75 Common Literary Terms Word Search

Question: point of view
Answer: the position from which a story is told.
==================================================
Question: theme
Answer: a main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly.
==================================================
Question: Diction
Answer: a style of speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by the writer.
==================================================
Question: figurative language
Answer: Writing or speech that is not intended to carry literal meaning and is usually meant to be imaginative
==================================================
Question: simile
Answer: making comparison using like or as
==================================================
Question: allusion
Answer: A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance.
==================================================
Question: Parallelism
Answer: parts of the sentence are grammatically the same, or are similar in construction
==================================================
Question: trochaic
Answer: a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable
==================================================
Question: couplet
Answer: having two successive rhyming lines in a verse and has the same meter to form a complete thought
==================================================
Question: caesura
Answer: A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.
==================================================
Question: motif
Answer: A recurring theme, subject or idea in a story; it is usually important
==================================================
Question: conceit
Answer: extended metaphor in a poem
==================================================
Question: synecdoche
Answer: a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa
==================================================
Question: narrator
Answer: the voice that tells the story , it may or may not be the author.
==================================================
Question: ode
Answer: a form of poetry such as a sonnet or elegy
==================================================
Question: parable
Answer: a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth , religious principle or moral lesson
==================================================
Question: fable
Answer: A brief story that leads to a moral, often using animals as characters
==================================================
Question: persona
Answer: the mask of the writer
==================================================
Question: Denotation
Answer: The dictionary definition of a word
==================================================
Question: Characterization
Answer: a literary device that is used step by step in literature to highlight and explain the details about a character in a story
==================================================
Question: plot
Answer: a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main part of a story
==================================================
Question: speaker
Answer: the voice behind the poem—the person we imagine to be saying the thing out loud
==================================================
Question: hyperbole
Answer: a figure of speech which involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis
==================================================
Question: alliteration
Answer: a literary device where two or more words in a phrase or line of poetry share the same beginning sound
==================================================
Question: Onomatopoeia
Answer: A word that imitates the sound it represents.
==================================================
Question: Denoument
Answer: a literary device which can be defined as the resolution of the issue of a complicated plot in fiction
==================================================
Question: syntax
Answer: rules for combining words into sentences
==================================================
Question: Metonymy
Answer: A figure of speech in which something is referred to by using the name of something that is associated with it
==================================================
Question: litote
Answer: understatement
==================================================
Question: Protagonist
Answer: the central character or leading figure in poetry , narrative,novel or any other story
==================================================
Question: Juxtaposition
Answer: a 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.
==================================================
Question: Antithesis
Answer: a rhetorical device in which two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect
==================================================
Question: Polysyndeton
Answer: a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect
==================================================
Question: irony
Answer: a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words
==================================================
Question: turning point
Answer: a moment when the course of events is changed
==================================================
Question: Dialect
Answer: the language used by the people of a specific area , class, district or any other group of people
==================================================
Question: meter
Answer: a unit of rhythm i poetry , the pattern of beats
==================================================
Question: tragedy
Answer: A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow
==================================================
Question: setting
Answer: the time and place in which the story takes place
==================================================
Question: tone
Answer: an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience
==================================================
Question: imagery
Answer: to use figurative language to represent object , action and ideas in such a way that appeals to our physical senses
==================================================
Question: Personification
Answer: a figure of speech in which a thing , an idea or an animal is given human attributes
==================================================
Question: assonance
Answer: Repetition of vowel sounds or diphthong in non-rhyming words
==================================================
Question: foreshadow
Answer: a literary device in which a writer gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story
==================================================
Question: anaphora
Answer: the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect
==================================================
Question: Stanza
Answer: a division of four or more lines having a fixed length, meter or rhyming scheme
==================================================
Question: Antagonist
Answer: a character or a group of characters which stand in opposition to the protagonist or the main character
==================================================
Question: structure
Answer: framework that underlies the order and way a narrative is presented to a reader or listener
==================================================
Question: Consonance
Answer: refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase
==================================================
Question: in medias res
Answer: it usually describes a narrative that begins , not at the beginning but somewhere in the middle usually some crucial point in the action
==================================================
Question: stereotype
Answer: a character who represents a trait that is usually attributed to a particular social or racial group and who lacks individuality; a conventional patter, expression or idea.
==================================================
Question: satire
Answer: a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule
==================================================
Question: caricature
Answer: exaggerated imitation or description of a character
==================================================
Question: soliloquy
Answer: When a character in a play speaks his thoughts aloud —usually by him or herself.
==================================================
Question: mood
Answer: a literary element that evokes certain feelings or vibes in readers through words and descriptions
==================================================
Question: colloquial
Answer: the use of informal words , phrases or even slan in a piece of literature
==================================================
Question: archetype
Answer: a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature
==================================================
Question: confict
Answer: a literary element that involves a struggle between two opposing forces usually a protagonist and a antagonist
==================================================
Question: symbolism
Answer: to signify ideas qualities b giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense
==================================================
Question: metaphor
Answer: a figure of speech which makes an implicit , implied or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics
==================================================
Question: Oxymoron
Answer: a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect
==================================================
Question: rhyme
Answer: a repeation of similar sounding word occurring at the end of lines in a poem or song
==================================================
Question: iambic
Answer: unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
==================================================
Question: quatrain
Answer: a verse with four lines, or even a full poem containing four lines, having an independent and separate theme
==================================================
Question: rhythm
Answer: a literary device which demonstrates the long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables particularly in verse form.
==================================================
Question: parody
Answer: a imitation of writer , artist , subject or genre in such a way as to make fun of or comment on the original work
==================================================
Question: Apostrophe
Answer: a figure of speech sometimes represented by exclamation "O".
==================================================
Question: Asyndeton
Answer: a stylistic device used in literature and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases and in the sentence, yet maintain the grammatical accuracy
==================================================
Question: sarcasm
Answer: a literary and rhetorical device that is meant to mock with often satirical or ironic remarks with a purpose to amuse and hurt someone or some section of society simultaneously
==================================================
Question: jargon
Answer: a literary term that is defined as a use of specific phrases and words by writers in a situation , profession or trade
==================================================
Question: epic
Answer: A long narrative poem, written in heightened language, which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society
==================================================
Question: genre
Answer: A category or type of literature
==================================================
Question: Connotation
Answer: a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly
==================================================
Question: paradox
Answer: a statement that seems contradictory but is actually true
==================================================
Question: Allegory
Answer: a story with two levels of meaning
==================================================