration- the repetition of initial constant sounds Allusion- a reference to a well known person, place, event or work of art or story Antagonist- a character or force in conflict with the main character Assonance- repetition of a vowel sound Atmosphere- feeling created by a literary work Autobiography- story about someone's life written by the person Ballad- song-like poem that tells a story Biography- story of someone's life Blank Verse- a poem without a rhyme or a beat Character (major & minor)- a person or an animal who takes place in the story; major is a character that has a big part in the story, a minor character is a character that has less of a role in the story Climax- the point of the story where the story line reaches its high point Conflict- a struggle between opposing forces Couplet- a two lined stanza Denouement- the ending or the closing of a story Dialect- regional version of a language Dialogue- spoken words between characters Exposition- a writing or a speech that informs or explains Fable- a brief story with animals with a lesson of moral Fantasy- a writing that has many elements not contained in real life Fiction- a writing that tells about imaginary characters and/or events Flat Character- a character with only one or two personalities and has little history Folk Tale-a type of story that is passed down by word of mouth Foot- a group of stresses within a line Foreshadowing- a method of hinting what is to come later in the story earlier in the book Free Verse- a poem with no pattern rhythm or beat Genre- a type of story; science-fiction, fantasy, fiction, horror and biography Hero/Heroine- the character in the story that the reader is supposed to side with and does all of the brave and daring obstacles in the story Hyperbole- an exaggeration for affect Iamb- a type of foot Imaginary- not real; a mental picture Irony- a contradiction to support the story

Legend- a widely told stories that may or may not be true Lyric Poem- a musical poem that puts out the poet's view Metaphor- a figure of speech as something is described as something else Meter- a poem in a rhythm pattern Moral- a lesson teaching literary work Onomatopoeia-`words used in place of the sound: Crash, Bang and Boom Oxymoron- words phrase that is a contradiction of itself- sweet and sour sauce Parable- a short story with a simple moral lesson Pentameter- a verse written in five-foot lines Personification- a figurative type of speech that uses non-humans in human phases: MotherEarth, Father Time Plot- the outline of the story and the main ideas and events Point of View- the way a person looks on a happening, event, place or person Protagonist- the character or force the main character is up against Rhyme- the repetition of sound at the ends of words Rhyme Scheme- the way a rhyme is set up Rhythm- the beat for a poem Round Character- a character, that has many emotions and a deep history Science Fiction- a writing that tells about imaginary events that involve science or technology Setting- the time and place the story takes place Simile- a figure of speech that makes a direct comparison between two unlike subjects using like and as Sonnet- a poem that contains fourteen lines Stanza- a group of lines in a poem considered as a unit Symbol- anything that stands or represents something else Theme- a central message or insight into the life expressed in the literary work Tone- the attitude toward the subject and audience conveyed by the language and rhythm of the speaker in a literary work Jargon- confused, nonsensical, meaningless talk; usually of a particular group or activity Syntax- the way words are put together to form phrases, clauses, or sentences Omniscienthaving infinite awareness, understanding, and insight Implicit- understood though not directly stated Explicit- clearly and precisely expressed Idiom- a speech form or expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its

separate words as in keep tabs on Expository- serving to explain something Flashback- a section of a literary work that interrupts the sequence of events to relate an event from an earlier time Epic- a long poem in elevated style narrating the deeds of a hero