Literary Terms | Mr-Skipper

Literary Terms to Know

Genre - how literature is categorized based on literary conventions
Short Story - a type of fictional narrative story usually written in prose; often shorter in length and focuses on one event, character, or incident
Novel - a longer work of fictional prose
Poetry - a type of literary art form where writers use figurative language and other poetic devices to get the point of their subject across
Drama - a type of fiction characterized by performance of actors
Fiction - a type of narrative literature that contains imaginary characters and events
Non fiction - a type of narrative literature where the characters and events actually happened
Biography - a type of literature written about someone by another person
Autobiography - a type of literature written by someone about his or her own life
Fable - a type of fictional story where the main characters non-humans, such as animals or mythical creatures, but have the qualities of humans
Science fiction - a type of genre where characters and events are often set in the future where science and technology far surpasses the present
Tragedy - a type of narrative that often involves human suffering, including death, in the story
Comedy - a type of story designed for humor or irony

Setting - this is where a story takes place in time and location
Character - protagonist, antagonist, hero/heroine are the people that move the plot along and the reason that many readers stay with a story
Point of view - this how the story is told by the narrator or author; either first, second, or third person
Plot - these are the events in the story from the beginning until the end
Conflict - this important part of a story often prevents the characters from achieving their goals but allows them to grow from the experiences and then continue onward in their journey
Climax - a very exciting section of the story where the main conflict is resolved
Resolution - this is how the story ends and happens after the climax
Theme - is the central idea of the story, which is often abstract (greed, love, coming of age)
Tone - words used to express how the author feels about the text
Mood - how the reader feels about the text while reading
Narrator - is the person who tells the story and can be limited or omniscient

Allusion - when an author intentionally makes a reference to another work, such as another piece of literature, a piece of artwork, or a time, place or person
Imagery - words used to evoke pictures in the minds of the readers
Hyperbole - an exaggeration
Dialogue - the words that characters speak
Symbolism - a symbol is a physical object that represents an abstraction
Irony - words used that often mean something different or the opposite of what they mean
Flashback - part of a story that happened before the current action which is brought out through characters' dreams or storytelling
Foreshadowing - is when the author alludes to upcoming events without directly stating that they will happen
Suspense - happens when the storyteller or narrator builds excitement in a scene, often prior to the climax
Repetition - when words, symbols, themes or other parts of the story are used more than once
Sensory language - descriptive language that attempts to invoke one or more of the the five senses

Rhyme - when words that sound alike are paired together or near each other
Rhyme scheme - a repetition of a rhyming pattern
Alliteration - repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
Onomatopoeia - words that represent sounds
Assonance - repetition of vowel sounds at the beginning of words
Meter - combinations of accented and unaccented syllables which often form a pattern
Refrain - pattern of words or phrases that repeats throughout a literary work

Hyperbole - an intentional exaggeration used to make a point
Metaphor - compares two things where one is the other
Simile - compares two things using like or as
Personification - Personification is a type of metaphor and a common literary device. It is when you assign the qualities of a person to something that isn't human or that isn't even alive, such as nature or household items.
Idiom - type of phrase where the meanings cannot be inferred by the literal meaning of the words