1. Of Mice and Men
Literary Terms

2. Autobiography
A history of a person's life written or told by that person.

3. Biography
When someone writes about another person’s life.

4. Anecdote
Short account of a funny incident.

5. Character Sketch
Short essay describing a person

6. Fable
A brief tale told to illustrate a moral or teach a lesson.

7. Novel
A long work that takes the average reader several days, or even weeks, to finish.

8. Analogy
A point-by-point comparison between two things that are alike.

9. Foil
A character who provides a striking contrast to another character.

10. Rhetorical Question
A question in which no answer is required. It is used only for dramatic effect.

11. Understatement
When something or someone is represented as less than it is on purpose.

12. Dialect
A way of speaking found only in a certain area or among a certain group or class of people.

13. Connotation
The feelings, or associations, you think about when you hear a word.

14. Denotation
The dictionary definition of a word.

15. Mood
The feeling or atmosphere that the writer creates for the reader.

16. Diction
A writer’s or speaker’s choice of words and way of arranging the words in sentences.