Literary Terms List
Honors 9th Grade Literature-Composition
1.Allegory – a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning
2.Alliteration - repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words
3.Allusion - a brief reference to a person, event, place, or work of art; used to enhance writing
4.Anachronism -placing an event, person, item, or verbal expression in the wrong historical period
5. Anecdote- short narrative account of an amusing, unusual, revealing, or interesting event; (example: Chaucer's
"Canterbury Tales," contains "The Miller's Tale" and "The Carpenter's Tale”)
6.Archetype - generic, idealized model of a person, object, or concept from which similar instances are derived,
copied,patterned, or emulated
7. Blank Verse- (also called unrhymed iambic pentameter): Unrhymed lines of ten syllables each with the even-
numbered syllables accented; has been called the most "natural" verse form fordramatic works,
since it supposedly is the verse form most close to natural rhythms of English speech
8. Bildungsroman – protagonist who undergoes growth through entire narrative; growth is often impeded by
opposition of their desires by other characters; a "Coming Of Age Story”
9. Cacophony - harsh, discordant sounds
Characters & Characterization terms:
10. Direct Characterization – specifically writing about a character; (example: “She is a nice person.”)
11. Indirect Characterization – writing that implies what a character is; (ex: “She would give you her last penny.”
to imply that a person is charitable)
12. Dynamic Character – character who changes in an important way
13. StaticCharacter – character who does not change significantly
14. Flat Character – character with only one or 2 character traits(ex: ‘dumb blonde”,“mean step-mother”)
15. Round Character - character with many character traits; fully developed character
16. Claim/ Warrant - (in writing) - To state to be true, especially when open to question
17. Connotation- implied meaning of a word (opposite of denotation)
18. Denotation – dictionary definition of a word
19. Diction -writer’s choice of words, phrases, sentence structures, and figurative language, to help create meaning
20. Didactic Literature–Writing designed explicitly to instruct
21. Epiphany - sudden flare into revelation of an ordinary object/scene; a revelation of such power and insight that it
alters the entire world-view of the thinker ; a personal revelation
22. Euphemism - commonly used term to express a certain idea without bluntly declaring that idea; also called “double
speak”; (example: instead of “used car,” it is a “guaranteed previously owned car”)
23.Euphony - soothing pleasant sounds; (Example: O star - the fairest one in sight)
24. Foreshadowing - use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in literature
25. Freudian Slip - a slip of the tongue in which a person means to say one thing, but accidentally says another word or
phrase; subconscious desires are revealed through verbal errors
26. Hyperbole - exaggeration or overstatement (example: “I’ve told you a million times to not do that.”)
27. Imagery– descriptive language used to evoke sensory (sight, touch, smell, hearing, taste) emotions; “create a
picture in the reader’s head”
28. In medias res - "into the middle of things"; usually describes a narrative that begins, not at the beginning of a
story, but somewhere in the middle — usually at some crucial point in the action
29. Irony- an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant.
Three basic kinds of IRONY:
30. Verbal irony - when an author says one thing and means something else
31. Dramatic irony when an audience knows something that a character in the literature does not know.
32. Situational Irony -discrepancy between the expected result and actual results
OVER
33. Jargon - words and phrases used in a particular occupation, trade, or field of study (ex: medical jargon: “iv”;police
jargon : “vic”; or military jargon: “AWOL” )
34. Local Color – use of characters and details unique to a particular geographic area; could be using dialect, customs,
clothing, manners, attitudes, or landscapes (Mark Twain used Mississippi River area, Bret Harte used the West)
35. Metaphor -comparing two unlike things using the verb "to be" and not using like or as (a simile uses “like” or “as”)
36. Onomatopoeia- a word that imitates the sound it represents (Example:splash, wow, gush, kerplunk)
37. Oxymoron- putting two contradictory words together(Examples: Jumbo Shrimp;act naturally; found missing;
resident alien; genuine imitation; good grief)
38. Parallel Structure- repetition of sentences/ phrases/ words using the same structure, done to emphasize
39. Personification - giving human qualities to animals or non-human objects
Basic Types of POETRY:
40. Lyric- a type of emotional songlike poetry, opposite of dramatic and narrative poetry
41. Ballad- simple narrative poem of folk origin, composed in short stanzas and adapted for singing.
42. Sonnet –poem expressing a single, complete thought/idea of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter; 2 types:
either Italian (8 lines followed by 6 lines ), or Shakespearian(3 sets of 4 lines followed by a couplet)
43. Narrative poem- a poem that tells a story and has a plot
44. Blank verse - unrhymed verse, usually unrhymed iambic pentameter; used in dramatic/epic/reflective verse
Points Of View:
45. First Person - narrator is character in the story who can reveal only personal thoughts/ feelings and what he/she
sees and is told by other characters. He/she can’t tell us thoughts of other characters
46. Third-Person Objective - narrator is an outsider who can report only what he/she sees and hears. This narrator can
tell us what is happening, but he can’t tell us the thoughts of the characters
47.Third-Person Limited - narrator is an outsider who sees into the mind of one of the characters
48. Omniscient- narrator isall-knowing outsider who can enter the minds of more than one character
49.Pun - play on two words similar in sound but different in meaning(example: “sun” and “son”; “fair” and “fare”)
Types of Rhyme:
50.End rhyme - a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same.
51. Slant rhyme –(half-rhyme) approximate rhyme, occurring when the rhyming sounds are similar (Emily Dickinson
used this)Is rarely accidental
52. Internal rhyme-created by two or more words in the sameline , or 2 or more lines of verse, that rhyme
53.Simile - comparison of two unlike things usinglike or as
54. Stream of consciousness - writing in which a character's perceptions, thoughts, and memories are presented in an
apparently random form, without regard for logical sequence, chronology, or syntax;
writing that often makes no distinction between various levels of reality--such asdreams,
memories, imaginative thoughtsor real sensory perception
55. Theme - general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express; often stated in a single sentence.
56. Tone–author’s attitude, stated or implied, towards a subject or character (ex: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic,
satirical,tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective); can be revealed through choice of words and details.
57.Understatement–words purposefully used to “play down” the obvious
Remember: The quizzes will only cover 40 of the above terms, but the 40 terms will switch around, so learn ALL terms.
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