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Literary elements

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Full list of words from this list:

  1. allegory
    a short moral story
  2. alliteration
    use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word
  3. analysis
    abstract separation of something into its various parts
  4. antagonist
    someone who offers opposition
  5. character
    a property that defines the individual nature of something
  6. characterization
    the act of describing essential features
  7. chiaroscuro
    the arrangement or interplay of light and dark in an artwork
  8. climax
    the highest point of anything
  9. conflict
    an open clash between two opposing groups
  10. connotation
    an idea that is implied or suggested
  11. denotation
    the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression
  12. denouement
    the outcome of a complex sequence of events
  13. dialogue
    a conversation between two persons
  14. drama
    a work intended for performance by actors on a stage
  15. exposition
    a collection of things for public display
  16. figurative
    not literal
  17. foil
    hinder or prevent, as an effort, plan, or desire
  18. foreshadowing
    the act of providing vague advance indications
  19. genre
    a kind of literary or artistic work
  20. hyperbole
    extravagant exaggeration
  21. imagery
    the ability to form mental pictures of things or events
  22. irony
    incongruity between what might be expected and what occurs
  23. literal
    limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text
  24. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
  25. mood
    a characteristic state of feeling
  26. motif
    a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work
  27. narrator
    someone who tells a story
  28. omniscient
    knowing, seeing, or understanding everything
  29. onomatopoeia
    using words that imitate the sound they denote
  30. oxymoron
    conjoined contradictory terms
  31. paradox
    a statement that contradicts itself
  32. personification
    attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas
  33. perspective
    a way of regarding situations or topics
  34. plot
    a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation
  35. point of view
    a mental position from which things are perceived
  36. protagonist
    the principal character in a work of fiction
  37. repetition
    the act of doing or performing again
  38. rime
    ice crystals that form a white deposit
  39. satire
    witty language used to convey insults or scorn
  40. semantic
    of or relating to meaning or the study of meaning
  41. setting
    the physical position of something
  42. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
  43. symbol
    something visible that represents something invisible
  44. symbolism
    the practice of investing things with arbitrary meaning
  45. tension
    the action of stretching something tight
  46. theme
    the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
  47. tone
    the distinctive property of a complex sound
Created on Sun Mar 15 12:21:27 EDT 2009 (updated Sun Mar 15 12:41:39 EDT 2009)

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