Literary Terms
Plot Sequence of events in a story.
Climax High point of interest in the story
Anachronism Placing something in a time period/era where it does not belong.
Antihero A protagonist who is particularly graceless, inept, stupid, or dishonest
Apology A written or spoken defense (I’m sorry)
Archetype A blocked off memory of our past or of pre-human experience; a type of struggle; a character to which a culture relates to without prior knowledge.
Clash/Struggle between opposing forces Man vs. Man Man vs. Himself Conflict Clash/Struggle between opposing forces Man vs. Man Man vs. Himself Man vs. Nature Man vs. Society
Catharsis A moral or spiritual cleansing you receive when watching a protagonist overcome a great odds to survive.
Controlling Image/Motif An image or theme that runs throughout the story/novel/work
Diction Word choice; denotation – dictionary definition; connotation – all the emotions the word brings
Doppelganger A mysterious twin or a double fighting against your good work. Someone who looks just like you!
Dystopia A bad place. An imaginary world which was constructed to be perfect, yet it failed and became a very unpleasant place.
A perfect world (…usually becomes a dystopia) Utopia A perfect world (…usually becomes a dystopia)
Epiphany A sudden understanding or realization which prior to this was not thought of or understood
Euphemism the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.
A particular type or category of writing, music, art, etc. Genre A particular type or category of writing, music, art, etc.
Hamartia It means an error, mistake, or misstep. The protagonist’s hamartia will cause his/her downfall.
Imagery Descriptive details in a work that use figures of speech to explain people or things.
Moral – the message/lesson to be learned Theme/Moral Theme – the ideas that the author wants the reader to take from the story. Moral – the message/lesson to be learned
The emotional feeling of the setting Mood/Atmosphere The emotional feeling of the setting
A self-contradictory combination of words Oxymoron A self-contradictory combination of words
A summary of the main points in a story/essay Synopsis A summary of the main points in a story/essay
The omission of one or more words Ellipsis/Ellipse The omission of one or more words
Paradox A statement that seems to contradictory or absurd; however, it is found to be true!