Allegory: A literary device by which an event, character or object is used to illustrate a moral principle or theme.
Allusion: An indirect referral. For example, "Gregory alluded to his hunger when he asked what time dinner was being served."
Antagonist: A character who opposes or is hostile to the main character (who is known as the protagonist).
Anti-hero: A hero whose actions and motivations are (noticeably) less than perfect. Anti-heroes appear mostly in modern novels; for example, bootlegger Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby".
Archetype: A character who is less a person than the representation of a greater social or psychological concept; who reflects the psychological needs of other characters and (presumably) the reader. For example, a character who represents "good", "evil", "strength", "weakness", "motherhood", or any other such notion.
Autobiography: A biography written by the person whom the book is about.
Biography: The story of a real person's life.
Catharsis: A feeling of emotional relief or cleansing that is brought on by a dramatic event (often the climax). For example, Scrooge experiences a catharsis when visits by the Ghosts of Christmas cause him to reexamine his attitude towards the holiday in "A Christmas Carol".
Characterization: Term for how the author has portrayed his/her characters. Formal terms for specific types of characterizations include round, flat, type, archetype, etc.
Climax: The point at which a plot reaches its peak, or moment of greatest drama or importance. Typically produces a profound change in the protagonist (main character).
Comedy: A novel or play that is amusing and humorous, and has a happy ending.
Denouement: The ending, or outcome, of a plot.
Dialogue: A passage that describes a conversation between two or more characters.
Exposition: The beginning section of a novel, in which the author introduces the characters, their setting, and their predicament.
Foil: A character whose contrasting personality or contrary motivation illustrates or "brings out" the nature of another. The plays of William Shakespeare are filled with both amusing and tragic foils.
Foreshadowing: Skillful foreshadowing helps to build the suspense of a novel or drama as it moves towards the climax, by giving the reader a "taste of things to come".
Hero: Simply put, the "good guy". Although it usually implies superlative qualities such as moral strength of character and purity of motivation, the term hero may also be used simply to refer to the main character (or protagonist) of a drama or novel.
Initial Moment: A series of complications that start building from the beginning of a book, and eventually lead to the climax.
Irony: An incongruity, or at worst a tragedy, caused when something doesn't come out in the expected way.
Memoir: Another word for an autobiography.
Metaphor: A figure of speech in which one seemingly unrelated concept or object is used to describe another. For example, "the dawn of life", "a peach of a girl", "a pearl of wisdom".
Mood: Feeling. The mood of a book is set by the author and helps to pull the reader into the characters' predicament, as well as to convey the story's setting. Mood is particularly important in building suspense (Edgar Alan Poe and other Victorian authors were masters at setting mood), though it can just as easily be used to convey lightheartedness and the love, as in the sunny, Tuscan countryside setting for Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing".
Motif: A literary element that helps to portray the theme of a novel.
Motivation: The driving force behind a character's behavior; the desire or reason that causes him/her to take action. As such, motivation is a component of characterization (character development).
Myth: A traditional story that involves superhuman characters, such as gods. Greek myths, Norse myths, and the myths of the Arthurian Legend are especially well-known to Western readers.
Narrative: Parts of a book that come from the narrator's "voice".
Paradox: A situation that seems to contradict itself, but is nonetheless true. "Impossible" and "no-win" situations are examples of paradoxes.
Plot: The series of events in a novel.
Pun: A humorous play on words that results in a phrase having double meaning. Shakespeare was famous for his use of puns.
Protagonist: Another term for the primary, or main, character. (May or may not be the hero.)
Rising Action: A complication. The plot of a novel may include one or more rising actions, which typically culminate in a crisis and/or climax.
Setting: The place and time in which a novel or drama takes place.
Simile: A figure of speech
Sonnet: A short, fairly structured style of verse composed of 14 lines. Modern readers are probably most familiar with the sonnets of William Shakespeare.
Stanza: A division or section of a poem, consisting of at least 2 lines.
Syntax: The way in which words are arranged together to form a sentence. For example, alliteration is a form of syntax that utilizes repetitive use of a certain sound (such as the repetitive "s" sounds in the line "a single, silky skein").
Theme: One or more greater topics or subjects that underlie a drama or novel. For example, the pointlessness of feuds is a theme of Shakespeare's great drama "Romeo and Juliet".
Tone: The attitude of the author. There are many ways of conveying tone, though one of the easiest to recognize is through the "voice" of the narrator.
Tragedy: A novel or drama in which the main character(s) come to an unhappy, ruinous or otherwise misfortunate ending.
Tragicomedy: A drama or novel that mixes comedy and tragedy. Shakespeare wrote a number of tragicomedies, including "Measure for Measure" and "Much Ado About Nothing".
Turning Point: Another word for climax.
Verisimilitude: To convey a feeling of reality. In a novel, this can be referred to as its ability to "draw the reader in" -- in the best of all cases, to the point where readers feel as if they are experiencing the story, themselves.
