Literary Terms Review

The author states or describes a character's traits

• direct characterization

• indirect characterization

• personification

• unreliable narrator

Author subtly reveals the character through actions and interactions

• Direct characterization

• Indirect characterization

• Personification

• Unreliable narrator

Feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader

• Mood

• Tone

• Metaphor

• Symbolism

A general term for when the opposite of what is expected occurs

• allusion

• simile

• figurative language

• irony

Irony involving a situation in which the opposite of what was expected occurs (example: a cardiologist dies of a heart attack)

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

Irony that occurs when the reader knows something characters in the story do not

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

Saying the opposite of what is meant (example: a basketball player nicknamed "Shorty")

• dramatic irony

• situational irony

• verbal irony

A piece of writing that begins in the middle of the action

• bildungsroman

• in medias res

• analogy

• parallelism

A reference to another work of literature, person, or event

• Symbolism

• Analogy

• Parallelism

• Allusion

A writer or narrator's attitude, which is revealed through word choice

• Mood

• Tone

• Allusion

• Personification