Scarlet Letter Literary Terms

allusion Reference to another work of literature, history, religion, etc.

Extended metaphor Metaphor (comparison between two unlike things) that is carried on over several lines of poetry, or throughout a work of fiction.

Affective fallacy A proposition in literary criticism that a a work should be analyzed and described in terms of its own internal structure and not in terms of the emotional response of the reader.

Pathetic fallacy the endowment of nature, inanimate objects, etc., with human traits and feelings.

allegory A narrative that has a second meaning beneath the surface, often relating each literal term to a fixed, corresponding abstract idea or moral principle.

anachronism Something or someone that is not correct in its historical context.

mondegreen Word or phrase that is misinterpreted as another, usually with amusing results.

malapropism Misuse of words

zeugma Use of a word to modify 2 or more words when it is appropriate to only one, or appropriate to each, but in a different way.

litotes Understatement; especially when expressing an affirmative by the negative of its contrary. “not bad at all.”