Definitions and examples of Literary terms.

Allegory
A literary work in which nearly all of the characters, events, settings, and other
literal elements of the story have a second, symbolic meaning. In most cases,
allegories advance a very clear moral lesson.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory in which the barnyard animals who
overthrow the farmer and take over the farm represent the Russian Revolution and its
aftermath.

Alliteration
The repetition of an initial consonant sound in words that are close together, such
as within a single sentence or line of poetry.

The third stanza of Emily Dickinson’s “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” uses alliteration in
both the second and third lines:
He likes a Boggy Acre -
A Floor too cool for Corn -
But when a Boy and Barefoot
I more than once at Noon

Allusion
An indirect reference to something outside the text, usually a person, place, thing,
or idea that is generally familiar to the intended audience. Allusions often refer to
historical events or people, other works of literature, mythology, or popular culture.

The following lines from Romeo and Juliet contain an allusion to Aurora, the Roman
goddess of the dawn.
But all so soon as the all-cheering sun
Should in the farthest east begin to draw
The shady curtain from Aurora’s bed . . . (1.1.124–126)

Anachronism
An historically inaccurate detail in a literary work, included by the author either
unintentionally or deliberately.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the characters refer to a clock striking three. This is
an anachronism because clocks had not been invented at the time Julius Caesar lived.

Anagram
A word or phrase that can be spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or
phrase.

You may know the fiction writer Ashwin Sanghi by his pen name, Shawn Haigins, which is
an anagram of his real name.

Analogy
A comparison that explains how two dissimilar things are similar in some ways,
usually with the purpose of explaining complex ideas or making a persuasive
argument.

Anaphora
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of sentences or
clauses, usually creating a rhythmic effect.

Martin Luther King, Jr. used anaphora frequently in his “I Have a Dream” speech:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed . . .
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves
and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood . . .

Antagonist
A character or force in a story that opposes, or works against, the goals of the
protagonist (main character).

In Shakespeare’s Othello, the villainous Iago serves as the antagonist, abusing Othello’s
trust in order to sabotage his happy marriage.

Antihero/Antiheroine
A protagonist (main character of a story) who lacks heroic qualities such as
integrity, courage, and morality.

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, protagonist Holden Caulfield serves as
an antihero, narrating his misguided and unsuccessful attempts to make meaningful
personal connections in a society he largely despises.

Antithesis
A rhetorical technique that uses parallel grammatical structure to contrast two
opposing ideas.

Many ancient proverbs use antithesis to promote one idea over another. Notice how the
parallel sentence structure in the following proverb sets up a clear contrast between two
ideas, leaving no doubt about which is better:
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed
him for a lifetime.”

Aphorism
A brief, memorable statement that captures a broad, universal truth or idea.

Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack contains many well-known aphorisms.

Two of the most famous are:
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
“God helps them that help themselves.”

Characterization
Any of the various techniques used by an author to reveal the traits of a character
to the reader.

Although Satan is the antagonist in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, many readers feel that
Milton’s characterization of Satan portrays him in a heroic light.

Climax
The point of highest tension in a story, in which the main conflict is faced and
ultimately resolved.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the climax occurs after Ralph and Piggy demand
that Jack return Piggy’s stolen glasses. When Jack’s tribe kills Piggy and forces Ralph to
flee into the jungle, it becomes clear that Jack has triumphed over Ralph in their struggle
for supremacy on the island.

Conflict
The central struggle that drives the plot of a story or, more generally, any struggle
between opposing forces in a story. Literary scholars often classify conflicts
as internal, in which a character struggles with some internal dilemma, or external,
in which a character struggles against outside forces like nature, other characters,
or supernatural forces.
In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the main conflict pits the protagonist, Ralph,
against the antagonist, Jack. Throughout the story, the two boys compete to become the
dominant leader of the boys stranded on the island, with Ralph embodying the rules and
order of civilization and Jack the opposing tendency toward terror and violence.

Couplet
In poetry or verse, a pair of consecutive lines of poetry that form a complete
thought, usually rhyming and having the same meter and sometimes placed in their
own stanza.

A Shakespearian sonnet is a fourteen-line poem consisting of three quatrains (four-line

stanzas) followed by a rhyming couplet that often concludes the poem with an unexpected
twist. For example, the couplet below concludes a sonnet in which the speaker mostly
laments the fact that age will someday degrade his lover’s beauty. “This” in the first line
refers to having a child through whom one’s own lost beauty can live on.
This were to be new made when thou art old,
And see thy blood warm when thou feel’st it cold.

Diction
The word choice of a writer or speaker; style of writing or speaking, as related to
word choice.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain uses informal,

colloquial diction to develop the character of his narrator, a poor, uneducated boy from
Missouri. Huck’s use of regional slang and incorrect grammar becomes an important part
of his character, as is clear even from the novel’s opening lines:
You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr.
Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but
mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or
another. . . (Chapter 1)

Dramatic Irony
A literary device in which one or more characters in a story remain unaware of plot
developments that have already been revealed to the audience, giving rise to
humor, suspense, or double meanings.

Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to create tension and humor throughout Othello. Iago,
the play’s villain, frequently reveals his diabolical schemes to the audience in monologues
and asides, out of the hearing of Othello and his other unwitting victims, who for some
reason seem to trust him absolutely.

Epilogue
A concluding section or speech at the end of a literary work, often used to provide
closure.

Shakespeare’s plays often conclude with an epilogue in which one of the characters
delivers a speech that neatly sums up the outcome of the play’s events. For example, at the
conclusion of The Tempest, Prospero, the vengeful protagonist, delivers a speech in
which he directly addresses the audience, asking them to pardon him for his faults and
“release” him from the stage with their applause.

Falling Action
The part of a story’s plot that immediately follows the climax (when the main
conflict is resolved) and moves the story toward its resolution.

The falling action of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart occurs after the climax, when
Okonkwo realizes that his killing of the District Commissioner’s messenger has failed to
inspire his fellow tribesmen to unite against the white colonizers. Utterly defeated,
Okonkwo hangs himself, bringing his tragic story to a close.

Foil
A character whose traits contrast with those of the protagonist or another main
character, thereby highlighting some aspect of that character.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the noble, loyal Banquo acts as a foil to Macbeth, the
treacherous, treasonous protagonist

Foreshadowing
A detail in a literary work that hints at events that will occur later, often to create
suspense or expectation.

From the very beginning of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses foreshadowing to
hint at Gatsby’s tragic downfall:
“No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul
dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the
abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.” (from Chapter 1 of The Great
Gatsby)

Hero/Heroine
The main character (protagonist) of a literary work, especially one who exhibits
admirable traits such as courage and righteousness; in mythology, heroes/heroines
also typically possess supernatural powers or other qualities.

Elizabeth Bennet is the heroine of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Harry is
the hero of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

Imagery
Descriptive or figurative language that attempts to evoke mental images by
appealing to the reader’s senses of sight, sound, smell, texture, or taste.

In these lines from Robert Frost’s poem "Birches," the speaker uses vivid imagery to help
the reader imagine the sights, sounds, and feelings they might experience while surveying
frozen birch trees after an ice storm.
Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

Metaphor
A figure of speech that features a comparison between two disparate things that
are not literally the same. Unlike similes, metaphors do not use the words “like” or
“as.”

Shakespeare’s plays make frequent use of metaphors, many of which have become famous.
The lines below use a metaphor to compare the world to a theater in which people are the
actors (players).
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts . . .” (As You Like It, II.vii.142–145)

Metonymy
A figure of speech in which the name of one object or concept is substituted for the
name of something else that is closely related to it.

The following sentence employs metonymy by substituting the place where Congress meets
(Capitol Hill) for Congress itself and the place where the President lives (the White House)
for the President’s administration.
No legislation has passed on Capitol Hill without the support of the White
House for several years.

Monologue
An extended speech given by one speaker or character, either to themselves, or to
others without interruption.

In Tom’s monologues throughout The Glass Menagerie, he often speaks directly to the
audience, providing stage directions, exposition, or reflection.

Mood
The emotional atmosphere of a work of literature, as evoked by setting, imagery,
word choice, style, and tone. The mood may expand, deepen, or shift over the
course of a work.

The opening sentence of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities perfectly sets
the mood for the complex story he is about to tell, eliciting confusion and mixed feelings:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was
the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
 was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in
short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest
authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative
degree of comparison only.

Motif
The technique of using repetition of an idea, event, image, phrase, or symbol
throughout a literary work to illuminate and expand the major themes.

In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the narrator frequently describes the oppressive
heat of the island at various points throughout the story. This motif establishes a
connection between the island’s hostile environment and the physical and psychological
oppression of the boys stranded there.

Narrator
The speaker telling the story in a narrative work of literature.

In Marie Semple’s novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, the narrator is the abandoned
fifteen-year-old daughter of Bernadette. All of the action is filtered through the lens of her
experience.

Oxymoron
A figure of speech linking two opposite or contradictory words or ideas together to
form a neat paradox. Oxymorons may be employed to reveal contradictions, give
the reader pause, or for comic effect.

Many oxymorons have become part of our common vernacular. For example, the adjective
“passive-aggressive” combines two words with opposite meanings, but it is frequently
used to describe those who disguise aggression or resentment with outwardly polite or
passive behavior.

Paradox
A provocative statement that contradicts itself yet is typically true in some sense.
In George Orwell’s 1984, two of the official slogans of the Party serve as stark examples
of paradox: “WAR IS PEACE” and “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY.” Although these statements
appear to be patently false, they embody two of the twisted, elemental truths propagated by
the Party.

Parallelism
The repetition of similar grammatical structures within a sentence or passage, often
for emphasis or to draw connections between objects.

Great orators often employ parallelism to make their ideas memorable. Consider the
underlined phrases in this line from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech,
which uses parallel structure to highlight King’s dream of racial equality.
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former
slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the
table of brotherhood. . . “

Parody
In literature, an imitation of another literary work that mocks, critiques, or makes
light of the original.

“For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls,” by Christopher Durang, is a one-

act parody of The Glass Menagerie, caricaturing the overbearing Southern mother and
exaggerating the idiosyncrasies of the other three characters.

Personification
A type of metaphor in which human attributes are assigned to inanimate objects or
abstract ideas.

Zora Neale Hurston uses personification throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God to
powerful effect, such as here, near the end of the novel, once Janie is home again and after
Pheoby has left her:
“The day of the gun, and the bloody body, and the courthouse came and
commenced to sing a sobbing sigh out of every corner in the room; out of each and
every chair and thing. Commenced to sing, commenced to sob and sigh, singing and
sobbing.” (Chapter 20)
Plot
The sequence of major events of a narrative or dramatic work, usually consisting of
five basic elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

The plot of most romantic comedies can be succinctly described as: two people meet, they
fall in love, they experience some challenge and break up, they cross paths again, they
resolve their problem and reunite.

Point of view
The perspective from which the events of a story are reported to the reader or
audience. Point of view can limit or expand the reader’s access to information
about the action of the story, as well as the internal lives of the characters.

In novels, there are three basic types of point of view: first-person, third-person, and less
commonly, second-person. In first-person, the narrator is a witness, participant, and
chronicler of the action. In third-person, the narrator observes and reports on the actions
of the characters, but is not herself a character. This narrator can be omniscient, where
they have full knowledge of all characters and situations, or limited, where they only have
knowledge of one character’s perspective. In second-person, the narrator addresses the
reader as “you,” effectively drawing the reader into the action of the story.

Prologue
An introductory section of a piece of literature, especially of plays, that precedes the
inciting action of the story. The prologue is often designed to explain background or reveal
context to the audience so they better understand the story that follows.
In the prologue of Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie, Tom Wingfield, the
protagonist, addresses the audience directly and explains his role in the play:
[TOM:] I am the narrator of the play, and also a character in it. The other
characters are my mother, Amanda, my sister, Laura, and a gentleman caller who
appears in the final scenes.

Prose
Any form of writing that does not observe the limiting features of verse, particularly line
breaks. Prose is the most dominant form of both fiction (novels, short stories, plays) and
nonfiction (essays, articles, speeches, emails).

Keen readers of Shakespeare will notice that “low-born” characters nearly always speak
in prose, while their high-born counterparts generally speak in verse.

Pun
A play on words that depends on substituting homophones (words that sound alike with
different meanings, for example, “tail” and “tale”) or words that sound enough alike that
using them interchangeably results in a humorous or provocative effect.

The most enjoyable puns are those that surprise the reader or listener, as when a child
complained about a loud car alarm (“That sound is irritating!”) and then discovered her
own pun (“Get it? Ear-itating!”)

Protagonist
The main character in a narrative. The central plot of the story focuses on this character.

Sometimes a work’s title contains the name of the protagonist, as in The

Odyssey (Odysseus) The Aeneid (Aeneas) Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre), and Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter). But this is not always the case.

Satire
A literary style that ridicules human vice or folly, often through humor, irony, and
sarcasm.

In her short story “A Telephone Call,” Dorothy Parker uses biting satire to mock the folly
of romantic love, amplifying the pathetic desperation of her poor heroine as she waits for a
phone call from a potential suitor:
I must stop this. I mustn't be this way. Look. Suppose a young man says he'll call a
girl up, and then something happens, and he doesn't. That isn't so terrible, is it?
Why, it's going on all over the world, right this minute. Oh, what do I care what's
going on all over the world? Why can't that telephone ring? Why can't it, why can't
it? Couldn't you ring? Ah, please, couldn't you? You damned, ugly, shiny thing. It
would hurt you to ring, wouldn't it? Oh, that would hurt you. Damn you, I'll pull
 your filthy roots out of the wall, I'll smash your smug black face in little bits. Damn
you to hell.

Setting
The time and place in which a story unfolds.

The setting of The Crucible by Arthur Miller is the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, in
1692.

Simile
A figure of speech in which two objects are directly compared, usually including
either “like” or “as” in the comparison.

The Romantic poets were especially fond of similes, as in the title of William Wordsworth’s
poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.”

Situational Irony
The humorous or surprising effect of a situation in which the outcomes diverge
widely from expectations.

O. Henry was the master of situational irony, expertly captured in his short story, “The
Gift of the Magi.” A husband and wife each secretly sell their most prized possession in
order to buy each other gifts that complement the very possessions they’ve sold.

Soliloquy
A monologue given by a character in a play at a time when the character is alone
or believes no other characters are present.

Like many playwrights, Shakespeare typically uses soliloquy to reveal a character’s

internal dilemmas. Hamlet’s speech that begins “To be or not to be? That is the question
—" is perhaps the most famous soliloquy in English literature.

Sonnet
A formal poem consisting of fourteen lines and following a standard rhyme
scheme. Petrarchan sonnets consist of an eight-line stanza followed by a six-line
stanza, while Shakespearean sonnets comprise three quatrains followed by a
rhyming couplet.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)” follows the
Petrarchan structure, with a rhyme scheme of abba abba cdcdcd.

Stanza
A group of lines in a poem that is separated from other lines, similar to a paragraph
in prose.

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge contains 143 stanzas of
varying length.

Style
Describes all the elements that contribute to a particular piece or type of writing,
sometimes of a specific writer, such as diction, sentence structure, point of view,
use of literary devices, etc.

William Faulkner’s stream-of-consciousness style features long, complex sentences made of

many subordinate clauses, without the expected punctuation to guide the reader.

Symbol
Anything that is meant to represent or evoke something else, especially a concrete
object meant to represent an intangible idea.

Throughout the Bible, the dove is a symbol for the Holy Spirit. In pop culture, the dove
often symbolizes peace

Theme
An underlying or emerging abstract idea or concept explored in a literary work. One
work may explore multiple themes.

The dystopian novels 1984, Brave New World, and The Handmaid’s Tale all explore
the theme of subjugation of the individual for the benefit of society.
Tone
In literature, the attitude of a writer, narrator, or speaker toward the subject matter,
as expressed by style, word choice, or demeanor.

Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 tells the story of a U.S. Air Force squadron forced to fly
dangerous bombing missions during World War II. Despite the serious subject matter, the
narrator’s humorous, ironic tone reveals Heller’s disdain for the absurdity of war.

Voice
The distinctive style of expression of an author, narrator, speaker, or character,
which is established by diction, point of view, tone, and other literary devices.

Each writer makes countless choices, both conscious and unconscious, that contribute to
their unique voice. Consider just a few of the many ways to say “goodbye,” and how each
option shapes the voice of the speaker:
Goodbye!
Byebye!
Until we meet again.
May God go with you!
See you on the flip side.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Smell ya later.