Literary Terms Week 2

Michelle Holmes

Block 3

4/26/11

English

Grade 10

1. Verbal irony: verbal irony verbal irony verbal irony verbal irony verbal irony Definition: occurs when

what is said contradicts what is meant or thought. Sentence: If somebody says “we’ll see” they usually

mean no and that’s an example of verbal irony.

2. Dramatic irony: Definition: occurs when another character(s) and/or the audience know more than

one or more characters on stage about what is happening. Sentence: I recall reading a story about a guy

that thought he was two different people and the reader knew this but the other characters didn’t , and

this is an example of dramatic irony.

3. Metaphor: Definition: an imaginative comparison used to enhance the meaning of what is being

compared; may be direct (X is Y) or implied ("He wanted to win her heart" comparing love to a battle).

Sentence: An example of a metaphor is “Your face is the sun.”

4. Meter: meter meter meter meter meter meter Definition: an arranged pattern of rhythm in a line of

verse. Sentence: Different poems have different meters.

5. Narrator: Definition: tells the story in a prose piece. Sentence: In my favorite book Lizzie McGuire is

the narrator.

6. Speaker: Definition: tells the story in a poetic piece. Sentence: The speaker in a poem that I know is

William Shakespeare.

7. Onomatopoeia: Definition: the use of words that by their sound suggest their meaning. Sentence:

clap and boom are examples of onomatopoeia.

8. Oxymoron: Definition: a figure of speech consisting of two apparently contradictory terms. Sentence:

dirty soap is an oxymoron.

9. Personification: Definition: when something nonhuman is given human characteristics (must be

HUMAN, or it's a metaphor). Sentence: an example of personification is “the sun smiled down at me.”

10. Plot: plot plot plot plot plot Definition: the pattern of events in a play, poem, or fictional work.

Sentence: Plot is what happens in a story. The plot of Up was very fun.

11.