Language Activity A Literary Terms

reference to a person, place, event, or other source meant to create an effect or enrich the meaning of an idea

a comparison that points out similarities between two dissimilar things

a figure of speech in which a striking association is made between two seemingly dissimilar things; an extended metaphor

the suggested or implied meaning of a word or phrase (contrast with denotation)

the dictionary definition of a word or phrase (contrast with connotation)

figures of speech, among them metaphor, simile, personification, synecdoche, metonymy, allusion, and symbol

the use of words to represent what can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted, or felt—sensory language

a figure of speech that compares unlike objects

a figure of speech in which objects and animals are given human qualities.

a figurative comparison using the words like or as

refers to a total objectivity of a writer wherein his/her view and judgments are withheld in his/her account of human experience; also, the distance between a work of art and its perceiver

inversion of the normal syntactic order of words

discussions directed to the reader and constituting a substantial break in the narrative illusion of reality

the selection of words in oral or written discourse

the interpretation or analysis of text

a term used to describe literary forms such as tragedy, comedy, novel, and essay

a narrative technique in which characters' thoughts are revealed in a way that appears to be uncontrolled by the author; typically aims to reveal the inner self of a character. It portrays emotional experiences as they occur at both a conscious and unconscious level.

a narrator who observes from only one point of view, lacking omniscience

the emotional response that a piece of literature stimulates in the reader

a narrator with unlimited awareness, understanding, and insight of character, setting, background, and all other elements of the story

the role or façade that a character assumes or depicts to a reader, a viewer, or the world at large

the view, whether limited or omniscient, the reader gets of the action and characters in the story

the language of a work and its style; similar to diction

refers to an attempt on the part of an author to reproduce the unembellished flow of thoughts in the human mind with its feelings, judgments, associations, and memories

the manner in which an author uses words, shapes ideas, forms sentences, and creates a structure

the arrangement of words in a sentence; sentence pattern

the main idea or meaning, often an abstract idea upon which a work of literature is built

the author’s attitude toward the subject being written about; the characteristic emotion that pervades a work or part of a work—the spirit or character that is a work’s emotional essence

the real or assumed personality used by a writer or speaker

repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginnings of words

a locution that addresses a person or personified thing not present

the repetition of two or more vowel sounds in a group of words or a line of poetry

the use of inharmonious sounds in close conjunction to create an effect (contrast with euphony)

the repetition of two or more consonant sounds in a group of words or a line of poetry

the use of pleasant, harmonious words to create an effect (contrast with cacophony)

a figure of speech that uses the name of one thing to represent something else with which it is associated.

the use of words whose sounds suggest their meaning

the use of one object to suggest another, hidden, object or idea

a figure of speech in which a part signifies the whole or the whole signifies the part