15 Key Literary Terms Overview

A reference within a work to something famous outside it, such as a well-known person, place, event, story, or work of art, literature, music, pop culture.

• Mood

• Theme

• Personification

• Allusion

Tags

CCSS.L.7.5A

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

The main idea or underlying meaning of a literary work.

• Theme

• Symbolism

• Connotation

• Metaphor

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.6

CCSS.L.9-10.6

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.W.9-10.2D

CCSS.W.8.2D

A person, place, object, or action that stands for something beyond itself.

• Mood

• Symbolism

• Diction

• Imagery

Tags

CCSS.L.4.5

CCSS.L.5.5

CCSS.L.6.5

CCSS.L.7.5

CCSS.L.8.5

A comparison between two things that have something in common without using like or as.

• Simile

• Diction

• Idiom

• Metaphor

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.6

CCSS.L.9-10.6

CCSS.W.11-12.2D

CCSS.W.9-10.2D

CCSS.W.8.2D

main character who carries the action forward; in almost every scene (hero)

• 1st person point of view
• antagonist
• protagonist
• 3rd person point of view

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

character or force who opposes the protagonist (villain)

• indirect characterization
• direct characterization
• antagonist
• protagonist

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

the narrator or a character in the story tells us exactly what we need to know about a character

• anecdote
• direct characterization
• indirect characterization
• inference

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

Narrator is not a character in the story and refers to all characters as "he" or "she"

• author
• 1st person point of view
• 2nd person point of view
• 3rd person point of view

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.1.6

CCSS.RL.5.6

The use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later in the plot.

• foreshadowing

• setting

• external conflict

• protagonist

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

When a character experiences two opposing emotions or desires.

• external conflict

• internal conflict

• suspense

• foreshadowing

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.6.3