Glossary of Literary Terms

 Action
Also called “action-adventure,” action is a genre of film, TV, literature, etc., in which the primary feature is the
constant slam-bang of fights, chases, explosions, and clever one-liners. Action stories typically do not explore
complex relationships between human beings or the subtleties of psychology and philosophy.
 
Ad Hominen
Ad hominem is Latin for “against the man,” and refers to the logical fallacy (error) of arguing that someone is
incorrect because they are unattractive, immoral, weird, or any other bad thing you could say about them as a
person.
 
Adage
An adage is a brief piece of wisdom in the form of short, philosophical, and memorable sayings. The adage
expresses a well-known and simple truth in a few words.
 Adventure
Adventure (pronounced ad-ven-cher) was originally a Middle English word derived from the Old
French aventure meaning “destiny,” “fate,” or “chance event.” Today, we define adventure as a remarkable or
unexpected journey, experience, or event that a person participates in as a result of chance. This last detail, a result
of chance, is a key element of adventure; the stories usually involve a character who is brought to the adventure by
chance, and chance usually plays a large role in the episodes of the story. Also, adventures usually includes
dangerous situations, narrow escapes, problems to be solved through intelligence and skill, exotic people and places,
and brave deeds.
 

Allegory

An allegory is a story within a story. It has a “surface story” and another story hidden underneath. For example, the
surface story might be about two neighbors throwing rocks at each other’s homes, but the hidden story would be
about war between countries.
 

Alliteration

In alliteration, words that begin with the same sound are placed close together. Although alliteration often
involves repetition of letters, most importantly, it is a repetition of sounds.
 

Allusion

Allusion is basically a reference to something else. It’s when a writer mentions some other work, or refers to an
earlier part of the current work. In literature, it’s frequently used to reference cultural works (e.g. by alluding to a
Bible story or Greek myth).
 

Ambiguity
Ambiguity is an idea or situation that can be understood in more than one way. This extends from ambiguous
sentences (which could mean one thing or another) up to ambiguous storylines and ambiguous arguments.
 

Amplification

Amplification involves extending a sentence or phrase in order to further explain, emphasize, or exaggerate certain
points of a definition, description, or argument.
 

Anagram

An anagram is a type of word play in which the letters of a word or phrase are rearranged to create new words and
phrases.
 

Analogy

An analogy is a literary technique in which two unrelated objects are compared for their shared qualities. Unlike
a simile or a metaphor, an analogy is not a figure of speech, though the three are often quite similar. Instead,
analogies are strong rhetorical devices used to make rational arguments and support ideas by showing connections
and comparisons between dissimilar things.
 

Anaphora

Anaphora is when a certain word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of clauses or sentences that follow each
other. This repetition emphasizes the phrase while adding rhythm to the passage, making it more memorable and
enjoyable to read.
 

Anecdote

An anecdote is a very short story that is significant to the topic at hand; usually adding personal knowledge or
experience to the topic.
 

Antagonist

In a story, the antagonist is the opposite of the protagonist, or main character. Typically, this is a villain of some
kind, but not always! It’s just the opponent of the main character, or someone who gets in their way.
 

Anthimeria

Anthimeria (also known as antimeria) is the usage of a word in a new grammatical form, most often the usage of a
noun as a verb.
 

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is giving human traits or attributes to animals, inanimate objects, or other non-human things. It
comes from the Greek words anthropo (human) and morph (form).
 

Antithesis

Antithesis literally means “opposite” – it is usually the opposite of a statement, concept, or idea. In literary analysis,
an antithesis is a pair of statements or images in which the one reverses the other. The pair is written with similar
grammatical structures to show more contrast.
 

Antonomasia

Antonomasia is a literary term in which a descriptive phrase replaces a person’s name. Antonomasia can range from
lighthearted nicknames to epic names.
 

Aphorism

An aphorism is a short, concise statement of a general truth, insight, or good advice.  It’s roughly synonymous with
“a saying.” Aphorisms often use metaphors or creative imagery to get their point across.
 

Aphorismus

Aphorismus is a term in which the speaker questions whether a word is being used correctly to show disagreement.
Aphorismus is often written as a rhetorical question such as “How can you call this music?”to show the difference
between the usual meaning of a word and how it is  being used. So, the point is to call attention to the qualities of the
word, suggesting that how it is being used is not a good example of the word.
 

Apologia

An apologia is a defense of one’s conduct or opinions. It’s related to our concept of “apology,” but in many cases
it’s the precise opposite of an apology! When you apologize, you’re saying “I did the wrong thing, and I regret it.”
But in an apologia, you’re defending yourself, either by saying that what you did wasn’t wrong or denying that you
were responsible for what happened.
 

Apologue

An apologue is a short story or fable which provides a simple moral lesson. Apologues are often told through the use
of animal characters with symbolical elements.
 

Aporia

In literature, aporia is an expression of insincere doubt. It’s when the writer or speaker pretends, briefly, not to know
a key piece of information or not to understand a key connection. After raising this doubt, the author will either
respond to the doubt, or leave it open in a suggestive or “hinting” manner.
 

Aposiopesis
Aposiopesis is when a sentence is purposefully left incomplete or cut off. It’s caused by an inability or unwillingness
to continue speaking. This allows the ending to be filled in by the listener’s imagination.
 

Appositive

Appositives are noun phrases that follow or precede another noun, and give more information about it.
 

Archaism

An archaism is an old word or expression that is no longer used with its original meaning or is only used in specific
studies or areas.
 
Archetype
An archetype (ARK-uh-type) is an idea, symbol, pattern, or character-type, in a story. It’s any story element that
appears again and again in stories from cultures around the world and symbolizes something universal in the human
experience.

Argument

An argument is a work of persuasion. You use it to convince others to agree with your claim or viewpoint when they
have doubts or disagree.
 

Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds within words, phrases, or sentences.
 

Asyndeton

Asyndeton is skipping one or more conjunctions (and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet) which are usually used in a series of
phrases. Asyndeton is also known as asyndetism.
 

Autobiography

An autobiography is a self-written life story.

 
B

Bathos

Bathos is text that abruptly turns from serious and poetic, to regular and silly.
 

Buzzword

A buzzword is a word or phrase that has little meaning but becomes popular during a specific time.
 

Cacophony

Cacophony is the use of a combination of words with loud, harsh sounds—in reality as well as literature.  In literary
studies, this combination of words with rough or unharmonious sounds are used for a noisy or jarring poetic effect.
Cacophony is considered the opposite of euphony which is the use of beautiful, melodious-sounding words.
 

Caesura

Caesura refers to a break or pause in the middle of a line of verse. It can be marked as || in the middle of the line,
although generally it is not marked at all – it’s simply part of the way the reader or singer pronounces the line.
 

Catharsis

Catharsis,  meaning “cleansing” in Greek, refers to a literary theory first developed by the philosopher Aristotle,
who believed that cleansing our emotions was the purpose of a good story, especially a tragedy. Catharsis applies to
any form of art or media that makes us feel strong negative emotions, but that we are nonetheless drawn to – we may
seek out art that creates these emotions because the experience purges the emotions from our system.
 

Character

A character is a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story. Writers use characters to perform the actions and
speak dialogue, moving the story along a plot line. A story can have only one character (protagonist) and still be a
complete story.
 

Chiasmus
Chiasmus comes from a Greek word meaning “crossed,” and it refers to a grammatical structure that inverts a
previous phrase. That is, you say one thing, and then you say something very similar, but flipped around.
 

Circumlocution

Circumlocution means “talking around” or “talking in circles.” It’s when you want to discuss something, but don’t
want to make any direct reference to it, so you create a way to get around the subject. The key to circumlocution is
that the statement has to be unnecessarily long and complicated.
 

Cliché

A cliché is a saying, image, or idea which has been used so much that it sounds terribly uncreative. The word
“cliche” was originally French for the sound of a printing plate, which prints the same thing over and over.
 

Climax

Climax is the highest point of tension or drama in a narrative’s plot. Often, climax is also when the main problem of
the story is faced and solved by the main character or protagonist.
 

Coherence

Coherence describes the way anything, such as an argument (or part of an argument) “hangs together.”  If something
has coherence, its parts are well-connected and all heading in the same direction. Without coherence, a discussion
may not make sense or may be difficult for the audience to follow. It’s an extremely important quality of formal
writing.
 

Connotation

A connotation is a common feeling or association that a word has, in addition to its literal meaning (the denotation).
Often, a series of words can have the same basic definitions, but completely different connotations—these are the
emotions or meanings implied by a word, phrase, or thing.
 

Consonance

Consonance is when the same consonant sound appears repeatedly in a line or sentence, creating a rhythmic effect.
 

Conundrum

A conundrum is a difficult problem, one that is impossible or almost impossible to solve. It’s an extremely broad
term that covers any number of different types of situations, from moral dilemmas to riddles.
 

Comedy
Comedy is a broad genre of film, television, and literature in which the goal is to make an audience laugh. It exists
in every culture on earth (though the specifics of comedy can be very different from one culture to another), and has
always been an extremely popular genre of storytelling.
 

Denotation

Denotation is a word’ or thing’s “dictionary defintion”, i.e. its literal meaning.

Denouement

The denouement is the very end of a story, the part where all the different plotlines are finally tied up and all
remaining questions answered.
 

Deus ex machina

Deus ex machina is Latin for “a god from the machine.” It’s when some new character, force, or event suddenly
shows up to solve a seemingly hopeless situation. The effect is usually much too abrupt, and it’s often disappointing
for audiences.
 

Diacope

Diacope is when a writer repeats a word or phrase with one or more words in between. A common and persistent
example of diacope is Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be!”
 

Dialogue

Dialogue means “conversation.” In the broadest sense, this includes any case of two or more characters speaking to
each other directly. But it also has a narrower definition, called the dialogue form. The dialogue form is the use of a
sustained dialogue to express an argument or idea.
 

Diction

Diction refers to word choice and phrasing in any written or spoken text. Many authors can be said to have their own
“diction,” because they tend to use certain words more than others or phrase things in a unique way.
 

Doppelganger
Doppelganger is a twin or double of some character, usually in the form of an evil twin. They sometimes
impersonate a main character or cause confusion among the love interests.
 

Drama

Drama has two very different meanings. In modern pop culture, it means a genre of film or television that deals with
serious, often negative, emotions. It’s the opposite of comedy, which is just for laughs. Drama refers only to film
and television, not novels or other purely written art forms.
 

Dystopia

A dystopia is a horrible place where everything has gone wrong. Whereas utopia means a perfect
paradise, dystopia means exactly the opposite.
 

Enjambment

Enjambment is continuing a line after the line breaks. Whereas many poems end lines with the natural pause at the
end of a phrase or with punctuation as end-stopped lines, enjambment ends a line in the middle of a phrase, allowing
it to continue onto the next line as an enjambed line.
 

Enthymeme

An enthymeme is a kind of syllogism, or logical deduction, in which one of the premises is unstated.

Epigram

An epigram is a short but insightful statement, often in verse form, which communicates a thought in a witty,
paradoxical, or funny way.
 

Epiphany

An epiphany is an “Aha!” moment. As a literary device, epiphany is the moment when a character is suddenly
struck with a life-changing, enlightening revelation or realization which changes his or her perspective for the rest of
the story.
 

Epistrophe
Epistrophe is when a certain phrase or word is repeated at the end of sentences or clauses that follow each
other. This repetition creates a rhythm while emphasizing the repeated phrase. Epistrophe is also known as epiphora
and antistrophe.
 

Epitaph

An epitaph is a short statement about a deceased person, often carved on his/her tombstone. Epitaphs can be poetic,
sometimes written by poets or authors themselves before dying.
 

Epithet

An Epithet is a glorified nickname. Traditionally, it replaces the name of a person and often describes them in some
way.
 

Eponym

An eponym refers to a person or thing after which something else is named. A person or thing’s name can come to
be associated with the name of another character, person, product, object, activity, or even a discovery.
 

Equivocation

Commonly known as “doublespeak,” equivocation is the use of vague language to hide one’s meaning or to avoid

Essay

An essay is a form of writing in paragraph form that uses informal language, although it can be written formally.
Essays may be written in first-person point of view (I, ours, mine), but third-person (people, he, she) is preferable in
most academic essays.
 

Etymology

Etymology is the investigation of word histories. Every word in every language has a unique origin and history;
words can be born in many ways, and often their histories are quite adventurous and informative. Etymology
investigates and documents the lives (mainly the origins) of words.
 

Euphemism

A euphemism is a polite, mild phrase that we substitute for a harsher, blunter way of saying something
uncomfortable.
 

Excursus

An excursus is a moment where a text moves away from its main topic – it’s roughly similar to “digression.”
 
Exemplum

Exemplum is just Latin for “example.” And that’s all it is. It’s an example, story, or anecdote used to demonstrate a
point.
 

Exposition

The exposition of a story is the first paragraph or paragraphs in which the characters, setting (time and place), and
basic information is introduced.
 

Extended Metaphor

An extended metaphor is a metaphor that is developed in some detail by being used in more than one phrase, from a
sentence or a paragraph, to encompassing an entire work.
 

Fairy Tale

A fairy tale is a story, often intended for children, that features fanciful and wondrous characters such as elves,
goblins, wizards, and even, but not necessarily, fairies. The term “fairy” tale seems to refer more to the fantastic and
magical setting or magical influences within a story, rather than the presence of the character of a fairy within that
story.
 
Fable
In literature, a fable (pronounced fey-buh l) is a short fictional story that has a moral or teaches a lesson. Fables use
humanized animals, objects, or parts of nature as main characters, and are therefore considered to be a sub-genre of
fantasy.
 

Fantasy

Fantasy, from the Greek ϕαντασία meaning ‘making visible,’ is a genre of fiction that concentrates on imaginary
elements (the fantastic). This can mean magic, the supernatural, alternate worlds, superheroes, monsters, fairies,
magical creatures, mythological heroes—essentially, anything that an author can imagine outside of reality.
 

Farce

A farce is a comedy in which everything is absolutely absurd. This usually involves some kind of deception or
miscommunication.
 
Figures of Speech

A figure of speech is a word or phrase using figurative language—language that has other meaning than its normal
definition. In other words, figures of speeches rely on implied or suggested meaning, rather than a dictionary
definition.
 

Flashback

Flashback is a device that moves an audience from the present moment in a chronological narrative to a scene in the
past.
 

Folklore

Folklore refers to the tales people tell – folk stories, fairy tales, “tall tales,” and even urban legends. Folklore is
typically passed down by word of mouth, rather than being written in books. The key here is that folklore has no
author – it just emerges from the culture and is carried forward by constant retelling.
 

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing gives the audience hints or signs about the future. It suggests what is to come through imagery,
language, and/or symbolism.
 

Genre

A genre is a category of literature identified by form, content, and style. Genres allow literary critics and students to
classify compositions within the larger canon of literature.
 

Haiku

A haiku is a specific type of Japanese poem which has 17 syllables divided into three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
Haikus or haiku are typically written on the subject of nature.
 

Hamartia

Hamartia is the tragic flaw or error that reverses a protagonist’s fortune from good to bad.
 

Homophone

Homophone is when two or more words have the same sound, but different meanings. They may be spelled the same
or differently.
 

Horror

In literature, horror is a genre of fiction whose purpose is to create feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror in the
audience—in other words, it develops an atmosphere of horror.
 

Hyperbaton

Hyperbaton is a figure of speech in which the typical, natural order of words is changed as certain words are moved
out of order.
 

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which an author or speaker purposely and obviously exaggerates to an extreme. It
is used for emphasis or as a way of making a description more creative and humorous.
 

Idiom

An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning different from the words used. In this sense, idiom is pretty
much synonymous with “figure of speech,” though with a slightly narrower definition: an idiom is part of the
language.
 

Imagery

Imagery is language used to create images in the mind of the reader. Imagery includes figurative and metaphorical
language to improve the reader’s experience through their senses.
 
Innuendo

An innuendo is when you say something which is polite and innocent on the surface, but indirectly hints at an insult
or rude comment,  a dirty joke, or even social or political criticism.
 

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is a fact about literary texts – the fact that they are all intimately interconnected. Every text is affected
by all the texts that came before it, since those texts influenced the author’s thinking and aesthetic choices.
 

Invective

Invective is the literary device in which one attacks or insults a person or thing through the use of abusive language
and tone.
 

Irony

Irony is when there are two contradicting meanings of the same situation, event, image, sentence, phrase, or story.
In many cases, this refers to the difference between expectations and reality.
 

Jargon

Jargon is the specific type of language used by a particular group or profession.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences.
 

Kairos
Kairos in Ancient Greek meant “time” – but it wasn’t just any time. It was exactly the right time to say or do a
particular thing.  In modern rhetoric, it refers to making exactly the right statement at exactly the right moment.
 

Limerick

A limerick is a five-line poem with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA, lines 1,2, and 5 rhyme together, while lines 3
and 4 rhymes togther) and a reasonably strict meter (anapestic triameter for lines 1, 2, and 5; anapestic diameter for
lines 3 and 4). Limericks are almost always used for comedy, and it’s usually pretty rude comedy at that – they deal
with bodily functions, etc., and could be considered “toilet humor.”
 

Lingo

Lingo is language or vocabulary that is specific to a certain subject, group of people, or region; including slang and
jargon. The term lingo is relatively vague—it can mean any type of nonstandard language, and varies between
professions, age groups, sexes, nationalities, ethnicities, location, and so on.
 

Literary Device

In literature, any technique used to help the author achieve his or her purpose is called a literary device.
 

Litotes

Litotes is an understatement in which a positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite. The classic example
of litotes is the phrase “not bad.” By negating the word “bad,” you’re saying that something is good, or at least OK.
 

Malapropism

Malapropisms are incorrect words used in place of correct words; these can be unintentional or intentional, but both
cases have a comedic effect.
 
Maxim

A maxim is a brief statement that contains a little piece of wisdom or a general rule of behavior.
 

Metanoia

Metanoia is a self-correction. It’s when a writer or speaker deliberately goes back and modifies a statement that they
just made, usually either to strengthen it or soften it in some way.
 

Metaphor

A metaphor is a common figure of speech that makes a comparison by directly relating one thing to another
unrelated thing (though these things may share some similarities).
Unlike similes, metaphors do not use words such as “like” or “as” to make comparisons.
 

Metonymy

Metonymy is a figure of speech that replaces words with related or associated words.  A metonym is typically a part
of a larger whole, for example, when we say “wheels,” we are figuratively referring to a “car” and not literally only
the wheels.
 

Mnemonic

A mnemonic, also known as a memory aid, is a tool that helps you remember an idea or phrase with a pattern of
letters, numbers, or relatable associations. Mnemonic devices include special rhymes and poems, acronyms, images,
songs, outlines, and other tools.
 

Monologue

A monologue is a speech given by a single character in a story.

Motif

A motif is a symbolic image or idea that appears frequently in a story. Motifs can be symbols, sounds, actions, ideas,
or words.
 

Mystery

Mystery is a genre of literature whose stories focus on a mysterious crime, situation or circumstance that needs to be
solved.
 
 

Narrative

A narrative is a story. The term can be used as a noun or an adjective. As a noun, narrative refers to the story being
told. As an adjective, it describes the form or style of the story being told.
 

Nemesis

A nemesis is an enemy, often a villain. A character’s nemesis isn’t just any ordinary enemy, though – the nemesis is
the ultimate enemy, the arch-foe that overshadows all the others in power or importance.
 

Neologism

Neologism is new word or phrase that is not yet used regularly by most speakers and writers.
 

Ode

In the strict definition, an ode is a classical poem that has a specific structure and is aimed at an object or person.  In
the loose definition, an ode is any work of art or literature that expresses high praise.
 

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia refers to words whose pronunciations imitate the sounds they describe.  A dog’s bark sounds like
“woof,” so “woof” is an example of onomatopoeia.
 

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that puts together opposite elements. The combination of these
contradicting elements serves to reveal a paradox, confuse, or give the reader a laugh.
 
 

Palindrome

A palindrome is a type of word play in which a word or phrase spelled forward is the same word or phrase spelled
backward.
 

Parable

A parable is a short story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.

Paradox

A paradox is a statement that contradicts itself, or that must be both true and untrue at the same time.
 

Parallelism

Parallelism, also known as parallel structure, is when phrases in a sentence have similar or the same grammatical
structure.
 

Paraphrase

A paraphrase is a restatement or rewording of text in order to borrow, clarify, or expand on information without
plagiarizing.
 

Parody

A parody is a work that’s created by imitating an existing original work in order to make fun of or comment on an
aspect of the original.
 

Pastiche

Pastiche is a creative work that imitates another author or genre. It’s a way of paying homage, or honor, to great
works of the past.
 

Pathetic Fallacy

The pathetic fallacy is a figure of speech in which the natural world (or some part of it) is treated as though it had
human emotions.
 
Peripeteia

Peripeteia is a sudden change in a story which results in a negative reversal of circumstances. Peripeteia is also
known as the turning point, the place in which the tragic protagonist’s fortune changes from good to bad.
 

Persona

Persona can refer to the characters in any dramatic or literary work.  But it has another special meaning in literary
studies, where it refers to the voice of a particular kind of character—the character who is also the narrator within a
literary work written from the first-person point of view.
 

Personification

Personification is a kind of metaphor in which you describe an inanimate object, abstract thing, or non-human
animal in human terms.
 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s ideas, words, or thoughts as your own, without giving credit to the
other person. When you give credit to the original author (by giving the person’s name, name of the article, and
where it was posted or printed), you are citing the source.
 

Platitude

A platitude repeats obvious, simple, and easily understood statements that have little meaning or emotional weight.
 

Pleonasm

A pleonasm is when one uses too many words to express a message. A pleonasm can either be a mistake or a tool
for emphasis.
 

Plot

In a narrative or creative writing, a plot is the sequence of events that make up a story, whether it”s told, written,
filmed, or sung. The plot is the story, and more specifically, how the story develops, unfolds, and moves in time.
 

Poetry

Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a set of
rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung together to form
sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly.
 

Polyptoton
Polyptoton is the repetition of a root word in a variety of ways, such as the words “enjoy” and “enjoyable.”
Polyptoton is a unique form of wordplay that provides the sentence with repetition in sound and rhythm.
 

Prologue

A prologue is a short introductory section that gives background information or sets the stage for the story to come.
 

Prose

Prose is just non-verse writing. Pretty much anything other than poetry counts as prose.
 

Protagonist

Protagonist is just another word for “main character.” The story circles around this character’s experiences, and the
audience is invited to see the world from his or her perspective.
 

Proverb

A proverb is a short saying or piece of folk wisdom that emerges from the general culture rather than being written
by a single, individual author.
 

Pun

A pun is a joke based on the interplay of homophones — words with the same pronunciation but different meanings.

Quest

A quest is a journey that someone takes in order to achieve a goal or complete an important task. Accordingly, the
term comes from the Medieval Latin questa, meaning “search” or “inquiry.”

 
Rebus

A rebus is a code or reference where pictures, letters, or symbols represent certain words or phrases. Perhaps the
simplest and most common rebus in use today is “IOU” for “I owe you.”
 

Red Herring

A red herring is a misleading clue. It’s a trick used by storytellers to keep the reader guessing about what’s really
going on.
 

Repetition

Quite simply, repetition is the repeating of a word or phrase. It is a common rhetorical device used to add emphasis
and stress in writing and speech.
 

Resolution

The resolution, also known as the denouement, is the conclusion of the story’s plot structure where any unanswered
questions are answered, or “loose ends are tied.”
 

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the ancient art of persuasion, in the broadest sense. It is the way you present and make your views
convincing or attractive to your audience.
 

Rhetorical Device

A rhetorical device is any way of using language that helps an author or speaker achieve a particular purpose.
Usually, the purpose is persuasion, since rhetoric is typically defined as the art of persuasion.
 

Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question that is not asked in order to receive an answer, but rather just to make a point.
 

Romance

In the strictest academic terms, a romance is a narrative genre in literature that involves a mysterious, adventurous,
or spiritual a story line where the focus is on a quest that involves bravery and strong values, not a love interest.
However, modern definitions of romance also include stories that have a relationship issue as the main focus.
 

 
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Sarcasm

Sarcasm is a form of verbal irony that mocks, ridicules, or expresses contempt. You’re saying the opposite of what
you mean (verbal irony) and doing it in a particularly hostile tone.
 

Satire

The formal definition of satire is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s
stupidity or vices.” It’s an extremely broad category.
 

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that somehow causes itself to come true. The characters may try to prevent
their fate, but in the end their actions simply cause that fate to come about.
 

Setting

Setting is the time and place (or when and where) of the story. It may also include the environment of the story,
which can be made up of the physical location, climate, weather, or social and cultural surroundings.
 

Simile

A simile is a literary term where you use “like” or “as” to compare two different things, implying that they have
some quality in common.
 

Soliloquy

A soliloquy is a kind of monologue, or an extended speech by one character. In a soliloquy, though, the speech is not
given to another character, and there is no one around to hear it.
 

Sonnet

A sonnet is a fourteen line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme. Often, sonnets use iambic pentameter: five sets of
unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables for a ten-syllable line.
 

Stanza

In poetry, a stanza is a dividing and organizing technique which places a group of lines in a poem together,
separated from other groups of lines by line spacing or indentation. There are many important pieces that together
make up a writer’s style; like tone, word choice, grammar, language, descriptive technique, and so on.
 
Style

Style 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.
 

Subtext

The subtext is the unspoken or less obvious meaning or message in a literary composition, drama, speech, or
conversation.
 

Surrealism

Surrealism is a literary and artistic movement in which the goal is to create something bizarre and disjointed, but
still somehow understandable.
 

Symbol

A symbol is any image or thing that stands for something else. It could be as simple as a letter, which is a symbol for
a given sound (or set of sounds).
 

Synecdoche

A synecdoche is figure of speech which allows a part of something to stand for a whole, or the whole to stand for a
part.
 

Synonym

A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. When words or phrases have
the same meaning, we say that they are synonymous of each other.
 

Synopsis

A synopsis is a brief summary that gives audiences an idea of what a composition is about. It provides an overview
of the storyline or main points and other defining factors of the work, which may include style, genre, persons or
characters of note, setting, and so on.
 

 
Tautology

Tautology is defining or explaining something by saying exactly the same thing again in different words.
 

Theme

Theme is the central idea, topic, or point of a story, essay, or narrative.

Thriller

A thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television whose primary feature is that it induces strong feelings of
excitement, anxiety, tension, suspense, fear, and other similar emotions in its readers or viewers—in other words,
media that thrills the audience.
 

Thesis

A thesis is the main argument or point of view of an essay, nonfiction piece or narrative—not just the topic of the
writing, but the main claim that the author is making about that topic.
 

Tone

Tone refers to the “feel” of a piece of writing. It’s any or all of the stylistic qualities of the writing, such as
formality, dialect, and atmosphere.
 

Trope

The word trope can refer to any type of figure of speech, theme, image, character, or plot element that is used many
times.  Any kind of literary device or any specific example can be a trope.
 

Understatement

Understatement is when a writer presents a situation or thing as if it is less important or serious than it is in reality.
 

Utopia

Utopia is a paradise. A perfect society in which everything works and everyone is happy – or at least is supposed to
be.
 

Verisimilitude

Verisimilitude simply means ‘the quality of resembling reality’ and a work of art, or any part of a work of art, has
verisimilitude if it seems believably realistic. A verisimilitudinous story has details, subjects, and characters that
seem similar or true to real life.
 

Villain

A villain is the bad guy, the one who comes up with diabolical plots to somehow cause harm or ruin. It is one of
the archetype characters in many stories.

Wit

Wit is a biting or insightful kind of humor. It includes sharp comebacks, clever banter, and dry, one-line jokes. It is
often cynical or insulting, which is what provides it with its characteristic sharpness.

Zeugma

Zeugma is when you use a word in a sentence once, while conveying two different meanings at the same time.