Song or poem that tells a story

An element of uncertainty in a text, in which something can be interpreted in a number of different ways.

A narrative in which characters and settings stand for abstract ideas or moral qualities

Repetition of the same or similar consonant sounds usually at the beginnings of words that are close together in a poem.

Reference to a statement, a person, a place, or an event from literature, history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science or pop culture

Repetition of similar vowel sounds that are followed by different consonant sounds, especially in words that are close together.

Words that are spoken by a character in a play to the audience or to another character that are not supposed to be overheard by the others on stage.

Comparison made between two things to show how they are alike in some respects

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Person in a story, poem, or play

Readers use their own judgment to decide what a character is like, based on the evidence the writer gives us.

The author tells the reader directly what a character is like

A character that does not change throughout the story

A character that changes as a result of a story’s events

A character that has only one or two traits. Has no depth.

A character that has many different traits

The fears or conflicts or needs that drive a character

Moment of great emotional intensity or suspense in a plot

A story that ends happily

A comic scene that breaks up a serious play or narrative

Struggle or clash between opposing characters or forces

A character struggles against an outside force such as another character, society, or nature.

The conflict takes place entirely within a character’s own mind .

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words.

Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme

Way of speaking that is characteristic of a particular region or group of people

The conversation between characters in a story or play

A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words

Story that is written to be acted for an audience

A poem in which a speaker addresses one or more silent listeners, often reflecting on a specific problem or situation.

Long story told in elevated language (usually poetry) which relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society.

Short piece of nonfiction that examines a single subject from a limited point of view

Reveals a great deal about the writerś personality and tastes. Its tone is often conversational, sometimes even humorous

Usually serious, objective, and impersonal in tone. Its purpose is to inform its readers about some topic of interest or to persuade them to accept the writer's views. The statements in a formal essay are supported by facts and logic.

The term for the beginning part of a plot that gives information about the characters and their problems or conflicts

Word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level

Scene in a movie, play, short story, novel, or narrative poem that interrupts the present action of the plot to flash backward and tell what happened at an earlier time

Character who is used as a contrast to another character

The use of clues to hint at events that will occur later in a plot

Poetry that does not have a regular rhythm or rhyme

The category that a work of literature is classified under

Japanese verse form consisting of three lines and seventeen syllables

Figure of speech that uses exaggeration to express strong emotion or to create comic relief

Line of poetry that contains five iambs

Expression peculiar to a particular language that means something different from the literal meaning of each word

Language that appeals to the senses

A writer or speaker says one thing but really means something completely different

Occurs when there is a contrast between what would seem appropriate and what really happens or when there is a contradiction between what we expect to happen and what really does take place

Occurs when the audience or the reader knows something important that a character in a play or story does not know

Poetry that does not tell a story, but is aimed only at expressing a speaker's emotions or thoughts.

Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, in which one becomes another thing without the use of like, as, than, or resembles

Does not tell the reader directly that one thing is something else. Instead it uses words that suggest the nature of the comparison.

A metaphor that is extended, or developed, over several lines of writing or even throughout an entire poem

A story's atmosphere or the feeling it evokes

Traditional story that is rooted in a particular culture, is basically religious, and usually serves to explain a belief, a ritual, or a mysterious natural phenomenon

The voice telling a story

Writing that deals with real people, things, events, and place

Fictional writing usually consisting of more than 50,000 words

Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning

Statement or situation that seems to be a contradiction but reveals a truth.

Repetition of words, phrases, or sentences that have the same grammatical structure or that state a similar idea.

Mask or voice assumed by a writer

Kind of metaphor in which a nonhuman thing or quality is talked about as if it were human

Series of related events that make up a story or drama

Vantage point from which a writer tells a story

Series of related events that make up a story or drama

The person telling a story knows everything there is to know about the characters and their problems.

One of the characters is telling the story using the pronoun I .

This narrator does not always know what is happening in the story, or they may be lying, or telling us only part of the story

The narrator, who is not in the story, zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of just one character.

Main character in fiction or drama

The character or force that blocks the protagonist

Play on the multiple meanings of a word or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Repeated word, phrase, line, or group of lines. Usually associated with songs and poems.

Repetition of accented vowel sounds, and all sounds following them in words that are close together in a poem.

Occurs at the end of a line in a poem

Occurs in the middle of a line in a poem

A guess based on observation and prior experience

Musical quality in language produced by repetition

Type of writing that ridicules something - a person, a group of people, humanity, an attitude, a social institution - in order to reveal a weakness.

The time and place of a story or play

Figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things, using a word such as like or as.

Short, concentrated, fictional prose narrative

Long speech in which a character who is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts aloud.

Fourteen line lyric poem that is usually written in iambic pentameter and has a rhyme scheme.

Voice that is talking to us in a poem

Group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit

Person, place, thing or event that stands for something beyond itself

Central idea of a work of literature

Attitude a writer takes towards a subject

A play that depicts serious and important events in which the main character comes to an unhappy ending

The writer’s or speaker’s distinctive use of language in a text.

A text structure that shows how or why one thing leads to another.

A series of statements in a text designed to convince us of something

The arrangement of details in the time order in which they occurred.

A method of organizing information by showing similarities and differences among various groups of details

Texts that communicate information and data

A way of organizing information to show relationships among key details in a text.

Specific information or proof that backs up the reasons in an argument