Lester's Lit Terms D-F

A comic work that uses black humor, which in its most basic definition, is humor that makes light of an otherwise solemn subject matter. 

• Dark Comedy 
• Black Comedy 
• Foil
• Flashback

Literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests. It is the dictionary definition of a word. 

• Epithet 
• Denotation 
• Euphemism
• Foreshadowing

An imagined setting in which everything is unpleasant or bad. This could be a totalitarian, apocalyptic, or environmentally- degraded society. 

• Dystopia
• Epithet 
• Euphemism
• Foil

Used to add to a person's or place’s regular name and attribute some special quality to it. They are remarkable in that they become a part of common usage over time. 

• Epithet
• Euphemism
• Foreshadowing
• Flashfoward

Used to refer to the use of a comparatively milder or less harsh form of a negative description instead of its original form. This device is used when writing about matters such as sex, violence, death, crimes, and anything "embarrassing". 

• Euphemism
• Flashforward
• Foil
• Dystopia

Later events interrupt the normal chronological order of a narrative. This device is often used to give important information about what may happen later in the plot. 

• Flashback 
• Flashforward
• Euphemism
• Foil

A literary or cinematic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological order of a narrative. This device is often used to give background information that is important to the plot. 

• Flashback
• Flashforward 
• Foil
• Euphemism

Refers to a literary device where the author creates a character whose primary purpose is to create a contrast to another character by laying emphasis, or drawing attention to, the differences. 

• Foil
• Dark Comedy 
• Euphemism
• Foreshadowing

Refers to the use of words/phrases that give hints to the reader of something that is going to happen without revealing the story or spoiling the suspense. It is used to suggest an upcoming outcome to the story. 

• Foreshadowing
• Flashforward
• Flashback
• Dystopia