English 3 Literary Terms
apostrophe a rhetorical device (way of speaking) in which the speaker directly and often emotionally addresses a person who is dead or absent, an imaginary or non-human entity, or a place or concept
flashback A scene that interrupts the present action of a narrative to depict some earlier event via remembrance, dreaming, etc.
tone author’s attitude toward the reader, audience, or subject matter of a work
mood General feeling created for the reader or audience
Overstatement/hyperbole Deliberate, emphatic exaggeration, often for comedic effect
parallelism the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same, or similar, in their construction, sound, meaning or meter.
irony Situational: we expect one thing to happen, but the opposite does Dramatic: we know something the characters don’t Verbal: say one thing, mean the opposite
characterization Various means by which an author describes/develops a character Flat character: lacks depth and complexity Round character: fully developed, with complexity and depth associated with real people Static: doesn’t change Dynamic: changes
euphemism a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
foreshadowing Introducing material that prepares the reader or audience for future events, actions, or revelations
juxtaposition 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
Point of view Vantage point from which the story is told First person: author tell story through character who refers to him/herself as “I” or “me” Second person: narrator addresses a “you”
Point of view Vantage point from which the story is told Third person Omniscient – narrator observers (pronouns “she,” “he,” and “it”); all-knowing Limited – recounts the story through eyes of single character; reader only knows thoughts and feelings of that one character