Literary Terms

5. The conversation between characters in a work of literature.
9. A character who undergoes a significant internal change over the course of a story.
10. Describing nonhuman animals, objects, or ideas as though they possess human qualities or emotions.
13. A main or important character; a character who plays a large role in a story.
14. A struggle between opposing forces; the problem.
15. An expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its individual words.
17. The use of words whose sounds imitate the sounds of what they describe, such as hiss, murmur, growl, honk, buzz, woof, etc.
21. When two or more words in a group of words begin with the same sound (usually the same letter)
22. The environment in which a story takes place, including the time period, the location, and the physical characteristics of the surroundings.
24. Extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement that is not meant to be taken literally.

1. Clues or hints about something that is going to happen later in the story.
2. Using words in some way other than for their literal meanings to make a comparison, add emphasis, or say something in a fresh and creative way.
3. The opponent or enemy of the main character, or protagonist.
4. The means through which an author reveals a character’s personality.
6. A story’s main message or moral.
7. A scene in a story that occurred before the present time in the story.
8. The main or central character of a work of literature.
11. The comparison of two unlike things to illuminate a particular quality or aspect of one of those things (does not use like or as).
12. The perspective from which a story is told.
15. Literary technique by which the full significance of a character's words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.
16. The feeling the reader gets from a work of literature
18. Language that portrays sensory experiences, or experiences of the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
19. The point in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem at which the conflict reaches its greatest intensity and then is resolved.
20. When two unlike things are compared—using like or as—in order to illuminate a particular quality or aspect of one of those things.
23. The author’s attitude toward the subject matter or toward the reader or audience.