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Epic ✔✔A long poem reflecting the values of a society. Usually contains a protagonist, the lead
character, and an antagonist, a character who opposes or competes with the protagonist who may
possess supernatural powers.
Protagonist ✔✔The lead character in literary work
Fable ✔✔A tale in which animals take on human characteristics; usually written to provide a
moral lesson (didactic) or to illustrate man's shortcomings.
Farce ✔✔A light dramatic composition that uses highly improbable situations, stereotyped
characters, exaggerations, and violence. It is generally regarded as inferior to comedy because of
its crude characterizations.
Legend ✔✔A story of traditional, enduring quality from earlier times.
Myth ✔✔Related the deeds of extraordinary beings and speak to a common truth about life.
,Alliteration ✔✔The repetition of initial consonant sounds in two or more words in a line of
writing; often used for poetic effect. Based on sound, not spelling.
Allusion ✔✔Reference to a well-known person, place, object, event or literary work or work of
art. The use of allusion implies shared literary and cultural experiences between author and
reader.
Anachronism ✔✔Placing an event, person or object out of its proper chronological place.
Analogy ✔✔An inference that two dissimilar things share common traits.
Antagonist ✔✔A character or force in conflict with the main (protagonist) character.
Antithesis ✔✔A figure of speech in which a thought is balanced with a contrasting thought in
parallel arrangements of words and phrases.
Apostrophe ✔✔When a character turns away from the audience and directly addresses an absent
person or a personified quality. Allows the character the opportunity to think aloud.
,Aside ✔✔Lines spoken directly to the audience by an actor
Assonance ✔✔The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.
Catharsis ✔✔The reader or audience feels compassion with the protagonist and experiences a
sense of relief when watching a protagonist overcome great odds.
Character ✔✔A person in a story, poem or play. Even if the character is an animal or a god, the
character will have human characteristics.
Static character ✔✔A character who does not change during the course of the story
Dynamic character ✔✔A character that changes in some way during the story
Flat character ✔✔A character who exhibit few personality traits in a literary work
Round character ✔✔A complex character in a literary work
, Climax ✔✔The moment of the greatest emotional tension or suspense in a story or novel
Connotation ✔✔A hidden meaning of a word usually determined by the context in which the
word is used. Words may be negative or positive.
Consonance ✔✔An example of near rhyme - the repetition of terminal consonant sounds; often
used by poets to create rhyme.
Denouement ✔✔A french term that literally "untying the knot" used to describe the moment of
climax resolution a story
Denotation ✔✔The literal dictionary meaning(s) of a word
Eulogy ✔✔A speech or writing to praise or honor someone, most commonly spoken at a funeral
Euphemism ✔✔A device where a direct, unpleasant expression is replaced by an indirect,
pleasant phrase.