Allusion
a reference to a well-known person, place, event, or literary work to make the writing stronger
Hyperbole
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally
Onomatopoeia
Boom! Pow! Whoosh! Wham! All of these words are onomatopoeia, or words that sound like what they describe
Metaphor
one thing is spoken of as if it were something else
Simile
making comparisons between two subjects using like or as
Irony
contrast between what is stated and what is meant
Personification
a non-human subject is given human traits
Antagonist
the bad main character
Protagonist
the good main character
Plot
a literary device that writers use to structure what happens in a story
Setting
time and place in a story
Characterization
personality trait of characters
Theme
central message of a work
Style
the writer's way of writing
Point of View
perspective from which the story is told (1st, 2nd, 3rd person)
Symbolism
uses something to represent something else
Foreshadowing
giving clues to suggest events that have yet to occur
Mood and Atmosphere
feeling created (in the reader) by a work
Flashback
a section in a literary work that interrupts the chronological order of events to relate an event from an earlier time. (goes back in time)
Round (Dynamic) Character
the character that changes (Scrooge)
Flat (Static) Character
the character that does not change
Alliteration
repetition of first sound (Peter Piper picked) - repeated at least two times
Rhyme Scheme
the regular pattern of rhyming words in a poem
Imagery
descriptive or figurative language used to create word pictures for the reader
Inference
a guess of what can be