Glossary of literary terms facts for kids

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This is a list of definitions for words and ideas used when talking about all kinds of literature, like poems, novels, and even picture books. It also includes terms about grammar and how language works. If you want to learn more about poetry terms, check out Glossary of poetry terms.

A

abecedarius: A special type of acrostic where the first letter of every word or line follows the order of the alphabet.
Accent: This word describes the extra push or stress you put on a certain syllable when you say a word. For example, in the word "banana," the accent is on the middle "na."
accentual verse: This is a type of poetry where the rhythm comes from the number of stressed syllables in a line, not the total number of syllables. Many nursery rhymes use accentual verse.
acrostic: A poem or writing where the first letter of each line spells out a word or a secret message. For example, if the first letters spell "READ," that's an acrostic.
Act: A main part of a play, movie, or opera. Plays are often divided into several acts, and each act can have many scenes.
adage: A short, well-known saying that shares a simple truth. It's like a proverb or a wise aphorism that everyone knows.
adjective: A word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives tell you more about people, places, or things, like "blue sky" or "tall building."
adverb: A word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs often end in -ly and tell you when, how, or how many times something happens. For example, "She sings beautifully."
allegory: A story where the characters, places, and events are symbols that stand for other specific people, events, or ideas. It's like a story with a hidden meaning.
alliteration: When words that are close together start with the same sound. Think of "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
allusion: A hint or reference to something famous, like a person, place, event, or another story. It helps the reader understand something new by connecting it to something they already know.
anachronism: Something that is out of place in time. For example, if a character in a story set in the 1800s pulls out a smartphone, that's an anachronism.
anadiplosis: Repeating the last word of one phrase at the beginning of the next phrase. It creates a special effect, like "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate."
analogy: A comparison between two things that are different but have something in common. It helps explain one thing by showing how it's like another.
anapest: A pattern in poetry where two unstressed syllables are followed by one stressed syllable. An example is the word "understand" (un-der-STAND).
anecdote: A short, interesting, or funny story about a real event or person.
annotation: A note or comment added to a text to explain something. You might write an annotation in the margin of a book.
antagonist: The character who works against the main character or protagonist in a story. They often create conflict.
Antecedent: The word or phrase that a pronoun refers back to. In "Sarah went to the park, and she enjoyed it," "Sarah" is the antecedent for "she."
aphorism: A short, clever saying that expresses a general truth or idea. It's like a wise quote.
aposiopesis: When a speaker suddenly stops talking in the middle of a sentence, leaving it unfinished. It can show strong emotion or suspense.
Apostrophe: When a speaker directly addresses someone or something that isn't present or can't respond. For example, "Oh, moon, why are you so bright tonight?"
archetype: A common idea, symbol, pattern, or character type that appears again and again in stories across different times and cultures. Think of the "hero" or "villain" archetype.
Astrophic: Describes a poem or stanza that doesn't follow a regular pattern of lines or rhymes.
asyndeton: Leaving out connecting words (like "and" or "but") between parts of a sentence. It makes the writing feel faster and more impactful. For example, "I came, I saw, I conquered."
aubade: A poem or song about lovers parting at dawn, often expressing sadness.
autobiography: A story of a person's life, written by that person themselves.
autoclesis: A trick of speech where an idea is brought up by saying you won't talk about it, which actually makes people more curious.

B

ballad: A poem or song that tells a story, often about love, adventure, or tragedy. Ballads usually have a simple rhythm and rhyme scheme.
bard: A respected poet, especially one who, in old Celtic cultures, would sing about important national events, like heroic battles.
bathos: When a serious or grand moment suddenly drops to something silly or ordinary. It can be accidental (bad writing) or on purpose (for comedy).
beast fable: A short story or poem where animals talk and act like humans, often to teach a moral lesson. Think of Aesop's Fables.
bestiary: A medieval book (from the Middle Ages) that describes animals, real or imaginary, and uses their behavior to teach moral lessons.
Bildungsroman: A type of story that follows a main character's journey from childhood to adulthood, showing how they grow and change mentally and morally. It's a "coming-of-age" story.
biography: A story of a person's life, written by someone else.
blank verse: Poetry written in a specific rhythm called iambic pentameter, but it doesn't rhyme. William Shakespeare often used blank verse in his plays.
bouts-rimés: A game where players are given a list of rhymes and have to write a poem using those rhymes, making it sound natural.
Byronic hero: A type of character who is often mysterious, moody, rebellious, and very attractive. This character type became popular because of the poet Lord Byron and the characters in his works.

C

Cadence: In poetry, this refers to the natural rise and fall of your voice when you read or speak the lines. It's about the flow and sound of the words.
caesura: A strong pause or break in the middle of a line of poetry. It's often marked by punctuation and can change the rhythm of the poem.
Canon: A collection of writings that are considered to be truly authentic or the most important works in a certain field. For example, the "literary canon" refers to works widely considered classics.
canto: A major section of a long epic or narrative poem, similar to a chapter in a novel.
caricature: A description of a person in literature (or art) that makes fun of them by exaggerating their most noticeable features. It's often meant to be funny rather than mean.
Catastrophe: The final disaster or downfall in a tragedy, often leading to the hero's destruction.
catharsis: The feeling of releasing strong emotions, like pity or fear, that you get when watching a play or reading a story. It's like a cleansing of feelings.
chanson de geste: An old French epic poem from the Middle Ages that tells stories of heroic knights and their brave deeds, mixing history with legend.
chapbook: Small, inexpensive books sold by traveling sellers from the 16th to 18th centuries. They contained ballads, stories, and nursery rhymes, often with simple pictures.
Character: A person, animal, or imaginary creature in a story, play, or poem.
characterization: The way a writer creates and develops characters in a story. This can be done through their actions, words, thoughts, or what other characters say about them.
chiasmus: A clever way of arranging words where the second part of a sentence is a reversal of the first part. For example, "Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you."
cliché: A phrase, idea, or artistic element that has been used so many times that it has lost its original meaning or impact. It can sound boring or unoriginal.
Climax: The most exciting or important part of a story, where the main conflict reaches its peak. It's the turning point.
close reading: A careful and detailed way of studying a text to understand its deeper meanings and how it affects the reader. It involves looking closely at every word and phrase.
colloquialism: An informal word or phrase that is used in everyday conversation but might not be appropriate for formal writing. For example, "y'all" is a colloquialism for "you all."
comedy: A type of play or story that is usually funny and has a happy ending. It often makes fun of human flaws or social situations.
comic relief: A funny scene, character, or dialogue that is added to a serious or tragic play to lighten the mood and give the audience a break from the tension.
commonplace book: A personal notebook where a writer collects ideas, quotes, words, and phrases that they find interesting or useful for their writing.
connotation: The feelings or ideas that a word suggests, beyond its literal meaning. For example, "home" literally means a place you live, but it connotes feelings of warmth and safety.
Consonance: The repetition of similar consonant sounds within words that are close together, especially at the end of words. For example, "slip, slop" or "black, block."
Conflict: The main problem or struggle in a story. It can be between characters, a character and nature, or a character and their own thoughts.
couplet: Two lines of poetry that rhyme and usually have the same rhythm. William Shakespeare often ended his sonnets with a couplet.
crisis: A moment in a story or play where the tension is very high, and a solution is about to happen. There can be several crises before the main climax.

D

Dactyl: A pattern in poetry where one stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables. An example is the word "merrily" (MER-ri-ly).
denotation: The plain, literal meaning of a word, like what you would find in a dictionary. It's the opposite of connotation.
dénouement: The ending of a story or play where all the loose ends are tied up, and the mysteries are solved. It's the final part after the climax.
deus ex machina: A Latin phrase meaning "god from the machine." It's a plot device where a difficult problem in a story is suddenly solved by a surprising and often unlikely event, making it feel a bit too convenient.
dialect: A way of speaking that is unique to a certain region or group of people. It includes differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
dialogue: The conversation between two or more characters in a book, play, or movie.
diction: The specific words a writer chooses to use in their writing. Diction can create a certain tone or style, and it's important for conveying meaning.
didactic: Something that is meant to teach a lesson or give instructions to the reader. Didactic stories often have a clear moral.
digression: When a writer or speaker goes off-topic from the main subject for a short time before returning to it.
dimeter: A line of poetry that has two feet (two main stresses).
Dipody: In poetry, this means two feet that are treated as one unit. It's common in ballads and nursery rhymes where some stresses are stronger than others.
domestic tragedy: A type of tragedy where the main characters are ordinary people (not kings or nobles), and the story focuses on family problems rather than big state issues.
Donnée: A French word for the original idea or starting point that a writer uses to create a full story or poem. It could be a phrase, a conversation, or an image that sparks their imagination.
doppelgänger: A German word for a ghostly double of a living person. In literature, it often refers to a character who looks exactly like another character, sometimes representing a hidden side of them.
drama: A story written to be performed by characters on a stage, like a play.
dramatic irony: When the audience knows something important that the characters in a play or story do not. This creates suspense or humor.
dramatis personæ: A Latin phrase that means "characters of the play." It's usually a list of all the characters at the beginning of a play's script.
duologue: A conversation between only two characters in a play, story, or poem. It's a specific type of dialogue.
duple meter/duple rhythm: A rhythm in poetry based on feet that have two syllables, like iambic or trochaic verse. It creates an alternating pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
dystopia: A made-up place or society where everything is bad or unpleasant, often as a warning about future problems. It's the opposite of a utopia.
dynamic character: A character who changes and grows in important ways throughout a story. They learn lessons, develop new traits, or change their beliefs as the plot unfolds.

E

eclogue: A short poem, often a dialogue between shepherds, that describes a peaceful country life.
ekphrasis: A detailed and vivid written description of a work of art, like a painting or sculpture. It brings the artwork to life with words.
electronic literature: Literary works that are created for and read on digital devices, such as stories that use hyperlinks, moving text, or interactive elements.
elegy: A sad poem, usually written to mourn someone who has died or to express sorrow for a loss.
elision: Leaving out a sound or syllable when speaking or writing, often to make words flow better or fit a poetic rhythm. For example, "o'er" instead of "over."
end-stopped line: A line in poetry that ends with a natural pause, usually marked by punctuation like a period, comma, or semicolon. The thought or sentence finishes at the end of the line.
enjambment: When a sentence or thought in poetry continues from one line to the next without a pause or punctuation mark. The meaning "runs over" the line break.
epic poetry: A very long poem that tells the story of a hero's adventures and victories. These poems often use grand language and describe important events.
Epigraph: 3. A quote placed at the beginning of a book or chapter, often to hint at the theme or mood.; 4. A short motto or saying at the start of a new section.
epilogue: A short section added to the end of a book or play, often to provide a conclusion, explain what happens to the characters later, or offer a final comment.
Epiphany: A sudden and important realization or understanding that a character has, which changes their perspective or the course of the story.
episode: A single event or part of a longer story or series.
epistle: A letter, especially a long or formal one, often written in a literary style.
epistolary novel: A novel that is told through a series of letters, diary entries, or other documents.
epistrophe: Repeating a word or phrase at the end of several clauses or sentences. It creates a strong emphasis, like "I'm a Pepper, he's a Pepper, we're all Peppers."
epithet: A descriptive word or phrase used to characterize a person or thing. For example, "Richard the Lionheart" uses "Lionheart" as an epithet.
essay: A short piece of writing that explores a specific topic, usually from the author's personal point of view.
eulogy: A speech or piece of writing that praises someone, especially someone who has recently died.
euphony: The quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words. It's about words sounding beautiful together.
exaggeration: Making something seem larger, better, or worse than it actually is. It's used for emphasis or humor.
Exposition: The part of a story that introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation. It provides background information the reader needs to understand the plot.
extended metaphor: A metaphor that is developed over several lines, paragraphs, or even an entire work. It continues the comparison in many ways.
eye rhyme: Words that look like they should rhyme because of their spelling, but they don't actually rhyme when you say them aloud. For example, "cough" and "bough."

F

fable: A short story, often with animals as characters, that teaches a moral lesson.
fairy tale: A children's story featuring magical creatures, imaginary lands, and often a clear moral. Examples include "Cinderella" or "Little Red Riding Hood."
falling action: The part of a story that happens after the climax, where the tension starts to decrease, and the story moves towards its end.
fantasy: A genre of literature that features magical or supernatural elements, often set in imaginary worlds.
farce: A type of comedy that uses exaggerated situations, physical humor, and silly characters to make the audience laugh.
feminine rhyme: A rhyme that involves two syllables, where the first is stressed and the second is unstressed. For example, "merry" and "tarry."
fiction: Stories that are made up and not based on real events or people.
figurative language: Language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. It includes similes, metaphors, and personification to create vivid images.
figure of speech: A word or phrase used in a non-literal way to create a special effect or meaning. Examples include metaphors, similes, and hyperbole.
Flashback: A scene in a story that takes the reader back in time to an earlier event. It helps explain what's happening in the present.
flashforward: A scene in a story that shows something that will happen in the future. It can create suspense or hint at later events.
flat character: A character who is simple and doesn't change much throughout the story. They often represent a single idea or trait.
Foil: A character who is the opposite of another character, especially the main protagonist. Their differences highlight each other's qualities.
Foot: A basic unit of rhythm in poetry, made up of a certain number of stressed and unstressed syllables.
foreshadowing: Hints or clues given early in a story about events that will happen later. It builds suspense and prepares the reader for what's to come.
frame story: A story that contains another story (or several stories) within it. It's like a story that acts as a "frame" for other tales. A famous example is One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (also known as Arabian Nights).
free verse: A type of poetry that doesn't follow a regular rhythm or rhyme scheme. The lines can be different lengths, and the poet uses natural speech patterns to create rhythm.

G

Genre: A category or type of literature, like fantasy, science fiction, mystery, or poetry. Each genre has its own common features and rules.
gesta: Stories about heroic deeds or adventures, often with moral lessons attached to them. These were popular in the Middle Ages.
Gloss: A note that explains a difficult word or phrase in a text. It can be written in the margins or as a footnote.
Gothic novel: A type of novel that often features mystery, horror, suspense, and supernatural elements, usually set in old, gloomy castles or isolated places.
Greek chorus: In ancient Greek plays, a group of performers who commented on the action, sang songs, and often expressed the feelings of the audience.

H

haiku: A short Japanese poem with three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the third has 5. Haikus often focus on nature.
half rhyme: Words that have similar sounds but don't quite rhyme perfectly. For example, "room" and "storm."
hamartia: A fatal flaw or mistake made by a hero in a tragedy that leads to their downfall. It could be a character flaw, a misjudgment, or too much pride (hubris).
hendiadys: A figure of speech where one idea is expressed using two words joined by "and," instead of one word describing another. For example, "nice and warm" instead of "nicely warm."
hendiatris: Similar to hendiadys, but using three words joined by "and" to express a single idea. For example, "wine, women, and song."
hexameter: A line of poetry that has six feet in its rhythm. It's also sometimes called "The Alexandrine."
historical fiction: A genre of fiction where the story is set in a real historical period, and the characters and events are made up but fit within that time.
hubris: Excessive pride or self-confidence, especially in a character in a tragedy, which often leads to their downfall.
humor: The quality of being amusing or funny, often used in literature to entertain or make a point.
hyperbaton: A figure of speech that changes the usual order of words in a sentence. It can make the writing sound more formal or poetic. For example, "Strong he was" instead of "He was strong."
hyperbole: An extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect. For example, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!"
hypotactic: Describes writing that uses many connecting words and subordinate clauses to show how ideas relate to each other. Sentences tend to be longer and more complex.

I

Iamb: A basic rhythm unit in poetry with two syllables: the first is unstressed, and the second is stressed. Think of the word "be-YOND." This is a very common rhythm in English poetry.
iambic pentameter: A line of poetry that has five iambs (ten syllables in total), with an alternating pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables. It's a very common rhythm in English poetry, used by William Shakespeare.
idiom: A phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the ordinary meanings of its individual words. For example, "It's raining cats and dogs" means it's raining very heavily.
idyll: A short poem or story that describes a peaceful, charming, and simple rural life, often in an idealized way.
Imagery: Language that appeals to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) to create vivid pictures or feelings in the reader's mind. For example, "the crisp, cool air."
in medias res: A Latin phrase meaning "in the middle of things." It's when a story starts in the middle of the action, and the background information is revealed later.
innuendo: A hint, suggestion, or indirect remark, often a negative or insulting one.
interjection: A word added to a sentence to show strong emotion, like "Wow!" or "Ouch!" It's usually followed by an exclamation point and doesn't connect grammatically to the rest of the sentence.
internal conflict: A struggle that takes place within a character's mind, such as a decision they need to make or emotions they are dealing with.
internal rhyme: When words within the same line of poetry rhyme with each other, not just at the end of the lines. For example, "The cat sat on the mat."
intertextuality: The way different works of literature connect and refer to each other, creating new meanings. For example, a modern novel might refer to a classic fairy tale.
irony: A contrast between what is said and what is actually meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. There are different types, like dramatic irony and verbal irony.

J

jeremiad: A long, sad complaint or lament, often about the state of society or the world.
Juvenalian satire: A type of satire that is harsh, critical, and often angry, aiming to expose and condemn vice or foolishness.

K

Kafkaesque: Describes situations that are confusing, nightmarish, and often involve a sense of being trapped or powerless, similar to the strange and unsettling worlds created by writer Franz Kafka.
kenning: A two-word phrase used in Old English and Norse poetry to describe something in a metaphorical way. For example, "whale-road" for the sea, or "sky-candle" for the sun.
kigo: In Japanese poetry, especially haiku, a "seasonal word" or phrase that hints at the time of year. For example, "cherry blossoms" for spring.
kireji: In Japanese poetry, a "cutting word" that creates a pause or break in a haiku or hokku, adding depth and meaning.

L

legend: A traditional story, sometimes based on historical events, that is passed down through generations and often features heroic characters or supernatural elements.
Limerick: A five-line, humorous poem with a specific AABBA rhyme scheme and rhythm. Limericks are often silly.
litotes: A figure of speech that uses an understatement by saying the opposite of what is meant, often with a negative. For example, "not bad" to mean "very good."
loose sentence: A sentence where the main idea is stated at the beginning, followed by additional details or phrases. It feels relaxed and easy to read.
Lyric: A short poem that expresses the poet's personal feelings, emotions, or thoughts, often with a musical quality. It's meant to be sung or read aloud.

M

magic realism: A genre of literature where magical or impossible elements are presented as if they are normal parts of a realistic world. It blends fantasy with everyday life.
malapropism: The mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with an unintentionally funny result. For example, "He was a prodigy son" instead of "prodigal son."
masculine rhyme: A rhyme that involves only one stressed syllable at the end of a line. For example, "cat" and "hat."
melodrama: A play or story that uses over-the-top emotions, exciting plot twists, and clear good-versus-evil characters. The focus is on action and drama rather than deep character study.
memoir: A type of autobiography that focuses on a specific period, event, or relationship in the author's life, rather than their entire life story.
metaphor: A figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things without using "like" or "as." For example, "The classroom was a zoo."
Meter: The regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. It creates the rhythm of the poem.
metonymy: A figure of speech where a word or phrase is used to represent something else that is closely associated with it. For example, "the crown" to mean "the king" or "the monarchy."
mock-heroic (mock epic): A style of writing that uses the grand, serious style of epic poetry to describe something trivial or silly, creating a humorous effect.
monologue: A long speech given by one character in a play or story, often to other characters on stage.
Mood: The atmosphere or feeling that a writer creates in a story, often through setting, diction, and imagery. It's how the story makes the reader feel.
moral: The lesson or message that a story teaches, especially in fables or parables.
Motif: A repeating idea, image, symbol, or pattern that appears throughout a literary work. It helps develop the theme or mood.
motivation: The reasons behind a character's actions, thoughts, or feelings. What makes them do what they do?
mystery play: A type of religious play from the Middle Ages that told stories from the Bible.
mythology: A collection of traditional stories or myths belonging to a particular culture or religion, often explaining natural phenomena or human behavior.

N

narration: The act of telling a story. It's how the events of a narrative are presented to the reader.
narrative poem: A poem that tells a story, with characters, a plot, and a setting. Examples include ballads and epics.
narrator: The person or voice that tells the story. The narrator can be a character in the story or an outside observer.
Naturalism: A literary style that tries to show life as it really is, often focusing on how forces like environment and heredity affect characters' lives.
neologism: A newly invented word or phrase. For example, "blog" was once a neologism.
non-fiction: Writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as biographies or essays.
novel: A long work of fiction that tells a detailed story, usually in prose, with a complex plot and many characters.
novella: A story that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. It often focuses on a single plot line or a few characters.

O

Octave: The first eight lines of a sonnet, especially an Italian sonnet. It usually presents a problem or question.
Octet: Any stanza or group of eight lines of poetry.
ode: A lyrical poem that praises or celebrates a specific subject, person, or event. Odes often have an irregular stanza structure.
onomatopoeia: Words that imitate the sound they represent. For example, "buzz," "meow," "boom," or "sizzle."
ottava rima: A type of stanza used in poetry, made up of eight lines of iambic pentameter with a specific rhyme scheme: ABABABCC. It was often used for long stories or funny mock-heroic poems.
oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines two words with opposite meanings to create a surprising effect. For example, "jumbo shrimp" or "living dead."

P

palinode: A poem or song where the poet takes back or changes something they said in an earlier poem.
parable: A short story that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson. Often found in religious texts.
Paradox: A statement that seems to contradict itself but actually contains a deeper truth. For example, "Less is more."
paraphrase: To restate something in your own words, usually to make it simpler or clearer.
paratactic: Describes writing that uses short, simple sentences or phrases joined together without many connecting words. It can make the writing feel direct and impactful.
parody: A humorous imitation of a serious piece of literature, music, or art, often exaggerating its style or theme for comic effect.
pastoral: A type of literature that shows an idealized and peaceful picture of country life, often featuring shepherds or rural settings.
pathos: A quality in literature that makes the reader feel pity, sadness, or other strong emotions. It appeals to the audience's feelings.
phrase: A group of two or more words that form a unit within a sentence but don't have a subject and a verb together. For example, "in the park" or "very happy."
peripetia: A sudden and unexpected reversal of fortune or change in circumstances for a character in a plot, especially in a tragedy.
persona: The voice or character that a writer creates for themselves in a piece of writing, which might be different from their real personality.
personification: Giving human qualities or actions to inanimate objects or animals. For example, "The wind whispered through the trees."
picaresque novel: A type of novel that tells the adventures of a "pícaro" (a clever, often mischievous character) who travels from place to place and encounters different people and situations.
Plot: The sequence of events in a story, including the beginning, middle, and end. It's what happens in the story.
poetic diction: The specific choice of words and language used in poetry, which can be different from everyday speech or prose.
Point of view: The perspective from which a story is told. It can be first-person (I, me), second-person (you), or third-person (he, she, they).
polysyndeton: Using many connecting words (like "and" or "or") in a row, often to create a sense of abundance or to slow down the rhythm. For example, "I ate apples and oranges and bananas and grapes."
prolepsis: A scene that jumps forward in time to show something that will happen in the future. It's also called a flashforward.
prologue: An introduction to a play or book, often spoken by a character or narrator, that sets the scene or provides background information.
prose: Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without a regular poetic meter or rhyme. Most novels and essays are written in prose.
protagonist: The main character in a story, play, or film. The plot usually revolves around this character.
proverb: A short, popular saying that expresses a common truth or piece of advice. Similar to an adage or aphorism.
pun: A play on words that uses words with similar sounds but different meanings, often for humorous effect. For example, "Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything!"
purple prose: Writing that is overly fancy, flowery, or elaborate, often using too many complicated words or figurative language, which can make it hard to read.
pyrrhic: In poetry, a foot with two unstressed syllables. It's also called a dibrach.

Q

quatrain: A stanza or poem of four lines, often with a specific rhyme scheme.
Quintain: A stanza or poem of five lines.

R

red herring: A misleading clue or piece of information in a story that distracts the reader from the real solution or plot twist. It's often used in mystery novels.
refrain: A line or group of lines that is repeated regularly throughout a poem or song, often at the end of each stanza or chorus.
renga: A type of Japanese collaborative poetry where different poets take turns writing lines or stanzas to create a longer poem.
Repetition: Repeating a word, phrase, or idea for emphasis or to create a certain effect. For example, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."
rhetoric: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other writing techniques.
rhetorical question: A question asked to make a point or create an effect, rather than to get an actual answer. For example, "Are you serious?"
rhyme: The repetition of similar sounds, usually at the end of lines in poetry. For example, "cat" and "hat."
rhythm: The pattern of sounds created by stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry or prose. It gives writing a musical quality.
rising action: The part of a story's plot where the conflict builds, and events lead up to the climax. Tension increases during this stage.
roman à clef: A French term meaning "novel with a key." It's a novel where real people or events are disguised as characters or situations in the story, and the reader needs a "key" to understand the hidden references.
Romance: A type of story that often features adventure, love, and heroic deeds, sometimes with magical elements. It's different from a modern "romance novel."
Romantic hero: A character type that is often passionate, individualistic, rebellious, and sometimes isolated, following their own ideals rather than society's rules.

S

satire: A type of writing that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to criticize people's foolishness or vices, often with the goal of bringing about change.
scansion: The process of analyzing a poem's meter by marking the stressed and unstressed syllables and feet in each line.
Scene: A smaller part of an act in a play, where the action happens in one place at one time with specific characters. It changes when the setting or characters change.
sestet: The last six lines of a sonnet, especially an Italian sonnet. It usually provides a solution or answer to the problem presented in the octave.
Setting: The time and place where a story happens. It can include the physical location, historical period, and even the weather or mood.
simile: A figure of speech that compares two different things using the words "like" or "as." For example, "Her smile was as bright as the sun."
Slant rhyme: Words that have similar sounds but don't rhyme perfectly, like half rhyme.
soliloquy: A long speech in a play where a character speaks their thoughts aloud to themselves, revealing their inner feelings and plans to the audience, but not to other characters on stage.
sonnet: A 14-line poem written in iambic pentameter. There are two main types: Shakespearean (with three quatrains and a couplet) and Italian (with an octave and a sestet).
spondee: A foot in poetry that consists of two syllables that are both stressed, like "HEART-BEAT."
stanza: A group of lines in a poem, separated by a space from other groups of lines. It's like a paragraph in prose.
static character: A character who does not change or grow significantly throughout the story. They remain the same from beginning to end.
stereotype: An oversimplified and often unfair idea about a group of people or things. In literature, a stereotyped character is one that fits a common, often exaggerated, mold.
stichic: Describes a poem that has lines of the same meter and length throughout, but is not divided into regular stanzas.
stream of consciousness writing: A writing style that tries to show a character's thoughts, feelings, and memories as they flow continuously, often without clear order or grammar, like a real thought process.
Sublime: Describes an experience or work of art that is so grand, powerful, or beautiful that it inspires awe, wonder, and even a little fear, going beyond what can be easily understood or described.
subplot: A smaller, less important plot that runs alongside the main plot in a story. It often supports or adds to the main story.
symbolism: The use of objects, people, or ideas to represent something else, often a deeper meaning or idea. For example, a dove might symbolize peace.
synecdoche: A figure of speech where a part of something is used to represent the whole, or the whole is used to represent a part. For example, "all hands on deck" means all sailors on deck, or "wheels" to mean a car.
Synesthesia: A figure of speech that describes one sense in terms of another. For example, "a loud color" or "a sweet sound."
syntax: The way words are arranged to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. It's the rules of sentence structure in a language.

T

Tautology: Saying the same thing twice using different words, often unnecessarily. For example, "It's a free gift" (gifts are usually free).
tanka: A Japanese poem with five lines, following a 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllable pattern. It's similar to a haiku but longer.
telestich: A poem or writing where the last letter of each line spells out a word or message.
tercet: A stanza or group of three lines of poetry, often rhyming.
terza rima: A three-line stanza form where the first and third lines rhyme, and the middle line rhymes with the first and third lines of the next stanza (ABA BCB CDC).
tetrameter: A line of poetry that has four feet in its rhythm.
Text: Any written work, such as a book, poem, or play.
Theme: The main idea or message of a story. It's the deeper meaning or insight about life that the author wants to convey.
thesis: The main argument or point that an author is trying to prove or explain in an essay or other non-fiction writing.
third-person narrative: A story told by a narrator who is not a character in the story, using "he," "she," "it," or "they."
tirade: A long, angry speech, often criticizing someone or something harshly.
Tone: The author's attitude toward their subject or audience, conveyed through their word choices and writing style. It can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, etc.
tragedy: A type of play or story that ends sadly, often with the downfall or death of the main character, usually due to a tragic flaw or fate.
tragic flaw: A weakness or error in a tragic hero's character that leads to their downfall. It's also called hamartia.
tragic hero: The main character in a tragedy who is usually noble or admirable but suffers a great downfall due to a tragic flaw or fate.
tragic comedy: A play or story that mixes elements of both tragedy and comedy, often having serious events but ending happily or with a sense of hope.
trimeter: A line of poetry that has three feet in its rhythm.
triolet: A short, eight-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and repetition of the first and fourth lines, and the second and eighth lines.
triple rhyme: A rhyme that involves three syllables, where the first is stressed and the next two are unstressed. For example, "beautiful" and "dutiful."
triple meter: A rhythm in poetry based on feet that have three syllables, like a dactyl or anapest. It creates a flowing rhythm.
Triplet: A stanza or group of three lines of poetry that usually rhyme with each other (AAA).
tritagonist: The third most important character in a story, after the protagonist and antagonist.
trochee: A two-syllable foot in poetry where the first syllable is stressed and the second is unstressed. Think of the word "GAR-den."
Trope: A common or overused motif or cliché in literature. It can also refer to a figure of speech like metaphor or simile.
troubadour: A poet-musician from medieval southern France who wrote and performed lyrical poems, often about courtly love.
Type character: A character who is easily recognized because they fit a common stereotype or mold, like the "wise old mentor" or the "evil villain."

U

understatement: A statement that makes something seem less important, serious, or exciting than it actually is. It's the opposite of hyperbole.
unreliable narrator: A narrator whose telling of the story cannot be fully trusted, either because they are biased, mistaken, or intentionally misleading the reader.

V

Verisimilitude: The quality of seeming real or true to life. A story has verisimilitude if it feels believable, even if it's fiction.
Verse: A single line of poetry. It can also refer to poetry in general, as opposed to prose.
Vignette: A short, descriptive scene or sketch in a story that captures a single moment or a specific detail about a character or idea. It's like a snapshot.
villain: The evil character in a story who opposes the hero or protagonist.
villanelle: A 19-line poem with five three-line stanzas (tercets) and a final four-line stanza (quatrain), with specific repeating lines and rhymes.
Voice: The unique style and personality of a writer or narrator, which comes through in their writing choices.
Volta: A "turn" or shift in thought or emotion in a poem, especially in a sonnet. It often happens between the octave and the sestet and is marked by words like "but" or "yet."
vulgate: Refers to the common, everyday language used by ordinary people, especially those who are not highly educated. Similar to colloquialism.

W

Wardour Street English: An old-fashioned or overly formal way of speaking or writing that tries to sound ancient or grand, but often comes across as fake or unnatural.
weak ending: In poetry, a line that ends with an unstressed syllable or a word that isn't very strong, which can make the line feel less impactful.
wit: The ability to use words in a clever and humorous way, often by making sharp, intelligent observations.

Z

Za: In Japanese collaborative poetry like renga, this refers to the gathering place or the feeling of community among the poets as they create together.

Glossary of literary terms facts for kids

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See also