Literary Terms Definitions Master List

Act—A major division of a play

Scene—A subdivision of an act in a play

Stage Directions—In a play, written instructions that explain how characters should look, speak, move, and behave

Aside—In a play, a short comment made by a character that is heard by the audience or another character, but not by the other characters onstage

Soliloquy—A long speech delivered by a character who is alone on stage

Monologue—A long speech delivered by a character while other characters are onstage, expressing the character’s thoughts and emotions

Dialogue—Conversation between/among characters in a play

Tragedy—A serious play in which a main character suffers a downfall

Comedy—A type of drama that deals with light and amusing subjects or with serious and profound subjects in a light, familiar, or satirical manner.

Comic Relief—A short, funny episode that interrupts an otherwise serious or tragic work of drama

Foil—A character who provides a strong contrast to another character

Pun—A humorous play on two or more meanings of the same word or on two different words with the same sound

Analogy—A comparison based on a similarity between things that are dissimilar.

Symbol—An object, person, place, or experience that represents something else; usually abstract in nature

Epic—A long narrative poem focusing on a great and serious subject as experienced through the actions of a heroic figure

Epic Simile—An extended comparison using “like” or “as” to compare two seemingly unlike things; also called a Homeric simile

Flashback—A literary device in which an earlier episode, conversation, or event is inserted into the chronological sequence of a narrative

Hero—The main character in a literary work; the character’s character or deeds inspire the admiration of the reader

Archetype—an original model after which similar things are patterned.

Legend—A story handed down from the past through the oral tradition and commonly believed to be based on historical events and an actual hero

Myth—A traditional story of an anonymous origin that deals with goddesses, gods, heroes, and supernatural beings and events

Oral Tradition—Literature that passes from one generation to the next by word of mouth

Anecdote—A brief account of an interesting or humorous incident

Autobiography—The account of a person’s life written by that person from the first person point of view

Biography—The account of a person’s life written by someone other than the subject

Connotation—The unspoken or unwritten meanings associated with a word beyond its dictionary definition

Denotation—The literal or dictionary definition of a word

Dialect—A variation of a standard language spoken by a group of people, often within a particular geographical region

Fable—A short, usually simple tale that demonstrates a moral and sometimes uses animal characters

Moral—A practical lesson about right and wrong conduct; similar to theme

Parable—A simple story pointing to a moral or religious lesson

Parody—A literary or musical work that imitates the style of some other work in a satirical or humorous way