Engligh Literary Terms
English Literary Terms
o Narration
o Protagonist main character
o Antagonist character who opposes the protagonist
o Theme what you as a reader is supposed to learn
o Metaphor
o Simile a comparison using the words like or as
o Oxymoron
o Hyperbole
o Personification giving human qualities to non living things
o Alliteration repetition of initial consonant sounds
o Allusion make reference to the bible, work of art, mythology, or history
o Irony opposite of what is expected to be
o End Rhyme a rhyme that comes at the end of the line
o Rhyming Couplet
o Apostrophe talking to a non human object in a work of literature
o Ambivalence having 2 emotions at the same time
o Secondary Character noh plays always introduces the play
o Flat Character a character you only learn 1 or 2 characteristics about
o Round Character a character you learn many characteristics about
o Static Character a character who does not change
o Dynamic Character a character that changes from the beginning of the play/story to the end of the story
o Three Unities 1. Unity of Place; 2. Unity of Time; 3. Unity of Action
o Fable a brief story that teaches a moral or a lesson
o Lay (Lai) a type of poem that has similar characteristics
o Sonnet a 14 line poem; patterned rhyme scheme
o Lyric Poem a short poem that expresses the idea or emotion of a speaker
o Narrative Poem a poem that tells us a story. It has a clear middle, beginning, and end
o Haiku most highly structed poem; entire poem has 3 lines; line 1 5 syllables; line 2 7 syllables; line 3 5 syllables
o Didactic Literature any work of literature whose main purpose is to teach
o Foreshadowing a hint/clue about something that will happen...
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