Literary Terms Flashcards

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allegory

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A narrative in which characters, action, and sometimes setting represent abstract concepts or moral qualities. (Example: *Lord of the Flies*)

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alliteration

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The repetition of same or similar consonant sounds in words that are close together. (Example: She sells seashells down by the seashore.)

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allusion

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A seemingly brief reference to something in history, politics, literature, art, or music which the writer expects the reader to understand and relate to the work. (Example: “Then Eden sank to grief”)

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anagnorisis

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A moment of recognition or discovery, primarily used in Greek tragedy. (An aha! moment)

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antagonist

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The character that opposes the hero.

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antithesis

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A figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other, such as “hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”

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aphorism

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A short, often witty statement of a principle or a truth about life: “Early bird gets the worm.”

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atmosphere

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The mood or prevailing feeling created in a literary work.

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binary opposition

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A pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another.

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caricature

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Exaggeration or distortion of a character’s physical, emotional, and moral characteristics, for the purpose of comic criticism. Many political cartoons rely on caricature.