Reading: Literature - High School

Whether you prefer poetry or prose, you'll want to review these terms related to reading literature. This comprehensive vocabulary list covers text structure, literary devices and figures of speech, genre, tone and mood, point of view, and much more. We know every trick in the book!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. accent
    the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note
  2. adaptation
    a written work that has been recast in a new form
  3. aesthetic
    characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste
  4. affix
    a linguistic element added to a word
  5. allegory
    a style in which characters and events are symbolic
  6. alliteration
    use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word
  7. allusion
    passing reference or indirect mention
  8. ambiguity
    unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning
  9. analogy
    drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
  10. anecdote
    short account of an incident
  11. antagonist
    someone who offers opposition
  12. antihero
    a protagonist who does not act brave or morally good
  13. aphorism
    a short pithy instructive saying
  14. apostrophe
    an address to an absent or imaginary person
  15. archetype
    something that serves as a model
  16. assonance
    the repetition of similar vowels in successive words
  17. attitude
    a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings
  18. autobiography
    a book or account of your own life
  19. ballad
    a narrative poem of popular origin
  20. biblical
    of or pertaining to or contained in or in accordance with the Bible
  21. biography
    an account of the series of events making up a person's life
  22. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
  23. characterization
    a vivid verbal description
  24. characterize
    describe or portray the qualities or peculiarities of
  25. chronological
    relating to or arranged according to the order of time
  26. cite
    repeat a passage from
  27. cliche
    a trite or obvious remark
  28. climax
    the decisive moment in a novel or play
  29. colloquial
    characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation
  30. comedy
    light and humorous drama with a happy ending
  31. complication
    a development that makes a situation more challenging
  32. conceit
    an artistic device or effect
  33. conclusion
    the last section of a communication
  34. conflict
    opposition in a work of fiction between characters or forces
  35. connotation
    an idea that is implied or suggested
  36. connotative
    implying or suggesting something extra
  37. consonance
    the repetition of sounds especially at the ends of words
  38. context
    discourse that surrounds and helps explain a word or passage
  39. contradiction
    opposition between two conflicting forces or ideas
  40. convention
    something regarded as a normative example
  41. couplet
    a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse
  42. critical
    characterized by careful evaluation and judgment
  43. critique
    appraise or judge in an analytical way
  44. denotation
    the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression
  45. denotative
    having the power of explicitly denoting or designating or naming
  46. denouement
    the resolution of the main complication of a literary work
  47. device
    something in an artistic work designed to achieve an effect
  48. dialect
    the usage or vocabulary characteristic of a group of people
  49. dialogue
    the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
  50. diction
    the manner in which something is expressed in words
  51. didactic
    instructive, especially excessively
  52. dilemma
    state of uncertainty in a choice between unfavorable options
  53. drama
    a work intended for performance by actors on a stage
  54. dramatic
    characteristic of a stage performance
  55. dramatic irony
    when the audience understands something the characters don't
  56. dramatic work
    a play for performance on the stage or television or in a movie etc.
  57. dramatist
    someone who writes plays
  58. editorial
    an article giving opinions or perspectives
  59. elegy
    a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
  60. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
  61. epic
    a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
  62. epic poetry
    a literary work celebrating the deeds of some hero
  63. epigraph
    a quotation at the beginning of some piece of writing
  64. epilogue
    a short section at the end of a literary work
  65. epiphany
    a usually sudden insight, perception, or understanding of something
  66. episodic
    divided into or composed of distinct scenes or events
  67. etymology
    a history of a word
  68. evidence
    knowledge on which to base belief
  69. evoke
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
  70. explanatory
    serving or intended to make clear
  71. explicit
    precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable
  72. exposition
    an account that sets forth the intent of a story
  73. expository
    serving to expound or set forth
  74. fantasy
    fiction with a large amount of imagination in it
  75. figurative
    not literal
  76. figure
    language used in a nonliteral sense
  77. figure of speech
    language used in a nonliteral sense
  78. first person
    pronouns and verbs used to refer to the speaker
  79. flashback
    a transition in a story to an earlier event or scene
  80. foil
    a person or thing that serves to contrast with another
  81. foreshadow
    indicate by signs
  82. foreshadowing
    the act of providing vague advance indications
  83. form
    an arrangement of the elements in a composition or discourse
  84. formal
    adhering to traditional standards of correctness
  85. free verse
    poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter
  86. genre
    a class of art having a characteristic form or technique
  87. haiku
    an epigrammatic Japanese verse form of three short lines
  88. hero
    the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
  89. heroine
    the main good female character in a work of fiction
  90. historical
    of or relating to the study of recorded time
  91. homophone
    a word pronounced the same with another meaning or spelling
  92. hyperbole
    extravagant exaggeration
  93. idiom
    expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from its words
  94. inference
    a conclusion you can draw based on known evidence
  95. inferential
    derived or capable of being derived by inference
  96. informal
    not in accord with established conventions and requirements
  97. informative
    serving to instruct or enlighten
  98. internal rhyme
    a rhyme between words in the same line
  99. interpretation
    an explanation that results from making sense of something
  100. irony
    incongruity between what is expected and what occurs
  101. juxtaposition
    the act of positioning close together
  102. legend
    a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events
  103. linguistic
    consisting of or related to language
  104. literal
    limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text
  105. literary
    relating to or characteristic of creative writing
  106. literary criticism
    the analysis and evaluation of serious written work
  107. literary genre
    a style of expressing yourself in writing
  108. literary work
    imaginative or creative writing
  109. literature
    creative writing of recognized artistic value
  110. lyric
    a short poem of songlike quality
  111. lyrical
    expressing deep emotion
  112. medium
    a means or instrumentality for communicating information
  113. memoir
    an account of the author's personal experiences
  114. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
  115. metaphorical
    expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another
  116. meter
    a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse
  117. metric
    the rhythmic arrangement of syllables
  118. metrical
    relating to the rhythmic arrangement of syllables
  119. metrics
    the study of poetic meter and the art of versification
  120. monologue
    a dramatic speech by a single actor
  121. mood
    the prevailing psychological state
  122. motif
    a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work
  123. motivation
    psychological feature arousing action toward a desired goal
  124. mystery
    a story about a crime presented as a novel or play or movie
  125. mythic
    relating to or having the nature of myth
  126. mythological
    based on or told of in traditional stories
  127. mythology
    the body of stories associated with a culture or institution
  128. narration
    a telling of a story in writing, drama, or cinema
  129. narrative
    an account that tells the particulars of an act or event
  130. narrator
    someone who tells a story
  131. nonfiction
    prose writing that is not formed by the imagination
  132. nostalgia
    a longing for something past
  133. novel
    an extended fictional work in prose
  134. nuance
    a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
  135. octave
    a rhythmic group of eight lines of verse
  136. ode
    a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  137. omniscient
    knowing, seeing, or understanding everything
  138. onomatopoeia
    using words that imitate the sound they denote
  139. outcast
    a person who is rejected (from society or home)
  140. overstatement
    exaggeration of the importance or extent of something
  141. oxymoron
    conjoined contradictory terms
  142. paradox
    a statement that contradicts itself
  143. parallelism
    similarity by virtue of corresponding
  144. paraphrase
    express the same message in different words
  145. personification
    representing an abstract quality or idea as a human
  146. perspective
    a way of regarding situations or topics
  147. persuasive
    intended or having the power to induce action or belief
  148. playwright
    someone who writes plays
  149. plot
    the story that is told, as in a novel, play, movie, etc.
  150. plot element
    a component or element of the plot of a story
  151. poem
    a composition in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines
  152. poetic
    of or relating to verse, or literature in metrical form
  153. poetry
    literature in metrical form
  154. point of view
    a mental position from which things are perceived
  155. prediction
    the act of foretelling
  156. prologue
    an introductory section of a novel or other literary work
  157. prose
    ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
  158. prosody
    the study of poetic meter and the art of versification
  159. protagonist
    the principal character in a work of fiction
  160. proverb
    a condensed but memorable saying embodying an important fact
  161. pun
    a humorous play on words
  162. purpose
    an anticipated outcome that guides your planned actions
  163. quatrain
    a stanza of four lines
  164. realism
    artistic movement that represents the world accurately
  165. recurring
    coming back
  166. refrain
    part of a song or poem that recurs at regular intervals
  167. repetition
    the continued use of the same word or word pattern
  168. representation
    a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image
  169. rhetorical
    relating to using language effectively
  170. rhetorical question
    an inquiry that is not supposed to be answered
  171. rhyme
    correspondence in the final sounds of two or more lines
  172. rhythm
    alternation of stressed and unstressed elements in speech
  173. rhythmic
    recurring with measured regularity
  174. root
    the form of a word after all affixes are removed
  175. sarcasm
    witty language used to convey insults or scorn
  176. sarcastic
    expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
  177. scapegoat
    someone who is punished for the errors of others
  178. scene
    a subdivision of an act of a play
  179. script
    a written version of a play or other dramatic composition
  180. sensory
    involving or derived from the senses
  181. sestet
    a group of six lines of verse
  182. setting
    the physical position of something
  183. Shakespeare
    English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
  184. short story
    a brief but fully developed prose narrative
  185. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
  186. soliloquy
    a dramatic speech giving the illusion of unspoken reflection
  187. sonnet
    a verse form of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme
  188. sound effect
    an effect that imitates a sound called for in the script of a play
  189. stage direction
    instruction or description written in the script of a play
  190. staging
    the production of a drama on the stage
  191. stanza
    a fixed number of lines of verse forming a unit of a poem
  192. stereotype
    a conventional or formulaic conception or image
  193. structure
    the building of something and the arrangement of its parts
  194. style
    a mode of expression typical of a person, group, or period
  195. stylistic
    of or relating to style (especially in the use of language)
  196. summarize
    briefly present the main points of something
  197. summary
    a brief statement that presents the main points
  198. suspense
    excited anticipation of an approaching climax
  199. symbol
    something visible that represents something invisible
  200. symbolism
    the practice of investing things with arbitrary meaning
  201. syntax
    the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
  202. synthesize
    combine so as to form a more complex product
  203. tall tale
    an improbable (unusual or incredible or fanciful) story
  204. technique
    a practical method or art applied to some particular task
  205. textual
    relating to or based on writing
  206. theme
    a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary work
  207. third person
    pronouns referring to people besides the speaker or listener
  208. tone
    a quality that reveals the attitudes of the author
  209. tradition
    an inherited pattern of thought or action
  210. tragedy
    drama exciting terror or pity
  211. tragic
    of or relating to a drama with an unhappy ending
  212. tragic flaw
    the error of a hero in a drama that leads to his downfall
  213. unaccented
    pronounced with little or no stress
  214. understatement
    something said in a restrained way for ironic contrast
  215. viewpoint
    a mental position from which things are considered
  216. villain
    the principal bad character in a film or work of fiction
  217. visualize
    imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind
  218. voice
    a means by which something is expressed or communicated
Created on Mon Jan 30 12:03:28 EST 2017 (updated Wed Mar 29 15:29:44 EDT 2017)

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