LITERARY TERMS LIST – ELA
Alliteration: Starting words with the same consonant sound. An example of this term is, “Bouncing, bouncing on the bed, my brother Bob and I bumped heads.”
Annotation: comments written directly on the text or post-its; comments can explain confusing parts, ask questions, or add analysis. Comments can refer to specific words (diction) or phrases (detail) from the text.
Antagonist:The person or force opposing the main character or the “bad guy”.
Archetype: The original pattern or model (such as a character in literature) of which all things of the same type are representations or copies (ex. The hero, the trickster, the wise old man).
Climax:adecisivemoment that is of maximum intensity or is a majorturningpointinaplot.
Connotation:The secondary meaning of a word; the images and feelings that word brings up in the mind of a reader.
Denotation: The dictionary definition of a word.
Detail: a group of sentences or phrases from the text
Diction:An author’s specific word choice.
Direct Characterization:The qualities and personality of a fictitious character in a story/poem/play/novel as revealed to the reader by the AUTHOR.
Dramatic Irony: A situation in which certain events are understood by the audience but not by the literary characters.
Dynamic Character:A character that changes throughout the course of a story.
External Conflict: Conflict arising from an outside force (Person vs. Person/Nature/Society).
First Person: Point of view has a narrator telling the story, but the telling is limited to the main character’s perspective. This point of view generally uses the words “I”, “me” and “my”.
Flashback:A scene that interrupts the action to show an event that happened earlier.
Foreshadow: Hints and clues that tip the reader off as to what is to come later in the work.
Hyperbole: Gross exaggeration (like, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.”)
Imagery:The use of vivid language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.
Indirect Characterization:the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, actions, appearance, etc.
Internal Conflict: Conflict coming from within, (Person vs. Self) such as in making a decision.
Irony:Whenthe opposite of what is expectedoccurs
Metaphor:A comparison of two unlike things not using the words “like” or “as”.
Mood: how the author makes the reader feel
Onomatopoeia:The use of words to mimic sounds such as buzz, cuckoo or boom.
Paraphrase: Putting specific text from literature, information, or film, into your own words.
Personification:Giving human-like characteristics to an inanimate (non-living) object.
Persuasive:Using reasoning to convince others of your point of view.
Plot:the plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story.
Protagonist: The central character of a novel, play, short story, or narrative poem.
Second Person: writing using the word “you” as if the author is talking to the reader. Expository essays about literature are more formal and do not use “you” in this manner.
Sensory Details: words that appeal to one or more of the five senses
Setting:where and when a story or article takes place
Simile:A comparison of two unlike things using the word “like” or “as”.
Symbol: a picture/thing/object that represents a word
Static Character:A character who does not change during the course of the narrative. His/her personality stays the same throughout the story.
Theme:The underlying message in literature that presents a universal lesson about humanity and life; a life lesson.
Third Person Omniscient:The point of view in which the reader learns everyone’s perspective. This point of view uses the words “he”, “she” and “they”.
Tone: what the author thinks about his/her subject
Rev. Aug. 2013