Essential Literary Terms

Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds in words to create an effect [Example: Merry maids a-milking] Allusion: a reference within a literary text to some person, place, or event outside the text. Analepsis: more commonly known as a flash!ack" Analogy: a comparison !ased upon a similarity !etween two things. #t can function as an extended simile or metaphor. Anaphora: a figure of speech in which a word or words are repeated, usually at the !eginning of successive sentences or lines of verse. Example: #n every cry of every man #n every infant$s cry of fear #n every vice, in every !an %he mind-forg$d manacles # hear. &illiam 'lake, London Assonance: the repetition of a vowel sound in words to create an effect [Example: (a)y, ha)y days] Atmosphere: the mood or tone created !y descri!ing the characters and the setting in a piece of writing Blank Verse: a form of poetry which does not rhyme Consonance: a form of rhyme in which the vowels are the same !ut pronounced differently [Example: love, prove] Enjambment: the running on of thought in poetry, from one line or couplet to the next Foreshadowing: a hint of events to come or later developments Free Verse: poetry without a rhythmic pattern or rhyme Hyperbole: deli!erate and a!surd exaggeration for effect [Example: #t$s raining cats and dogs.] magery: the images evoked !y the author$s descriptions to enhance the readers$ understanding* images may involve all of the five senses or may !e figurative nternal !hyme: the rhyming of two or more words in a single line [Example: %he mate, that fate had me created for +,ohnny Mercer, That Old Black Magic+] rony: the meaning the speaker or writer intends to convey is different from the literal meaning

"etaphor: a device often used in poetry in which one thing is descri!ed in terms of another "ood: the emotion of a piece of writing created !y the writer "oti#: a recurring theme, idea, image throughout a literary work $nomatopoeia: the sounds of the words used resem!le their meaning [Example: splat-] $%ymoron: a com!ination of words or terms that appear contradictory [Example: working holiday] &arado%: an apparent contradiction that asserts the truth [Example: the last shall !e first] &athetic Fallacy: giving human feelings to o!.ects in nature &ersoni#ication: giving human /ualities to inanimate o!.ects, ideas, or animals !epetition: a literary device used as a function of emphasis !hyme: words with the same terminal sounds* often used at the end of lines of poetry !hythm: a regular pattern or flow of language, usually in poetry 'etting: the place, time, and culture in which the action of a narrative takes place 'imile: a comparison, using the words like" or as", !etween two things which may !e dissimilar 'tan(a: a group of lines in a poem* similar to a paragraph in prose 'tyle: the literary devices used !y an author in constructing text 'uspense: a !uild up of events to capture the attention of the audience until the outcome is revealed 'ymbolism: the use of images and sym!ols to represent complex ideas 'ynecdoche: a figure of speech in which the part stands for the whole or the whole for the part. [Example: in !rave hearts and steady hands," hearts and hands stand for people. #n the police are investigating the case," the police stands for some police.] Theme: the central point a!out which the text is composed Tone: a reflection of the attitude of the writer