Title: English 11 Literary Terms
1English 11 Literary Terms
2Hero/Heroine
- The chief character in a work of literature.
3Trickster
4Faithful Companion
5Outsider/Outcast
6Rugged Individualist
7Innocent
8Villain
9Caretaker
10Earth Mother
11Rebel
12Misfit
13English 11 Literary Terms
14Stage Directions
- Written notes within plays which explain
movements, gestures, and appearance of actors or
actresses in a play
15Soliloquy
- A character speaks directly to the audience
(thinking aloud about motives, feelings, and
decisions)
16Monologue
- A single person speaking, with or without an
audience
17Aside
- A character speaks in such a way that some of the
characters on stage do not hear what is said
(while others do)
18Verbal Irony
- When someone states one thing and means another
19Situational Irony
- Contrast between what is expected to happen and
what actually does happen - Ex. Someone who is loved commits suicide
20Dramatic Irony
- When readers know more about the situation than
the characters do
21Catharsis
- Explains the effects of tragic drama on an
audience
22English 11 Literary Terms Cont.
23Caricature
- A grotesque or foolish image of a character,
achieved through the exaggeration of personality
traits
24Foil
- A minor character introduced in order to
represent the abilities of a more significant
character - (Ex.Millhouse serves as a foil to Bart Simpson.)
25Tragedy
- Traces the career and downfall of an individual
26Voice
- Clarifies the persona of the narrative
27Figurative Literal Language
- Figurative Language-an exaggeration
- Literal Language-literally true
28Imagery
- All of the words which refer to the objects or
qualities which appeal to the senses and feelings
29Apostrophe
- A rhetorical (not requiring a response) term for
a speech addresses to someone or something in the
beginning of a poem or essay - Clue When your parents ask, Who do you think
you are? You are not supposed to respond.
30Metonymy
- The substitution of the name of a thing by the
name of an attribute of it, - (Ex.the crown monarchy)
31Synecdoche
- A part is used to describe the whole.
- Ex all hands on decksailors
- All aboardboarding a train
32Language English 11 Literary Terms Devices
33Rhetorical Question
34Tone
- The manner or mood of a passage
35Diction
- Choice of words in a piece of work the kind of
vocabulary that is used
i.e. Shakespearean language in a Shakespeare
play Slang is used in an Eminem movie
36Dialect
- The style and manner of speaking from one
particular area - (Ex.New Yorkers are from New Yark)
37Sarcasm
- An ironical statement intended to hurt or insult
- (ex. Brilliant, stated to a student who is
clearly wrong.)
38Elevated Language/Style
39Satire
- Literature which represents something in a
comical sense, making it appear ridiculous
40Parallelism
- The building up of sentence or statement using
repeated syntactic units (repeated words and
sounds)
41Colloquialism/Vernacular
- The use of the kinds of expression and grammar
associated with ordinary, everyday speech rather
than formal language
Ex. Cool, Phat!
42Connotation/Denotation
- Connotation-emotional response evoked by a word
- Ex. Kittensoft, warm, cuddly
- Denotation-literal meaning
- Ex. Kittenyoung cat
43Pun
- The use of a word in a way that plays on its
different meanings. - Ex. The hungry gorilla went ape.
44Irony
- Contrast between appearance and actuality
45Stream of Consciousness
- Present the flow of a characters seemingly
unconnected thoughts, responses, and sensations.
46English 11 Literary Terms
47Gothic
- Grotesque characters, bizarre situations, and
violent events
48Historical Fiction
- Fiction that is loosely based on some historical
period
49Proverb
- Short popular saying embodying a general truth
- Ex. Look before you leap
50Aphorism
- A generally accepted principle or truth expressed
in a short, witty manner - Ex. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
51Epigram
- Originally an inscription on a monumentnow used
to describe a witty saying or poem with a sharp,
satiric, or amusing ending - Ex In God We Trust
52Tall Tale
- Humorous story characterized by exaggeration
- Ex Jack and the Beanstalk
53English 11 Literary Terms
54Rhyme
- Similarity of sound between two words
55Meter
- The repetition of a regular rhythmic unit in a
line of poetry.
56Foot
- One stressed syllable indicated by a
- Two stressed syllables indicated by a
57Iamb
- An unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable
58Pentameter
59Stress
- The accent is on a specific part of the word
60Masculine Rhyme
- The accent is on a specific part of the word, and
stressed in a deep voice.
61Blank Verse
- A poem written in blank verse consists of
unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter.
62Free Verse
- Poetry that does not have regular patterns of
rhyme and meter
63Scansion
- The process of determining meter when you scan a
line of poetry, you mark its stressed and
unstressed syllables to identify the rhythm
64Inversion
- Departure from normal word order, common in
poetry
65Alliteration
A sequence of repeated consonantal sounds in a
stretch of language Example Some late visitor
entreating entrance at my chamber door. (from
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe)
66Allusion
- A passing reference in a work of literature to
something outside itself. - Example Speak to my gossip VENUS one fair word.
67Assonance
- The correspondence, or near-correspondence, in
two words of the stressed vowel, and sometimes
those which follow, but not of the consonants
(unlike rhyme). - Example Can and fat food and droop
- Child and silence nation and traitor
68Ballad
- A poem or song which tells a story in simple,
colloquial language. - Example O What is That Sound by W. H. Auden
69Feminine Rhyme
- A rhyme in which two differing sounds in two
words are followed by stressed rhyming syllables
and unstressed rhyming syllables - Example revival, survival, arrival
70End Rhyme
- Poetry that rhymes at the end of the line
71Internal Rhyme
- Poetry that rhymes in the middle of the line
72Slant Rhyme
- Words that sounds similar with a hint of a rhyme
(inexact rhyme) - Example
73Refrain
Repeating a Stanza Example Nevermore from
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
74Repetition
- Repeating of words or sounds in poetry
- Example May the warp be/May the weft be/May
the border be (from the Song of the Sky Loom,
a Navajo song)
75Hyperbole
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