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Allegory A story with two or more levels of meaning:

literal and symbolic

Alliteration

The repetition of same consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words.

e.g. The infamous killer fought for his freedom, wanting no flesh but retreat.

Allusion

A reference to a mythological, literal, or historical person, place, or thing.

e.g. He met his Waterloo. Like the prodigal, he returned to his hometown…

Analogy

A comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them. Analogies explain

the unfamiliar by comparing it to something familiar.

Anaphora

First word or phrase is repeated at or near the beginning of successive sentences, clauses, or

phrases "What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the

United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness; but is love and wisdom and compassion toward

one another… Robert F. Kennedy, Announcing the death of Martin Luther King

Anecdote A short narrative, detailing particulars of an

interesting episode or event.

Antagonist The character who stands directly opposed to

the protagonist.

Appositio

(apposition)

Words are placed side by side (in apposition to) each other with one word describing or clarifying

the other; adjacent nouns or noun substitutes with one elaborating the other.

"I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker."

-- Barbara Jordan, 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote Address

Atmosphere The prevailing mood of a work of literature, created through details of setting and tone.

(MAD)

Bias A preconceived idea about something or

someone; a bias may be favorable or unfavorable

Caricature In literature (as in art) portrait which ridicules a person by exaggerating and distorting his most

prominent features and characteristics.

Characterization The representation of persons in narrative and

dramatic works using the character types.

Climax The turning point or crisis, from which no return

seems possible, a moment of great intensity.

Communism

Ideally, a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community

and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.

Conflict The tension in situation between characters.

Man’s battle against Man, Self, nature and God.

Connotation All the suggested meanings and associations that

a word brings to mind, beyond its literal meaning (denotation).

Creation

In the beginning… The time before ‘the fall’; a time in history in which the earth and the people on it lived in

harmony with God. The world as God intended.

Creation Myth Explains how the universe, earth, and life began.

Deism

Rational belief in God: a belief in God based on reason rather than revelation and involving the

view that God has set the universe in motion but does not interfere with how it runs.

Denotation The literal meaning or dictionary definition of a

word. Basic meaning of a word, without its emotional coloration or associations.

Denouement Another word for ‘falling action’ which leads to

the resolution. “Unknotting”.

Dynamic Character A character that develops and changes as a

result of the actions of the plot.

Empathy Putting yourself in someone else’s place and

imagining how that person must feel.

Enlightenment c. 1660–1790

An intellectual movement that emphasized the importance of reason, progress, and liberty. The

Enlightenment, sometimes called the Age of Reason, is primarily associated with nonfiction

writing, such as essays and philosophical treatises.

Euphemism

The use of roundabout language to replace terms that are considered too blunt or

unpleasant. e.g. He’s pushing up daisies.

Exposition Sets the scene in time and place. Provides the

context for the action.

Fascism

A political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual

and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader,

severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

Fall

Now… The time since Adam and Eve were expelled

from the Garden of Eden. The present. A time when the earth and the people on it are

separated from God by sin. By exercising free choice, man corrupted what God intended.

Falling Action Falling action forces a resolution. The action in a

play or a story that is the result of the climax.

Figurative Language

Language used to create a special effect or feeling – by using figures of speech (tropes). Language that is not meant to be interpreted

literally.

Flashback A scene that interrupts the action of a work to

show a previous event.

Foreshadowing The use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest

future action.

Gothic Fiction

c. 1764–1820

A genre of late-18th-century literature that featured brooding, mysterious settings and plots and set the stage for what we now call “horror stories.” The term “Gothic” includes any work

that attempts to create an atmosphere of terror or the unknown, such as Edgar Allan Poe’s short

stories.

Historical Narrative Accounts of real life historical experiences

written by someone who experienced the events first hand (observer or participant)

Humanism

a system of thought that is based on the values, characteristics, and behavior that are believed to

be best in human beings, rather than on any supernatural authority

Hyperbole

A deliberate, extravagant and often outrageous exaggeration, used for comic or serious effect.

"So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

-- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address

Idiom An expression peculiar to a language that cannot

be translated literally. e.g. It’s raining cats and dogs

Imagery Words or phrases a writer uses to represent persons, objects, actions, feelings, and ideas

descriptively by appealing to the senses.

Irony

The difference between appearance and reality. DRAMATIC: the reader or audience knows more

about the immediate circumstances or future events of a story than a character within it.

SITUATIONAL: the situation turns out differently from what one would normally expect.

VERBAL: the speaker or narrator says one thing while meaning the opposite.

Metaphor

An implied comparison of two unlike things; not using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

"The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want."

-- Psalm 23:1 (KJV)

Metonymy

The name of one thing is applied to another thing with which it is closely related

e.g. “The pen is mightier than the sword.” “I love Shakespeare.”

Modernism c. 1890s–1940s

A literary and artistic movement that provided a break with traditional modes of Western art,

thought, religion, social conventions, and morality. Major themes include the attack on notions of hierarchy; experimentation in new

forms of narrative, such as stream of consciousness; doubt about the existence of

knowable, objective reality; attention to alternative viewpoints and modes of thinking.

Mood

The atmosphere or predominant emotion in a literary work. The emotional-intellectual attitude of the author toward the subject.

MAD

Moral The lesson to be learned from a story, poem,

fable, play or any work which purports to teach anything directly or indirectly.

Motif

One of the dominant ideas in a work of literature; a part of the main theme. It may consist of a character, a recurring image or a

verbal pattern.

Myth

An anonymous traditional story with its roots in cultural or national folk beliefs that rely on the

supernatural to explain the mysteries of the world.

Naturalism c. 1865–1900

A literary movement that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping

human character.

Onomatopoeia The use of words with sounds that imitate or

suggest their meanings. e.g. clang, woof, tring tring

Oral Tradition Stories that were not written down, but passed

verbally from generation to generation.

Oxymoron

A type of paradox that combines two terms ordinarily seen as opposites.

e.g. ‘bitter sweet’, ‘cold fire’. The oxymoron was a common form of Petrarchan conceit.

Parody The imitative use of words, style, attitude, tone, and ideas of an author in such a way as to make

them ridiculous. A type of satire.

Personification An object, quality or idea is presented as having

human qualities. e.g. The moon winked goodnight.

Pilgrim One of the group of Puritans who founded the

colony of Plymouth, Mass., in 1620

Plot The sequence of events or actions in a short

story, novel, play or narrative poem.

Point of View

The perspective from which a narrative is told. First person: the narrator appears as the “I” . Second person: A rarely used narrative style

using ‘you, ‘yourself, ‘your’. A preachy style, like giving a set of instructions.

Third person: The narrator is not a character within the related events, but stands outside

those events.

Prejudice

Prejudice is prejudgment, or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case. The word is often used to refer to preconceived, usually unfavorable, judgments toward people or a person because of gender, political opinion, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race/ethnicity, or other personal characteristics.

Propaganda

Information of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular

political cause or point of view. The deliberate dissemination of misleading

information as a political strategy.

Prosopopoeia A personified abstraction is capable of speech.

Protagonist The central character of a story, novel, play or

dramatic poem.

Pun A play on words that are identified or similar in sound but have sharply diverse meanings. Puns

can have serious as well as humorous uses.

Puritan

A member of a group of Protestants that arose in the sixteenth century within the Church of

England, demanding the simplification of doctrine and worship and greater strictness in

religious discipline

Realism c. 1830–1900

A reaction to the Romantic emphasis on the strange and idealistic. A literary movement that

seeks to report life as exactly as possible. Technically, realism refers to a late-19th-century

literary movement that aimed at accurate detailed portrayal of ordinary, contemporary

life. Naturalism can be seen as an intensification of realism.

Redemption

And ever shall be… The grace of Jesus which urges humanity to yearn for restoring relationship with God. A process which begins while still living in the

fallen world, but ends when the redeemed are united with God for eternity.

Resolution Those events which form the outcome of the

climax of a play or story.

Rising Action Part of a play that precedes the climax.

Romanticism c. 1798–1832

A literary and artistic movement that reacted against the restraint and universalism of the Enlightenment. The Romantics celebrated spontaneity, imagination, fascination with

supernatural, subjectivity, focus on individual and self, and the purity of nature, as well as a

deep-rooted idealism and passion for nationalism.

Sarcasm

The use of verbal irony in which a person appears to be praising something but is actually

insulting it. e.g. “She’s a real winner.” When she’s just fallen

from the podium. Sarcasm is personal, jeering and intended to hurt. It is a caustic and bitter expression of

strong disapproval.

Satire

A literary work that seeks to criticize and correct the behavior of human beings and their

institutions by means of humor, wit and ridicule. A literary tone used to make fun of human vice

or weakness

Setting The time (temporal) and place (geographic) in

which an event takes place.

Simile

A direct comparison of two different things or ideas using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.

"But His strong love stands like a granite rock unmoved by the hurricanes of our inequity."

-- [originally delivered by Charles Haddon Spurgeon]

Socialism

A political and economic theory of that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by a central government According to Marxist theory, a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism.

Stereotype A conventional formulaic and oversimplified

conception, opinion or image.

Style The writer’s characteristic manner of employing

language. The characteristics that distinguish one writer’s work from the work of others.

Symbol

Any object, person, place, or action that has both a meaning in itself and that stands for

something larger than itself. e.g. A Dove stands for peace.

Theism

Belief that one God created and rules humans and the world, not necessarily accompanied by belief in divine revelation such as through the Bible; Belief in the existence of a god or gods.

Theme

The central message of a literary work. It is not the same as the subject which can be explained in a word or two, e.g. courage, survival, pride… The theme is the idea that the author wishes to convey about the subject. It is expressed as a sentence or general statement about life or the human condition or human nature.

Tone

The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward a subject, character or audience, and it is

conveyed through the author’s choice of words and detail. Tone can be serious, humorous,

sarcastic, indignant, objective, etc.

Trickster Tale Features and animal or human character who

engages in deceit, violence, and magic.