Literature: English Vocabulary List

a figure of speech in which a part of something represents the whole or vice versa

"This is synecdoche."

"Using the word "wheels" to refer to a car is an example of synecdoche, where a part of something represents the whole thing."

villainous character who strongly opposes another person or thing

"The antagonist opposes the protagonist."

"An antagonist is the principal opponent of the protagonist"

the main character in a movie, novel, TV show, etc.

"The protagonist is the main character."

"The protagonist of the novel is a young woman who must overcome many challenges to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor."

a literary technique in which an introductory narrative serves as a frame for another story or a series of shorter stories

"It uses a frame story."

"The novel uses a frame story where an old man tells his life story to a young journalist who is writing a book about the war."

an elaborate or far-fetched poetic image or comparison between very dissimilar things, used in literature

"The poem used a clever conceit."

"The poet's conceit compared the passing of time to a river that never stops flowing."

a technique used in speech and writing to exaggerate the extent of something

"Hyperbole exaggerates for dramatic effect."

"Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration used for rhetorical emphasis"

a quotation or phrase placed at the beginning of a book, chapter, or other written work, often to suggest a theme or context

"The epigraph was a famous quote."

"The author placed a short quote from an ancient poem as an epigraph at the very beginning of the novel."

a collection of various items, such as literary pieces, poems, letters, etc., gathered from different sources

"The drawer was full of miscellanea and old papers."

"The box contained a miscellanea of old coins buttons and other small items from past decades."

a story, play, movie, etc. about a mystery or murder that the audience cannot solve until the end

"The whodunit kept me guessing until the end."

"The mystery novel is a classic whodunit where the reader must guess which character committed the crime before the detective reveals the truth."

an ancient book, written by hand, especially of scriptures, classics, etc.

"A codex is an old handwritten book."

"The ancient codex was made of wooden pages covered with wax and bound together with leather straps to preserve important texts."

the use of a word with two senses each of which apply to a different word in a sentence, as a figure of speech

"He used zeugma."

"The sentence "she stole his heart and his wallet" contains a zeugma because the verb "stole" applies to both a literal object and a figurative one."

a statement that implies or indirectly mentions something or someone else, especially as a literary device

"The poem has an allusion to Greek myth."

"The author's subtle allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet added layers of meaning to the protagonist's tragic dilemma."

a concise version of a lengthy play, novel, etc.

"I read an abridgment of the long novel."

"An abridgment is a shortened version of a written work that preserves its core meaning and essential content while omitting less important details for brevity and accessibility."

a figure of speech that combines two contradictory or contrasting terms to create a unique expression

"'Deafening silence' is an oxymoron."

"The phrase "deafening silence" is an oxymoron because it combines two words that seem to contradict each other in a meaningful way."

the act of giving a clue of the future events to the audience in advance while narrating a story

"The dark clouds were a foreshadowing of the coming storm."

"The storm clouds gathering at the beginning of the movie served as foreshadowing of the tragic events that would happen later in the story."

a literary genre that uses self-reflexive techniques to draw attention to its status as a work of fiction, blurring the lines between reality and fiction

"Metafiction breaks the fourth wall."

"Metafiction is a form of literary fiction that deliberately self-analyzes its own narrative structure"

a novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its main character from youth to adulthood

"It is a bildungsroman story."

"A bildungsroman is a specific genre of the novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of its protagonist from childhood to mature adulthood."

a song or poem expressing sadness, especially in the memory of a dead person or a bitter event in the past

"He wrote an elegy."

"The poet composed an elegy for his lost friend."

a word or phrase that compares two things or people, highlighting the similarities, often introduced by 'like' or 'as'

"'As brave as a lion' is a classic and child-friendly simile."

"A simile is a figure of speech that explicitly compares two unlike things by using connecting words"

a form of poetry that originated in ancient Greek and Roman literature, typically consisting of a short, pastoral poem or dialogue between two shepherds

"He read an eclogue."

"The Roman poet Virgil wrote eclogues that idealized the simple life of shepherds living in harmony with nature far from the corruptions of the city."

a remark or response that bears no logical or relevant connection to what was said before

"That is a non sequitur."

"His argument ended with a clear non sequitur."

a short, simple story that teaches a moral lesson

"Jesus told a parable to teach a lesson."

"The teacher told a parable about a lost sheep to explain the importance of kindness."

a specific story, artwork, or performance that embodies symbolic representation of deeper truths

"The story is an allegory about hope."

"An allegory is a narrative where characters and events represent abstract ideas or moral qualities"

a character in a literary work who contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist, to highlight specific traits of the latter

"The character is a foil."

"The calm brother served as a foil to his wild sibling."

a literary device that uses a mixture of unpleasant, inharmonious, and harsh sounds to show disorder or chaos

"The street filled with unbearable cacophony yesterday"

"The cacophony of car horns and construction noise made it impossible to concentrate on her work."

a subject, idea, or phrase that is repeatedly used in a literary work

"The motif appears many times."

"The recurring motif of darkness throughout the novel creates a mysterious atmosphere."

a payment made to the author or creator of a work for each copy of the work that is sold

"The writer got royalty payments."

"The author earns a royalty of ten percent on every copy of her book that is sold in stores."

(of an author or literary work) accepted as highly acclaimed authors or pieces of literature, which are collectively referred to as the literary canon

"The text is canonical."

"The canonical version of the text is the one accepted by most scholars as the original written by the author."

(literature) relating to a form of work that uses letters or written documents as the primary mode of communication among fictional characters

"The novel is epistolary."

"The epistolary novel is written as a series of letters between characters and readers learn about the plot through their correspondence."