LITERARY AND RHETORICAL TERMS

ALLEGORY story or poem in which characters, settings, and events stand for other
people or events or for abstract ideas or qualities. EXAMPLE: Animal Farm; Lord of
the Flies

ALLITERATION repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds in words that are
close together.

ALLUSION reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature,

religion, politics, sports, science, or another branch of culture. An indirect reference to
something.

AMBIGUITY deliberately suggesting two or more different, and sometimes conflicting,

meanings in a work. An event or situation that may be interpreted in more than one
way – this [may be done with] purpose; when it is not, it can result in vagueness and
detracts from the work.

ANALOGY comparison made between two things to show how they are alike [see
metaphor and simile].

ANECDOTE brief story, told to illustrate a point or serve as an example of something,

often shows character of an individual.

ANTAGONIST opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a

story.

ANTITHESIS [a person, thing or idea that is in direct opposition to another].

ANTIHERO central character who lacks all the qualities traditionally associated with
heroes; he/she may lack courage, grace, intelligence, or moral scruples.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate

object (also referred to as personification).

APHORISM brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about
life, or of a principle or accepted general truth. Also called maxim, epigram.

APOSTROPHE calling out to an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or to a place or

thing, or a personified abstract idea. If the character is asking for [spiritual help] it is
called an invocation.

ASIDE [a character on stage speaks directly to the audience; other actors are on
stage at the time but are ‘unable’ to hear what is being said]

ASSONANCE the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant

sounds especially in words that are together.

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CHARACTERIZATION the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a
character.

STATIC CHARACTER is one who does not change much in the course of a story.

DYNAMIC CHARACTER is one who changes in some important way as a result

of the story’s action.

FLAT CHARACTER has only one or two personality traits. He/she is one
dimensional, like a piece of cardboard and can be summed up in one phrase.

ROUND CHARACTER has more dimensions to his/her personality – he/she is

complex, just as real people are.

STOCK CHARACTER [represents a type or stereotype and is not developed as

an individual]

CLICHE is a word or phrase, often a figure of speech, that has become lifeless
because of overuse. Avoid clichés like the plague. (That cliché is intended.)

COLLOQUIALISM a word or phrase in everyday use in conversation and informal

writing but is inappropriate for formal situations. Ex: “He’s out of his head if he thinks
I’m gonna go for such a stupid idea.”

COMEDY in general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced
by the main character or characters.

CONFLICT the struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story.

EXTERNAL CONFLICT conflicts can exist between two people, between a

person and nature or a machine or between a person and whole society [person vs.
fate and the supernatural, etc. are also possible].

INTERNAL CONFLICT a conflict can be internal, involving opposing forces

within a person’s mind [self].

CONNOTATION the associations and emotional overtones that have become

attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.

COUPLET two consecutive rhyming lines of poetry or prose.

DIALECT a way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the

inhabitants of a certain geographical area [also known as vernacular].

DICTION a speaker or writer’s choice of words; analyzed for their overall effect and
impact.

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DIDACTIC form of fiction or nonfiction that teaches a specific lesson or moral or
provides a model of [seemingly] correct behavior or thinking.

EPIGRAPH a quotation or aphorism at the beginning of a literary work suggestive of

the theme.

EPIPHANY [a moment of significant realization that impacts a character and/or the

reader’s understanding of an important idea or event]

EPITHET an adjective or adjective phrase applied to a person or thing that is

frequently used to emphasize a characteristic quality. “Father of our country” and “the
great Emancipator” are examples.

ESSAY a short piece of nonfiction prose in which the writer discusses some aspect of
a subject.

ESSAY TYPES TO KNOW:

ARGUMENTATION forms of discourse which use logic, ethics, and emotional

appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) to develop an effective means to convince the reader
to think or act in a certain way.

PERSUASION relies more on emotional appeals than on facts.

ARGUMENT form of persuasion that appeals to reason instead of emotion to

convince an audience to think or act in a certain way.

CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP form of argumentation in which the writer claims that

one thing results from another, often used as part of a logical argument.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST [focuses on analyzing the similarities and/or

differences between two topics/texts/etc.]

DESCRIPTION a form of discourse that uses language to create a mood or

emotion [heavy use of the five senses].

EXPOSITION a form of discourse in which something is explained or “set forth”

[to inform].

NARRATIVE a form of discourse that tells about a series of events.

EXPLICATION act of interpreting or discovering the meaning of a text, usually

involves close reading and special attention to figurative language.

FABLE a very short story told in prose or poetry that teaches a practical lesson about
how to succeed in life.

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FARCE a type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped [stock] characters
are involved in silly, far-fetched situations.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE words which are inaccurate if interpreted literally, but are
used to describe. Similes and metaphors are common forms.

FLASHBACK a scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a

story to depict something that happened at an earlier time.

FOIL a character who acts as contrast to another character. Often a funny side kick to
the dashing hero, or a villain contrasting the hero.

FORESHADOWING the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a
plot [see also foreboding – a negative hint or clue about what is to come].

HYPERBOLE a figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration or

overstatement, for effect. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times….”

IMAGERY the use of language to evoke a picture or concrete sensation of a person, a

thing, a place, or an experience.

IRONY a discrepancy between appearances, reality [and/or expectation] in which the

opposite takes place and/or is observed.

VERBAL IRONY occurs when someone says one thing but really means [the
opposite].

DRAMATIC IRONY is so called because it is often used on stage. A character in

the play or story thinks one thing is true, but the audience or reader knows better.

JUXTAPOSITION poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas,

words, or phrases are placed next to one another, creating an effect of surprise and
wit.
Ezra Pound: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black
bough.”
Juxtaposition is also a form of contrast by which writers call attention to
dissimilar ideas or images or metaphors. Martin Luther King: “Injustice anywhere is
a threat to justice everywhere.”

METAPHOR a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things
without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.

CONCEIT an elaborate metaphor that compares two things that are startlingly
different. Often an extended metaphor.

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 IMPLIED METAPHOR does not state explicitly the two terms of the comparison:
“I like to see it lap the miles” is an implied metaphor in which the verb lap implies a
comparison between “it” and some animal that “laps” up water [or swims].

EXTENDED METAPHOR is a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as

the writer wants to take it. (Conceit if it is quite elaborate).

DEAD METAPHOR a metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison
is no longer vivid: “The head of the house”, “the seat of the government”, “a
knotty problem” are all dead metaphors.

MIXED METAPHOR is a metaphor that has gotten out of control and mixes its
terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible. “The President is a
lame duck who is running out of gas.”

MOOD an atmosphere created by a writer’s diction and the details selected.

MOTIF a recurring image, word, phrase, action, idea, object, or situation used
throughout a work (or in several works by one author), unifying the work by tying the
current situation to previous ones, or new ideas to the theme. Kurt Vonnegut uses “So
it goes” throughout Slaughterhouse-Five to remind the reader of the senselessness of
death.

MOTIVATION the reasons for a character’s behavior.

ONOMATOPOEIA the use of words whose sounds echo their sense. “Pop.” “Zap.”

OXYMORON a figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a

brief phrase. “Jumbo shrimp.” “Pretty ugly.” “Bitter-sweet.”

PARABLE a relatively short story that teaches a moral or lesson about how to lead a
good life.

PARADOX a statement that appears self-contradictory, but that reveals a kind of

truth.

PARALLEL STRUCTURE (parallelism) the repetition of words or phrases that have

similar grammatical structures.

PARODY a work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the
writer’s style [or content].

PATHETIC FALLACY [when the weather reflects, and thus further emphasizes, the
mood of the characters]

PERSONIFICATION a figure of speech in which an object or animal is given human

feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.

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PLAUSIBILITY [whether or not a story is believable in the author’s world; it does not
need to be realistic in ours]

PLOT the series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline.

ELEMENTS OF PLOT:

EXPOSITION introduces characters, situation, and setting.

RISING ACTION complications in conflict and situations (may introduce new

ones as well).

CLIMAX that point in a plot that [resolves the] intensity, suspense, or interest.
Also called “turning point.”

RESOLUTION the conclusion of a story, when all or most of the conflicts have
been settled; often called the [falling action and] denouement.

POINT OF VIEW the vantage point from which the writer tells the story.

FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW one of the characters [the protagonist] tells
the story.

OMNISCIENT POINT OF VIEW an omniscient or all-knowing narrator tells the

story, also using the third person pronouns. This narrator, instead of focusing on one
character only, often tells us everything about many characters [provides access
to thoughts and feelings].

OMNISCIENT LIMITED POINT OF VIEW an unknown narrator tells the story,

but this narrator
zooms in to focus on the thoughts and feelings of only one character.

THIRD PERSON OBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW a narrator who is totally

impersonal and objective tells the story, with no comment on any characters or
events [like a camera].

PROTAGONIST the central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the
action. Usually the hero or anti-hero; in a tragic hero, like John Proctor of The
Crucible, there is always a hamartia, or tragic flaw in his character which will lead to
his downfall.

PUN a “play on words” based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words
that sound alike but mean different things.

RHYTHM a rise and fall of the voice produced by the alternation of stressed and
unstressed syllables in language.

RHETORIC art of effective communication, especially persuasive discourse.

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RHETORICAL QUESTION a question asked for an effect, and not actually requiring an
answer.

ROMANCE in general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a

quest and is successful.

SATIRE a type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an

attempt to bring about a change.

SETTING [the time and place in which a story takes place]

SIMILE a figure of speech that makes an explicitly comparison between two unlike
things, using words such as like, as, than, or resembles.

SOLILOQUY a long speech made by a character in a play while no other characters

are on stage

STEREOTYPE a fixed idea or conception of a character or an idea which does not

allow for any individuality, often based on religious, social, or racial prejudices. [Also
known as stock.]

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS a style of writing that portrays the inner (often

chaotic) workings of a character’s mind [a type of first person narration].

STYLE the distinctive way in which a writer uses language: a writer’s distinctive use of
diction, tone, and syntax.

SUSPENSE a feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a
story.

SYMBOL a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also
stands for something more than itself.

SYNTACTIC FLUENCY ability to create a variety of sentence structures, appropriately

complex and/or simple and varied in length.

TALL TALE an outrageously exaggerated, humorous story that is obviously

unbelievable.

THEME the insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work.

TONE the attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or
the audience, revealed through diction, figurative language, and organization.
TRAGEDY in general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some
other unhappy end.

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UNDERSTATEMENT a statement that says less than what is meant. Example:
During the second war with Iraq, American troops complained of a fierce sand storm
that made even the night-vision equipment useless. A British commando commented
about the storm: “It’s a bit breezy.” [Litotes is a form; ex: “not unsubstantial.”]

UNITY Unified parts of the writing are related to one central idea or organizing
principle. Unity is dependent upon coherence.

UNIVERSAL [a sense that a story is broad enough to be applied to most people at any
time or place and, as such, reveal truths about human nature and experience]

VICARIOUS EXPERIENCE [the feeling a reader has when emotionally or mentally

involved in a story; he/she imaginatively experiences and shares some of the same
things as the characters in the story]

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