Literary Language.By: Kiersten Kio
Places to go
alliteration
allusion
analogy
antagonist
apostrophe
character
characterization
cliché
climax
conflict
dialect
dialogue
euphemism
exposition
fable
flashback
foil
foreshadowing
genre
hyperbole
idiom
imagery
irony
Dramatic irony
Situational irony
Verbal irony
jargon
metaphor
mood
narrator
onomatopoeia
oxymoron
parody
personification
plot
Point of view
First person
Third person omniscient
Third person limited
Second person
protagonist
pun
resolution
sarcasm
satire
tone
alliterationdefinition
example
definition Repetition of the initial sounds of several
words in a group.
example “Rabbits running over roses”
allusiondefinition
example
definition A reference in one literary work to a
character or theme found in another literary work.
example “Harriet Tubman was called the Moses of
her time”
analogy
definition
example
definition A comparison of two things made to explain
something unfamiliar through its similarities to something familiar.
example “A street light is like a star. Both provide
light at night, both are in predictable locations, both are overhead, and both serve no function in the daytime. “
antagonist
definition
example
definition The character who opposes the main
character.
example an example of an antagonist in Harry Potter
would be Voldemort.
apostrophedefinition
example
definition A statement, question, or request
addressed to an inanimate object or nonexistent or absent person.
example "Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou
art"
characterdefinition
example
definition The people (or animals, things, etc.
presented as people) appearing in a literary work.
example Who is your favorite character in the
notebook? My favorite character is either noah, or ally.
characterization
definition
example
definition The way in which a writer reveals the
nature of a character.
example So all we could do is Sit!
Sit! Sit! And we did not like it. Not one bit.
cliche
definition
example
definition An expression that has lost its power or
originality from overuse.
example “There's no place like home.”
Climaxdefinition
example
definition The high point of interest or suspense in a
story or play.
example "Nothing has been left undone to cripple
their minds, debase their moral stature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind."
conflict
definition
example
definition Dramatic struggle between two forces in a
story.
example “An eagle has strong wings and may,
therefore, symbolize something within you that can lift you - perhaps out of depression, towards the "light". “
dialect
definition
example
definition Language used that is different from the
formal language of an area or region.
example “Language dialect is like the type of
language that you speak in a particular region. It is like, in Tennessee, you wouldn't usually say you, you would say y'all.“
dialogue
definition
example
definition Conversation between people in a literary
work.
example Jake: (enthusiastically) "Hey! What's up?"
Selena: (grimly) "Nothing...just doing boring homework" Jake: (grinning) "Yeah, its boring alright, but if you get it done by nerd, he'll happily do it for you. Just as long as you pay him, that is. Selena: (amused) "Don't you EVER get caught?" Jake: (still grinning) "Some people are just plain lucky. Like me!" Selena: (shaking her head) "Someday, you're gonna pay for it and you'll wish you'd never done it" Jake: "Maybe, but for now just let it go as it is, OK?
euphemismdefinition
example
definition The substitution of a mild or less negative
word or phrase
example “Her mother kicked the bucket yesterday.”
exposition
definition
example
definition The part of a story or play that provides
background information and introduces the setting and main character.
example Most expositions begin from the first line
fable
definition
example
definition A brief tale designed to illustrate moral
lesson. Characters are usually animals.
example "A fox, seeing some sour grapes hanging
within an inch of his nose, and being unwilling to admit that there was anything he would not eat, solemnly declared that they were out of his reach."
flashback
definition
example
definition An interruption in the sequence of a story to
describe an event that took place earlier.
example "For a flashback to succeed as part of your beginning, it
should meet three criteria.
"First, it should follow a strong opening scene, one that roots us firmly in your character's present. . . .
"In addition, the second-scene flashback should bear some clear relation to the first scene we've just witnessed. . . .
"Finally, don't let your readers get lost in time. Indicate clearly how much earlier the flashback
foildefinition
example
definition A character whose physical or
psychological qualities contrast strongly with, therefore highlight, the qualities of another character (usually protagonist).
example Mercutio says, "If love be rough with you,
be rough with love." Who would think the opposite of that statement? The nurse tells dirty jokes. Who would be shocked at that behavior? Juliet is practical about how Romeo arrived under her balcony. Who would be the opposite of practical there?
foreshadowing
definition
example
definition The technique of giving hints about events
that have no yet happened.
example In the opening of The Wizard of Oz, set in
Kansas, the transformation of Miss Gulch into a witch on a broomstick foreshadows her reappearance as Dorothy's enemy in Oz.
genredefinition
example
definition A category of literary work.
example "Genre, as many students of the subject have
observed, functions much like a code of behavior established between the author and his reader. When we agree to attend a formal dinner, we tacitly accept the assumption that we will don the appropriate attire; the host in turn feels an obligation to serve a fairly elaborate meal and to accompany it with wine rather than, say, offering pizza and beer. Similarly, when we begin to read a detective novel, we agree to a willing suspension of disbelief."
hyperboledefinition
example
definition Deliberate exaggeration used to achieve
and effect.
example "she bought out Mary Kay just to have
enough makeup for one day!"
idiomdefinition
example
definition An expression with a meaning different
from the literal meaning of the individual words.
example "Every cloud has its silver lining but it is
sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint."
imagerydefinition
example
definition Words and phrases that appeal to the
reader’s senses.
example sight: the rose is bright red
hearing: it sounds like the chirping of several birds, with their high voices.smell: the air smells like going to the countryside. fresh and green. no smell of smoke but the fresh waters and the leaves.touch: it feels bumpy yet gives off a welcoming warmthtaste: it tastes sweet yet spicy at once, with a tinge of orange taste.
ironydefinition
example
definition A mode of expression, through words or
events, conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation.
example ”Crying to be delivered from the mess
you've built. Had the beaver not created the mess to begin with, there'd be no need to be delivered from it. “
Dramatic ironydefinition
example
definition The reader or viewer knows something the
character does not know.
example The audience knows that Juliet had taken
the potion from Friar Lawrence, but Romeo did not. But, when Romeo rushes in and find his Juliet "dead," he kills himself. Juliet wakes up finally, and then commits suicide as well.
Situational irony
definition
example
definition An event occurs that is unexpected.
example "Seated in a stenographer's chair, tapping
away at a typewriter that had served him through four years of college, he wrote a series of guidebooks for people forced to travel on business." The writer hated travel.
Verbal ironydefinition
example
definition Speech that does not mean what the
speaker says or that is unexpected.
example Mother comes into the TV room and
discovers her 11-year-old watching South Park instead of doing his homework, as he was set to a dozen minutes ago. Pointing to the screen she says, "Don't let me tempt you from your duties, kiddo, but when you're finished with your serious studies there, maybe we could take some time out for recreation and do a little math."
jargondefinition
example
definition Language that is used or understood by a
select group of people.
example A word can be both slang and jargon as is
seen in the use of the word “say.” The word “say” is not slang unless it is used at the beginning of a sentence as in “tell me.” For example, the following uses of the word “say” are considered slang:
“Say, how much does that cost?” “Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light.”
metaphordefinition
example
definition A comparison is made between two unlike
things without the use of “like” or “as”
example "Between the lower east side tenements
the sky is a snotty handkerchief."
mooddefinition
example
definition The feeling or atmosphere that a writer
creates for the reader.
example "Life is full of misery, loneliness, and
suffering--and it's all over much too soon."
narratordefinition
example
definition The teller of the sory.
example Holden Caulfield, the narrator and main
character in The Catcher in the Rye, one of the most famous books of all time. He tells the story.
onomatopoeiadefinition
example
definition A literary device wherein the sound of a
word echoes the sound it represents.
example Knock-knock Who's there?
BooBoo who?Don't cry, I was only joking
oxymorondefinition
example
definition A phrase combining two contradictory
terms.
example "O brawling love! O loving hate! . . .
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
parodydefinition
example
definition A work that comically imitates another work
example "'And that boy of his, Frito,' added bleary-eyed
Nat Clubfoot, 'as crazy as a woodpecker, that one is.' This was verified by Old Poop of Backwater, among others. For who hadn't seen young Frito, walking aimlessly through the crooked streets of Boggietown, carrying little clumps of flowers and muttering about 'truth and beauty' and blurting out silly nonsense like 'Cogito ergo boggum?'"
personificationdefinition
example
definition Giving human qualities to abstract ideas,
animals, and inanimate objects.
example The sun kissed the flowers.
The wind was whistling. The grass was dancing.The car was humming.The washer gurgled the detergent.The computer began to talk.Opportunity began to knock on my door
plotdefinition
example
definition What happens in a story; the sequence of
events
example "Captain Stronghead piloted his spacecraft
to Proxima Centauri," is an event with no plot. "Captain Stronghead piloted his spacecraft to Proxima Centauri in order to escape the despotic regime on Earth," has the beginning of a plot.
Point of view
definition
definition The perspective or vantage point from
which a story is told.
First persondefinition
example
definition Relates events as they are perceived by a
single character.
example "I was walking down the street when all of a
sudden..."
Third person omniscient
definition
example
definition Outside of any single character’s
perception. It is an “all-knowing” point of view.
example uses pronouns such as he, she, it, or the
name of the character.
Third person limited
definition
example
definition Outside of any single character’s
perception but not all-knowing.
example is the same as omnicient except the
narrator only knows the thoughts and emotions of one, sometimes two, characters .
Second persondefinition
example
definition Relates the events to another character
using “you”, so that the story is being told through the addressee’s pint of view. Least used in literature.
example You are not the kind of guy who would be
at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.
protagonistdefinition
example
definition The main character in a story.
pundefinition
example
definition a humorous play on words, often involving
double meanings.
example He drove his expensive car into a tree and
found out how the Mercedes bends.
resolutiondefinition
example
definition The final outcomes of the story.
example The time period during which the
authorizations are effective
sarcasmdefinition
example
definition A form of sneering criticism in which
disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise.
example And your crybaby whinny opinion would be...?
Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed. If I throw a stick, will you leave?If I want to hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'll put shoes on my cats. Does your train of thought have a caboose? Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?
satiredefinition
example
definition Ideas, customs, behaviors or institutions
are ridiculed for the purpose of improving society and may be witty, mildly abrasive or bitterly critical and often uses exaggeration to force readers to see something in a more critical light.
example "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift.
tonedefinition
example
definition The attitude of the writer toward his
audience/literary work.
example animated ambivalent apathetic accusatory
amused absurd aggressive acerbicangry abstruse assertive aggrievedarrogant awestruck admiringadmiring assertive ardent acerbicbefuddled benevolent bitter belligerentcompliant cautionary condescending callouscynical colloquial comic confusedcritical compassionate complaining chatty complex cheerful contemptuous causticcruel celebratory candid conciliatorydetached depressed disapproval docileevasive docile derisive dignifieddisparaging distressed disheartened diplomaticdefiant dispassionate demeaning excited empathetic egotistical earnest farcicalfrustrated forceful formal frankfawning flippant faultfinding frivolousfuming ghoulish grim gulliblegentle hard hard-hearted hypercriticalhumble intense incensed imploringindignant intimate impressionable sulkinginane irreverent impassioned informativeincredulous indifferent impartial ironicjaded joyous laudatory loving malicious mocking modest macabremourning mean-spirited naive nastynarcissistic nostalgic objective outraged obsequious optimistic outspoken placatingpompous pragmatic pretentious prayerful playful pathetic pessimistic pensivepatronizing philosophical persuasive reflectiveresentful reverent resigned regretfulrighteous reticent reflective restrainedsentimental satirical sympathetic skepticalscornful scathing subjective self-pityingsensationalistic submissive scorning subjectivesolemn sorrowful tragic thoughtfultolerant unassuming unbiased uneasyvirtuous vindictive witty world-wearywretched wonder worried whimsical