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LITERARY TERMS & STYLISTIC TECHNIQUES
ChoicesIndividualism & Integrity Unit
Sophomore English
Allegory
A work in which the characters and events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolically expressing a deeper, often spiritual, moral, or political meaning.
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Alliteration
Repeated consonant sounds in neighboring words
generally more than 2 words
It is used to create melody, establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts.
We wink when widows wince…
Allusion
A brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art
Biblical or historical
Assonance
The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in neighboring words
"It beats . . . as it sweeps . . . as it cleans!"(Hoover vacuum cleaners, 1950s)
Climax
the moment in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the crisis comes to its point of greatest intensity and is resolved
the peak of emotional response from a reader or spectator, and it usually represents the turning point in the action.
the most exciting part
Conflict
the opposition between or among characters or forces in a literary work that shapes or motivates the action of the plot.
man vs. man 300 , Rocky man vs. nature Titanic man vs. self Fight Club , Beautiful Mind
man vs. machine Matrix , Terminator
Descriptive Details
allow sensory recreations of experiences, objects, or imaginings.
encourage a more concrete or sensory experience of a subject, one which allows the reader to transport himself or herself into a scene.
"I got a car" "I got a brand new, red car that drove beautifully and got great gas mileage.”
Foreshadowing
An author drops subtle hints about plot developments to come later in the story.
In the opening of The Wizard of Oz, set in Kansas, the transformation of Miss Gulch into a witch on a broomstick
Genre
The term for any category of literature or other forms of art or entertainment
fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, sci-fi, romance…
Gothic Fiction
A genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.
sometimes referred to as Gothic Horror
Edgar Allan Poe
Grotesque Implies a mutation of the characters,
plants and/or animals. transforms the normal features and/or
behaviors into extremes that are meant to be frightening and/or disturbingly comic
a work in which two separate modes, comedy and tragedy, are mixed.
This is a common device of fairytales, as in Beauty and the Beast.
Hyperbole
A deliberate and obvious exaggeration used for effect
I called you a billion times and you never picked up!
Imagery
Writing or language that evokes one or all of the five senses.
Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.
The eerie silence was shattered by her scream.
Inference
a reasonable conclusion (assumption) from the information presented
When you see that the sky is gray, you can assume that it is likely to
rain.
Irony
incongruity between what actually happens and what might be expected to happen
the contrast between what is expected or what appears to be and what actually is
The fireman’s house burnt down.
Macabre
(mah-kob-rah)
quality of having a grim or ghastly atmosphere.
emphasize the details and symbols of death.
horror stories
Metaphor
An implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be.
The comparison is not announced by like or as.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight.
Mood
The atmosphere or state of mind of a work
The climate or feeling in a literary work
A feeling of love, doom, fear, pride…
An atmosphere of chaos, peace…
Omniscient Narrator
has a full knowledge of the story's events and of the motives and unspoken thoughts of the various characters.
all‐knowing point of view God-like Perspective
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Pacing
Advancing or developing writing at a particular rate or tempo
walking back and forth nervously
Parable
A story, usually short and simple, that illustrates a lesson.
Bible The Prodigal Son
Point of View
the perspective on events of the narrator or a particular character in a story
the way the author allows one to "see" and "hear" what's going on
1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person limited, omniscient
Prediction
a statement about the way things will happen in the future, often but not always based on experience or knowledge.
a statement that some outcome is expected
forecast
an educated guess
Pseudonym
A fictitious name
A pen name
Samuel Clemens Mark Twain
Repetition
the simple repeating of a word, within a sentence or a poetical line, with no particular placement of the words, in order to emphasize
use word association to convey emotion and mood often in a non-literal sense.
“I Have a Dream” speech – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Romanticism An artistic and intellectual movement
originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened
interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.
Melville’s Moby Dick, Irving’s works, or Whitman’s Leaves of Grass
Satire
the use of wit, especially irony, sarcasm, and ridicule, to critique politics and society
South Park or The Simpsons
Setting
the time and location in which a story takes place
Friends New York City Cheers Bar in Boston
Suspense
Anxiety or apprehension resulting from an uncertain, undecided, or mysterious
situation
On the edge of one’s seat
Symbol
Representation of something abstract by something concrete.
A person, place or object which has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well
peace dove
Transcendentalism
A philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New
England region of the United States as a protest to the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism
Among the core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both man and nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau
Varied Sentence Structure
To make writing more interesting, change sentences in terms of length and
structure
5-10-20
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