Literary terms

A plain-English glossary of the terms you meet in English class and in book clubs. Each term has a short definition and examples from classics in the library.

A

• AllegoryA story whose characters, places, and events also stand for ideas beyond the story
• AlliterationThe repetition of the same starting consonant sound in nearby words
• AllusionA brief reference to a familiar story, person, event, or work of art
• AmbiguityWhen words, actions, or events allow more than one reasonable meaning
• AnachronismA detail that belongs to a different historical period from the story’s setting
• AnalogyA comparison that explains an idea or supports an argument through shared features
• AnaphoraRepetition of the same word or phrase at the beginnings of nearby clauses or lines
• AnecdoteA short account of a particular incident, often told to amuse or reveal something
• AntagonistA character or force that opposes the main character and creates conflict
• AnthropomorphismGiving animals, objects, or other nonhuman beings human thoughts, feelings, or behavior
• AntithesisA pairing of opposite ideas in balanced phrases that makes their contrast stand out
• AphorismA short, memorable statement that offers a general truth or observation about life
• ApostropheA direct address to someone absent or dead, or to something that cannot answer
• ArchetypeA familiar pattern of character, story, or symbol that appears across many works
• AsideA brief remark the audience hears but some or all other characters do not
• AssonanceThe repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words, especially in stressed syllables
• AtmosphereThe feeling that surrounds a scene, shaped by its setting, details, and language

B

• BalladA poem or song that tells a story through strong rhythm and often repeated words
• BildungsromanA novel that follows a young person's growth toward maturity and understanding
• Blank versePoetry in unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter, with five main beats per line

C

• CacophonyA harsh, clashing mixture of word sounds that can suggest noise, tension, or disorder
• CaesuraA pause within a line of verse that briefly breaks its flow
• CatharsisThe release or clearing of strong emotions through experiencing a story, especially a tragedy
• CharacterizationThe ways a story reveals what its characters are like
• ChiasmusA reversal of words, ideas, or sentence patterns in an A-B-B-A order
• ClicheAn expression, character, or situation used so often that it feels stale or predictable
• ClimaxThe turning point where a story’s main conflict reaches its greatest pressure
• ColloquialismAn informal word or expression common in everyday conversation rather than formal language
• ComedyWriting that amuses readers, or a story whose troubles lead to a happy ending
• ConceitA surprising comparison between unlike things, explored through several connected details
• ConflictA struggle between opposing wishes, people, or forces that gives a story tension
• ConnotationThe feelings and associations a word carries beyond its literal meaning
• ConsonanceThe repetition of consonant sounds in nearby words, often within words or at their ends
• CoupletTwo lines of verse that work as a pair, usually joined by rhyme

D

• DenotationThe direct meaning of a word, apart from the feelings or associations it suggests
• DenouementThe closing part of a story, where the main conflict settles and its results become clear
• DialectA form of language with words, grammar, and pronunciation linked to a region or social group
• DialogueConversation between characters that reveals their thoughts, relationships, and differences
• DictionThe choice of words in a text and the effects those words have
• DidacticDescribing literature that aims to teach a lesson or guide readers’ beliefs and behavior
• Dramatic ironyA gap between what readers or audiences know and what a character knows
• DystopiaAn imagined society where harmful systems make life oppressive, frightening, or unjust

E

• ElegyA poem that mourns someone who has died and reflects on loss
• EllipsisThe leaving out of words or events that readers can fill in for themselves
• EpicA long narrative poem about extraordinary deeds that matter to a people or culture
• EpigraphA short quotation before a book or chapter that offers a clue to its meaning
• EpiphanyA sudden realization that changes how a character understands life, others, or themselves
• Epistolary novelA novel told through letters, sometimes alongside diaries and other personal records
• EpithetA descriptive word or phrase attached to someone or something to highlight a quality
• EuphemismA mild or indirect expression used instead of something harsh, embarrassing, or upsetting
• ExpositionBackground information that helps readers understand a story’s characters, setting, and situation

F

• FableA short story that teaches a lesson, often through animals behaving like people
• Falling actionThe part of a plot after the climax, when consequences unfold toward the ending
• Figurative languageLanguage that goes beyond literal meanings through comparison, exaggeration, or other figures of speech
• First personA point of view in which a narrator tells a story using I or we
• FlashbackA shift back to an earlier event before the story’s main action continues
• FoilA character whose differences from another character make particular qualities stand out
• ForeshadowingAn early hint that prepares the reader for something that happens later
• Frame storyAn outer story that gives a setting for one or more stories told within it
• Free versePoetry without a fixed pattern of meter or rhyme, but with its own rhythm

G

• GenreA category of literature whose works share features of form, subject, or plot
• Gothic fictionFiction that builds fear and unease through threatening places, disturbing secrets, and sometimes supernatural events

H

• HamartiaAn error or failing that helps bring about a tragic character’s downfall
• HubrisExcessive pride that leads a character to ignore limits, warnings, or other people
• HyperboleAn obvious exaggeration used to stress a feeling, make a point, or amuse

I

• Iambic pentameterA verse rhythm with five pairs of syllables, each usually moving from unstressed to stressed
• IdiomA familiar expression whose meaning differs from the literal meaning of its words
• ImageryLanguage that appeals to the senses and helps readers picture or feel a scene
• In medias resA story opening that begins amid events rather than at their beginning
• IronyA gap between what seems true and what is meant, known, or actually happens

J

• JuxtapositionPlacing people, scenes, or ideas side by side so their differences or similarities stand out

L

• LimerickA humorous five-line poem with an AABBA rhyme scheme and a bouncing rhythm
• LitotesA form of understatement that makes a point by denying its opposite
• Lyric poetryPoetry that centres on a speaker’s feelings, thoughts, or experience rather than a story

M

• MalapropismA mistaken use of a similar-sounding word, often with a funny result
• MelodramaA story or scene that uses heightened emotion, clear moral contrasts, and sensational events
• MetaphorA comparison that describes one thing as another to bring out a shared quality
• MeterA regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in lines of verse
• MetonymyA figure of speech that names something through another thing closely connected with it
• MonologueA long speech by one character, spoken to others or to themselves
• MoodThe feeling a passage brings to a reader, such as unease, joy, or sadness
• MotifA recurring detail, image, or situation that helps develop a work’s larger meaning
• MythA traditional story about gods, origins, or extraordinary deeds that carries meaning for a culture

N

• NarratorThe teller of a story, who describes events and guides what readers know
• NaturalismA literary movement showing how environment, inherited traits, and social pressures shape human lives
• NovellaA prose story longer than a short story but shorter than most novels

O

• OdeA lyric poem that celebrates or deeply reflects on a person, object, experience, or idea
• Omniscient narratorA storyteller who can know any character’s thoughts and events beyond any single character’s view
• OnomatopoeiaWords whose sounds imitate the noises they describe, such as buzz, hiss, or clang
• OxymoronA figure of speech that brings contradictory words together in a short phrase

P

• ParableA short story that uses a concrete situation to explore a moral or spiritual lesson
• ParadoxA statement or situation that seems contradictory but may reveal a truth
• ParallelismThe use of matching sentence patterns to connect ideas or set them against each other
• ParodyA comic imitation of a particular work, writer’s style, or type of literature
• Pathetic fallacyGiving human feelings to nature, often so that the surroundings reflect a character’s mood
• PersonificationA description that gives human feelings, actions, or qualities to something nonhuman
• PlotThe connected events of a story, arranged so that actions lead to consequences
• Point of viewThe perspective through which a story’s events and characters are presented to the reader
• ProtagonistThe central character whose goals, choices, and struggles shape the main story
• PunWordplay that links different meanings through the same word or similar sounds

Q

• QuatrainA stanza or group of four lines in a poem, with or without rhyme

R

• RealismA way of writing that presents ordinary people and everyday life in believable detail
• Red herringA misleading clue or detail that draws attention away from the truth
• RefrainA word, phrase, or group of lines that returns at intervals in a poem or song
• RepetitionThe return of words, phrases, sounds, or patterns to give them emphasis
• Rhetorical questionA question asked to make a point rather than get an answer
• RhymeThe repetition of matching or similar sounds in words, often at the ends of verse lines
• Rhyme schemeThe pattern of rhyming sounds at the ends of lines in a poem
• RhythmThe movement of language through patterns of stress, pauses, and sounds
• RomanticismA literary movement that values strong feeling, imagination, nature, and the freedom of the individual

S

• SatireWriting that uses ridicule, irony, or exaggeration to expose faults in people or society
• ScansionThe practice of marking stressed and unstressed syllables to understand a poem’s meter
• SettingThe place, time, and social surroundings in which a story happens
• SimileA comparison using like or as to show a shared quality between different things
• SoliloquyA speech in a play that lets the audience hear a character’s private thoughts
• SonnetA fourteen-line poem with a patterned structure, often exploring love, time, faith, or loss
• StanzaA group of lines in a poem, usually separated from other groups by space
• Stream of consciousnessWriting that follows a character’s flowing thoughts, feelings, memories, and impressions
• StyleThe distinctive way a writer uses words, sentences, and patterns to tell or describe
• SubplotA smaller storyline that develops alongside and connects with the main plot
• SuspenseA feeling of tense expectation about what will happen next in a story
• SymbolA thing in a story or poem that suggests a meaning beyond itself
• SymbolismThe use of concrete things in a story to suggest meanings beyond themselves
• SynecdocheA figure of speech in which a part stands for a whole, or the reverse
• SyntaxThe arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses within a sentence

T

• ThemeA central idea or question that a story explores through characters and events
• Third personA viewpoint that describes characters as he, she, or they rather than as the storyteller
• ToneThe attitude toward a subject or audience that comes through in a text
• TragedyA serious story in which conflict leads to suffering, downfall, or lasting loss
• Tragic flawA character trait that helps bring about a tragic hero’s downfall
• Tragic heroA central character whose choices help bring about a downfall that stirs pity or fear

U

• UnderstatementLanguage that makes something seem smaller, less serious, or less important than it is
• Unreliable narratorA storyteller whose account gives readers reasons to doubt their facts, judgments, or understanding

V

• VerseWriting arranged in lines, often with a pattern of rhythm or rhyme
• VillainA character whose cruel or harmful choices cause suffering and conflict in a story
• VoiceThe distinctive personality a reader hears in a narrator’s, character’s, or writer’s words

Z

• ZeugmaA figure of speech in which one word links two others in different senses