English 9 Honors Lit Terms

Unity

A certain literary work is about one central topic and never strays from that topic

Foil

A character who contrasts with another character, in order to highlight certain qualities of one or both of those characters

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a story. The protagonist is at the center of the story, makes the key decisions, and experiences the consequences of those decisions. The protagonist is the primary agent propelling the story forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles

Unreliable Narrator

An unreliable narrator is a character whose telling of the story is not completely accurate or credible due to problems with the character's mental state or maturity.

Theme

Central idea of a work of literature and is the idea that the writer wishes to reveal about the subject

Analogy

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

Irony

Contrast between expectation and reality--between what is said and what is really meant, between what is expected to happen and what really does happen, or between what appears to be true and what is really true

Idiom

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

Conceit

Extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem

Oxymoron

Figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect

Metaphor

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

Simile

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

Hyperbole

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

Meter

Generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry

Stanza

Group of consecutive lines in a poem that form a single unit (like a sentence in prose)

Literal Meaning

Has a meaning of exactly what it says

Personification

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

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses. use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to their work

Juxtaposition

Literary technique in which two or more ideas, places, characters and their actions are placed side by side in a narrative or a poem for the purpose of developing comparisons and contrasts

Fiction

Literary work with imaginary characters or events

Coherence

Logical or complete, has meaning

First Person POV

Main character, uses I, audience only knows what the main character knows

Denotative

Meaning. Literal meaning of a word, a "dictionary definition"

Rhythm

Musical quality in language produced by repetition

Allegory

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

Third Person Omniscient POV

Narrator, who does not play a part in the story, knows everything that will happen to the characters, "all-knowing"

Third Person Limited POV

Narrator, who plays no part in the story, zooms in on the thoughts and feelings of one character

Antagonist

Opponent to the main character in fiction or drama who typically causes/is involved in a conflict.

Rhyme Scheme

Pattern of end rhymes on a poem. referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.

Symbol

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

Pun

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

Free Verse

Poetry that does not have a regular meter or rhyme scheme

Blank Verse

Poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Characterization

Process of revealing the personality of a character in a story

Rhetorical Question

Question that is asked without an expected answer

Motif

Recurring symbol which takes on a figurative meaning

Allusion

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

Rhyme

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

Assonance

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

Alliteration

Repetition of the same or very similar consonant sounds usually at the beginnings of words that are close together in a piece of literature

Consonance

Repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase that appear within the word (not at the beginning--that would be alliteration)

Syntax

Sequence in which words are put together to form sentences

Plot

Series of related events that make up a story or drama

Paradox

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

Mood

Story's atmosphere or the feeling it evokes

Connotative Meaning

The meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words, in addition to their literal dictionary definitions, or denotations

Style

The particular way in which a writer uses language. Ex. formal, childish. is the way in which an author writes and/or tells a story. It's what sets one author apart from another and creates the "voice" that audiences hear when they read.

Setting

Time and place of a story or play

Poetry

Type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the reader's emotions and imagination

Satire

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

Foot

Unit of ​division of a ​line of ​poetry ​containing one ​strong ​beat and one or two ​weaker ​ones. most basic unit of a poem's meter. A foot is a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Onomatopoeia

Use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning

Point of View

Vantage point from which a writer tells a story

Line

Verse of poetry that divides a poem

Anecdote

Very, very brief story, usually told to make a point

Narrator

Voice telling a story. Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story, to deliver information to the audience, particularly about the plot.

Speaker

Voice that is talking to us in a poem

Figure of Speech

Word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level. Hyperbole/Idiom are examples of this

Parody

Work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of satiric or ironic imitation

Diction

Writer's or speaker's choice of words. Simply put: Word Choice

Voice

Writer's or speaker's distinctive use of language in a text

Nonfiction

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

Reliable Narrator

a quality of some fictional narratives whose word the reader can trust