Literary Terms you should know

Term for something that represents or stands for something else

• mood

• repetition

• symbol

• simile

Term for a comparison NOT USING “like” or “as”

• tone

• metaphor

• antithesis

• haiku

Term for the repetition of initial sounds

• Hubris

• Monologue

• Irony

• Alliteration

Term for when an author provides clues early on in the text about something that will happen later

• simile

• foreshadowing

• motto

• personification

Term for vivid language that appeals to one or more of the five senses

• imagery

• epiphany

• premise

• vernacular

Term in literature, a brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, political, mythological, religious, or literary significance

• anadiplosis

• parable

• allusion

• oxymoron

Term for a comparison USING “like” or “as”

• anaphora

• memoir

• onomatopoeia

• simile

Term for giving human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, ideas, or other forces

• personification

• paradox

• rhetoric

• vignette

Term for the writer's attitude toward the material he/she is composing (for example: playful, tender, depressed, satirical, serious)

• understatement

• tone

• stereotype

• synesthesia

Term for the atmosphere of a story that evokes a certain emotion

• mood

• irony

• anagram

• synonym