Literary Terms

The lines spoken between characters in fiction or a play

• Setting

• Foreshadowing

• Allusion

• Dialogue

The use of language to create mental images and sensory impressions. It can be used for emotional effect or to intensify the impact on the reader.

• Imagery

• Idiom

• Plot

• Allusion

An expression that has a different meaning from the literal meaning of its individual words. (Example: “Under the weather”)

• Mood

• Idiom

• Hyperbole

• Plot

The way the reader feels about a literary work

• Mood

• Tone

• Foreshadowing

• Alliteration

A comparison in which the author describes a person or thing using words that are not meant to be taken literally. The comparison does NOT use the words “like” or “as.”

• Onomatopoeia

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Hyperbole

A comparison of two things using the words “like” or “as”

• Hyperbole

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

The way the author/narrator feels about a work

• Dialogue

• Idiom

• Mood

• Tone

When a work presents material that occurred prior to the opening scene

• Foreshadowing

• Flashback

• Onomatopoeia

• Imagery

The presentation of material in a work in such a way that later events are prepared for. The purpose is to prepare the reader or viewer for action to come.

• Flashback

• Foreshadowing

• Alliteration

• Allusion

Nonhuman things or abstractions being represented as having human qualities

• Setting

• Hyperbole

• Plot

• Personification