Literary Terms
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When we were discussing what our Majors ought to know when they come out of English 200, we decided that a list of common terms, commonly understood would be a useful base.  Below you'll find the list we developed.

If it were me, I'd keep a distinct set of notes which define, identify, exemplify, apply, and connect these terms and concepts.  Since these will be part of the comprehensive final, I would suggest that you work on these throughout the semester rather than trying to "cram" them at the term's end.

 

   

 Literary Elements and Concepts

  1. alliteration

  2. allusion

  3. ambiguity/ambiguous

  4. ballad

  5. characterization (direct and indirect)

  6. connotation

  7. denotation

  8. didactic poetry

  9. drama

  10. epic

  11. essay

  12. fiction

  13. figurative language

  14. genre

  15. hyperbole/exaggeration

  16. imagery (different types)

  17. irony

  18. literal language

  19. literature

  20. lyric

  21. metaphor

  22. meter/rhythm

  23. metonymy

  24. narrative poetry

  25. narrator/persona/speaker

  26. non-fiction

  27. novel

  28. novella

  29. personification

  30. plot/action

  31. poetry

  32. point of view

  33. prosody

  34. rhyme

  35. setting

  36. simile

 

  1. sonnet

  2. stanza

  3. story

  4. style

  5. symbol

  6. synecdoche

  7. syntax

  8. theme

  9. tone

  10. understatement

 

Critical/Theoretical Terms

  1. Authorial Intention

  2. Canon

  3. Cultural Studies

  4. Deconstruction

  5. Feminist Theory

  6. Formalism

  7. Marxist Theory

  8. New Criticism

  9. Psychoanalytic Theory

  10. Representation
     

 Writing Terms

  1. Analysis

  2. Annotated Bibliography

  3. Close Reading

  4. Explication

  5. Paraphrase

  6. Plagiarism

  7. Précis/Abstract

  8. Synthesis

  9. Thesis