English Literary Terms

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or sensations to an inanimate object

c. simile --- a comparison of one thing to another in order to make description more vivid; uses the words ’like’ or ’as’ in this comparison

20. Flashback— “an interruption of the chronological sequence (as of a film or literary work) of an event of earlier occurrence.”

21. Foil— In literature, a foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character with the objective to highlight the traits of the other character.

22. Foreshadowing— Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story

23. Genre— a particular type of writing

24. Hyperbole— deliberate and extravagant exaggeration

25. Imagery— the use of words to create a picture or ’image’ in the mind of the reader

26. Interior or internal monologue— A passage of writing presenting a character’s inner thoughts and emotions in a direct, sometimes disjointed or fragmentary manner.

27. Irony— when something doesn’t go as expected. it means saying one thing while meaning another or when something happens when you expected something else to happen

28. Mood— In literature, mood is a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions.

Usually, mood is referred to as the atmosphere of a literary piece, as it creates an emotional situation that surrounds the readers.

29. Motif—a dominant theme, subject, or idea which runs through a piece of literature

30. Omniscient narrator— This is a common form of third-person narration in which the teller of the tale, who often appears to speak with the voice of the author himself, assumes an omniscient (all-knowing) perspective on the story being told

31. Paradox— a statement that appears contradictory, but when considered more closely is seen to contain a good deal of truth

32. Pastiche—Pastiche is a literary piece that imitates another famous literary work of another writer. Unlike parody, its purpose is not to mock but to honor the literary piece it imitates.

33. Pathos— the effect in literature which makes the reader feel sadness or pity

34. Persona— A persona is a character or figurative mask that an actor, writer, or singer takes on in order to perform.

35. Point of view— Point of view is the perspective from which a story is narrated

36. Poetic justice—Poetic justice occurs at the conclusion of a novel or play if and when good characters are rewarded and bad characters are punished.

37. Protagonist— The protagonist is the main character of a work of literature, theater, or cinema

38. Setting— The setting of a piece of literature is the time and place in which the story takes place.

39. Soliloquy— a speech in which a character, alone on stage, expresses his or her thoughts and feelings aloud for the benefit of the audience, often in a revealing way

40. Stream of Consciousness— a technique in which the writer records thoughts and emotions in a ’stream’ as they come to mind, without giving order or structure

41. Structure— the way that a poem or play or other piece of writing has been put together

42. Style— the individual way in which a writer has used language to express his or her ideas

43. Symbol— like images, these represent something else

44. Syntax – the way in which sentences are structured

45. Theme— the central idea or ideas that the writer explores through a text

46. Tone – a literary technique created tone is the attitude or approach that the author takes toward the work’s central theme or subject through the combined effects of a number of features, such as diction, syntax, rhythm, etc